Hello, My chocolate lab puppy is now four months old and we are trying to make him pool safe. He seems to like the water but is a bit panicky when he tries to swim. I'm wondering if a swim jacket is a good idea. I live in California and many dogs who play around water wear them. I just don't know if the bouyancy of the jacket would give him a false sense of security that may hamper him when he swims without it. Has anyone had experience with them? Thanks, Susan
Yes, I used one for my Clumber spaniel. He loves water but his swimming technique wasn't very good. He kept trying to feel the ground underneath his hind paws which causes that very awkward upright panicky paddle. The life jacket gave him the correct position for swimming and gave him confidence. I used it for a couple of months and then he was fine without it.
Wonderful! Thank you! I was just worried about the the transition from vest to no vest but it sounds like it worked well for you... Thanks, Susan
Ahh bless him, he's only young. Give him time. Labs are generally competent swimmers so I would not think a vest would be needed. There are oodles of labs and water around us and never seen one in a vest. I think it just takes a while to perfect doggie paddle....wish we were in California love it there
I would suspect he might still be panicky even with a vest. I'd think it's probably not about not being able to swim but rather about the strangeness of it that makes him panicky. I'm no expert, just basing it on our experience. Snowie will not swim in our pool -- he refuses to step off the pool seat, but he loves going onto the pool step and wading around. For some reason he panics when he has to swim into the pool water (very frustrating for us, we'd love for him to swim in our pool, great exercise). But at the beach or a river, no problem -- will run in and start swimming when his feet leave the ground. He'll even jump into the tidal pool at the beach, from the pool wall, when I throw in something to retrieve. It might be that he has panicky associations with our pool cos it was probably scary to him as a puppy (who knows, I am speculating). One thing we did was taught him how to exit the pool, where the steps are -- this is very important, particularly if a dog panics. When he has fallen into our pool (we have a teeny-tiny area around the pool and he has lost his footing when tearing madly around the pool), he now immediately swims to the steps. The first few times he hauled himself out the side of the pool cos he was panicking so much, but if I was in the pool, I'd redirect him to the steps (got lots of bruised scratchings on my legs and torso from his thrashing legs!).
@MaccieD thank you, Enzo is 11 weeks at the moment, it's hard to see him grow to the size of Juno in just 3 weeks
If your dog is going to be swimming in a pool then it's really important that he knows where the steps are so he can get out, even if you are not there. From dog height in the water it is very hard to tell where the steps are, so think about having some kind of marker or target that he can see from his position at water level, that he can swim towards. I don't know what pool fencing laws are like in Calfornia but the other really important thing is keeping the pool inaccessible to your dog unless you let him in there and supervise. I'm guessing that your pool is already kiddie (and dog) safe though
Ha ha @Sim , it's amazing how much they can grow in 3 weeks Juno was a pretty average size puppy and the photo was heavily cropped and enlarged to see her. She absolutely loves the water but us only really interested if she I retrieving from the water, not interested in just having a swim
I want to get Enzo being an able swimmer but will also have to introduce some kind of cue to let him know when he can have a swim, there's so many local fishing ponds around where I live I can't have him just thinking he can take a dip as soon as he sees water. Hopefully he will be similar to Juno and only swim to retrieve, not just help himself to casual dips Also wouldn't want him swimming out into the middle after a duck! So many things to worry about haha.
Ajax was like a rabbit first time on lake shore. Next day he saw a duck and he was off. So he figured it out real quick. What I've learned since is a good retrieve item is a bumper in either white or black. Orange, so they say, looks grey to a lab so it might get lost in the water. White or black is a contrast and easy for them to spot. He had an issue with water entering his throat while swimming back to shore with the bumper in his mouth but he's getting better with practice. With regards to a cue just pick a word like, water. I now say the word walk and he knows exactly what to expect. Like a flash off to the back door and in sit position waiting for the collar to go on.
