Re: Your Lab's first swim? Thoughts? Tarka fell in the river at 15 weeks old. I dashed over to rescue her to see her swimming happily around. She's been for a swim virtually every day since and is a fast, powerful swimmer. Lochan on the other hand will only indulge in recreational swimming between the months of May and October, when she keeps her head well up out of the water (looks like she should be wearing one of those fluffy swimming caps you see elderly ladies wearing) and only swims with her front legs, her back legs just trail pathetically in the water. She'll happily go in if a bird is on offer in the winter, but under no other circumstances.
Re: Your Lab's first swim? Thoughts? The day I collected Benson at 8 weeks and brought him home, I foolishly let him out in the garden, where he made straight for our large fish pond and went into the water before I could stop him! He has never looked back and will give his right leg to retrieve a dummy in either fresh water or the sea and anytime of the year. Roger
Re: Your Lab's first swim? Thoughts? Maisie isn't sure how she feels about the ocean just yet. Investigating… Thinking she'd rather not investigate any further!! The other day she was walking into a puddle, it wasn't too deep but then got quite deep in the middle (but still wouldn't even have touched her tummy, just legs!). She stepped forward into the deeper bit, was disgusted and fastidiously picked her way back out and went around instead. She also finds the bathtub quite frightening, not sure if that's the surface of the tub or the water!
Re: Your Lab's first swim? Thoughts? Harley fell into a pond at the age of 14 weeks. For a few months she stayed away from the water, but then fell in a river after paddling and went deeper u til she had to swim. Now, you can't keep her out of the water....she will go in no matter what the weather
Re: Your Lab's first swim? Thoughts? Karen, that looks brilliant! We are visiting my son in Heidelberg next week - a few hours drive?
Re: Your Lab's first swim? Thoughts? Love the expression on Maisie's face!!! It's a bit of a drive from Heidelberg, but certainly worth it for a couple of days.
Re: Your Lab's first swim? Thoughts? [quote author=Karen link=topic=10350.msg152420#msg152420 date=1427461746] Does Casper swim too? [/quote] Haven't taken him to any swimming pools...just deep ponds so far, he is happy to potter around them, and if Benson isn't around loves a water retrieve
Re: Your Lab's first swim? Thoughts? Simba hasn't had a proper swim yet. We took him to the river last summer and he went in a little ways after his fetch Thingy but was reluctant to go too deep. Untitled by psalmone1, on Flickr Hoping to try again this summer!
Re: Your Lab's first swim? Thoughts? Karen - your photos are amazing; what a beautiful spot! I'm still hoping that Molly will swim one day. She loves to paddle and wade but won't go in deep enough to take her feet off the bottom, even when I went in with her last summer. We live less than 2 minutes drive from the beach, so go down every morning, and have also tried to persuade her to swim in still ponds, but to no avail so far. I love outdoor swimming in the summer months so I would really like her to go in with me.
Re: Your Lab's first swim? Thoughts? Wispa loves swimming, but Tuppence swims with her head as high out of the water as she can and really prefers paddling! Here's Wispa in 2012, not yet a year old, enjoying the beach in Scotland: Wispa and Tuppence with their friend Mille on the beach last summer: Tuppence (trying not to get her face wet!) and Wispa swimming in the stream near our home:
Re: Your Lab's first swim? Thoughts? Lovely pictures everyone! I took tiger out today. I threw balls in , he goes in the shallow area - just legs in and as soon as it gets deep, he gets out. He then goes around the pool area to see from which end he can get the ball without having to go in the deep in... lol. He looks and whines to me to get it lol! Finally, he got it when the ball got to the shallow end. I don't know. I do know when he got the ball finally he takes it back to the water but HE does not go in. Is this normal? He still seems scared. He is a year and a half now. [size=14pt]Any suggestions????[/size]
Re: Your Lab's first swim? Thoughts? That sounds just like Tuppence! She will only swim in the stream if she has to, usually if we call her across from the other side or to follow Wispa. She's a bit braver in the sea, but really prefers to paddle rather than swim. Perhaps Tiger might be encouraged by another dog who enjoys swimming?
Re: Your Lab's first swim? Thoughts? One thing I might add if I have not already is that I have only recently taken him to swim - this is his second time. I waited a while since I was naïve and also did not know any places here to take him swimming.
Re: Your Lab's first swim? Thoughts? Around here the weather has been too cold to do any sort of swimming with Bella up until about 6 weeks ago. At first, we would just go on a walk, and if there were puddles or little rivulets for her to cross - she very carefully picked her way through the puddles careful not to get herself any wetter than necessary....tip-toe would be a good analogy....and she would take a running leap to jump across narrow streams. Was pretty funny in the grand scheme of things...but still quite cold too, so I can't blame her! As it's warmed up and she's had more exposure to puddles...she has learned the great fun of running through the puddles and splashing and carrying on. The last couple of weeks, I've taken to bringing a floatable toy out back with us and encouraging her to run through the puddles and retrieve the toy....it's a great game to her. It's only been in the last week or so that I've really focused on getting her to swim. it's been about building her confidence and making it fun for her. I get her good and wound up....interested in the toy....and then toss it into the ponds...I have actually tossed her in a couple times just to force my hand a little...but it's always as a fun game - and never so deep that is in danger. She is gradually becoming used to getting wet and having it not bother her.... (losing her ladylike ways : ) The first couple times she actually had to swim a few strokes were by her own doing actually....she would be stretching and reaching for the toy, and finally grab it and go to turn around and slip into the deeper stuff.... She's not yet to the launch herself out there without thought or worry of the depth....but she is getting close. She still works to navigate the shallows as much as she can, but did willingly swim out to her toy when she was close. I always just praise her like crazy, give her goodies, and keep up the fun play aspect. She enjoys the fun play and extra exercise and joy of splashing through the water. ;D ;D ;D Once she builds up her confidence more, we'll take her out to the reservoir for some good deep water swimming - and the potential for dock jumping.... 8) 8)
