Sam , now 11 months has always been wary of water after falling in the garden pond as a young pup . I havent pushed him at all , just encouraged him slowly to enter the water, baby steps . Over the past months , he has become more brave, going in up to his tummy to retrieve and then this morning, he swam He didnt mean to swim , he was retrieving and threw himself in with gusto , to find this part of the river deeper than he thought , after a moment of amazement , he swam for the dummy, got it and took his time returning, no panic at all , so pleased with him , maybe the sea next
Re: First swim this morning ! Hey! Good news and well done from me too. My dog, Lady, is timid about water too, but these recent downpours have produced some really good training pools in the fields. She's had a paws off the bottom once by accident, but she's getting more confident and as you say the retrieve instinct seems to override the fear reaction. ;D
Re: First swim this morning ! Brilliant! You'll be swimming in the sea with Sam before you know it...
Re: First swim this morning ! woo hoo - it's a proud moment isn't it! Rusty was nervy too but loves it now providing he can walk in - he still won't jump in - even to shallow water.
Re: First swim this morning ! Thats the funny thing with Sam , even when he was obviously very cautious , he never did walk in, he sort of pounced , leaping outwards leading with his front end , even in a couple of inches of water Karen, its got to get a whole lot warmer before I`m even thinking about a dip in the sea ;D
Re: First swim this morning ! Odd isnt it how some dogs just take to the water naturally and others dont... Poppy fell in the pond too, but it didnt seem to worry her at all. She has followed Bones in for a swim several times now, and seems to be a naturally confident swimmer. But I know what you mean about the water needing to be warmer for humans to get in!!! 8)
Re: First swim this morning ! Sometimes Rocket throws herself in with abandon and sometimes she won't go near the water despite loud and very vocal death threats. I have yet to work out what it is that makes the difference. Oh, and I was swimming in the sea a couple of weeks ago. It was surprisingly pleasant.