@Sim Juno has never been allowed to just run and jump in, she's always gone in from the shallows and then just swims out. We use an orange dummy/bumper and she sees that with no problem despite the advice that they can't see orange as well as black or white in the water. I guess after starting with pine cones anything is easy . I've taught a 'splish splash' cue which allows Juno to run in or just use 'close' if I want her to stay with me. She did head off after some ducks when swimming up in The Lake District a few months back but recalled to me, so don't forget to practice your recall around water as well. To get Juno swimming we threw a pine cone just in to the water a few inches deep and she brought it back, lots of praise and a small treat, and we gradually threw the cone further out until her feet would have to come off the bottom. She hesitated the first time but with just a little encouragement she was off after the retrieve. All in all she was swimming out to retrieve in her first short session of around 5 minutes. Remember to keep sessions short as swimming is tiring. Enjoy and have your camera ready
Hello, Dana is 9 months... she loves water, in any form... but it does not want to enter or jump in our pool... when we go to the beach, she runs into the water in no time, fountains, rivers, lakes... whatever place she can get wet, she goes... but not at home... I understand is because se can't enter gradually, because our pool has no stairs, but two pool ladders. She does not want to jump by herself, she needs help... but I see she is not confortable in our pool, firsts seconds she is not swiming at all, but panicking, after some seconds she start to swim, but just to try to scape... I have to direct her to the ladder, and she can climb and go out... I do not think it is a pleasure experience for her, and I would really love she to enjoy pool-time with me and daughters... and wouldn't like to force her to stress, I do believe that swim time has to be funny for her... but do not know how to start with... Does anybody share this experience? How do you help your doggy friend to enter in the swiminig pool (without stairs)?
@MaccieD @AlphaDog thanks both, I'm slowly introducing cues so will now add one for water too, splish splash sounds rather apt
Charlie will swim just for the sake of swimming, without anything to retrieve. We get in the sea with him, and he loves it. He'll also swim in a pool just for the fun of it (he learned to do this at hydrotherapy when he swam in a pool for physio etc.). At hydro, many dogs will only swim after a thrown toy etc and others have to be guided round by a handle on a lifejacket (because they are uninterested in even toys). I think a human swimming pool might be too deep to start off for a young puppy unless the shallow end is shallow enough for them to stand - Charlie started swimming by just following other dogs from shallow water to deeper water, and it took a little while for him to pluck up the courage to go into the deeper water, he'd stand in the shallows at bit upset because he wanted to be swimming with the others - and then of course in the end he just followed them in. So, you could try to get him to swim first where there is a more gradual slope into swimming depth water, a river or the sea (although the sea can be a little scary for some pups).
Yes, for her is no problem to swim... but only if she can feel the ground... and afterwards go deeper.... just have problems with jumping on a human pool... struggle her... she wants but does not dare... maybe swim with some dog friends will help... @snowbunny yes... it is one approach I am considering.... just to help her to enter the pool in a "gentle way"
We tok our dogs on holiday last year to a villa with a pool, and the owners were happy for the dogs to go in. At first, they were quite hesitant, despite the steps, and would only go down a couple of steps and stand there. When J and I got in the pool, though, they joined us (and, it appeared they were trying to "save" us, by dragging us back to the edge, bless!). After a couple of goes, they were more than happy to throw themselves in from the edge, crazy mutts. I don't think I'd be happy to have them climb up a pool ladder, for risk of injury if they slip.
All of our Labs have been hard core swimmers. I doubt if our first lab would have jumped into a pool though, because she always wanted to walk into the water. Both Tilly and Cooper will jump in off a bank or dock with no problem but they started in small streams and lakes where they could wade, and splash around before they got into deep water. It took a while before they were comfortable swimming rather than wading. I think both Tilly and Cooper started swimming a little at about 3 months. Both of them will jump into any water they come to now. I remember some years ago, in the spring, we were x-country skiing and came to a mostly thawed lake. Tilly jumped off the bank (3 ft) into the lake. I expected her to panic a little, but she scrambled up the bank and jumped in again twice. Good thing it was not a really cold day. We use life jackets when they are in the canoes or sail boat with us, mostly because we need the handle to get them back in the boat. Also they might be in the water a mile from shore I don't want to worry about them running out of Wheaties, even though they seem to be incredible swimmers. Also the Jackets make them a lot more visible in the water. We don't use life jackets when they are swimming from the bank or beach, just in the boat. If you go swimming with your pup, you will learn that "Dog Paddle" is not a derogatory term. All of ours could swim faster than I can, and they can do it for a long time. Ginger could swim faster than a duck. If ducks could not fly they would have been retrieved. Don't get too close to the back feet, I remember getting kicked pretty hard the first time I went swimming with Ginger.
