Just a question. At what general age do labs stop being nervous at depth. My lab is 10 months. He's more than happy to run into a lake (or every ditch and swamp he can find ). The thing is, after he gets deeper than what his legs can reach, he just (U-Turns) back to the shore. As a puppy, at 4 months he fell into some deep water. He swam back to shore no problem (Tail wagging and happy) so he knows how to swim from birth. But now, at almost 11 months he still seems scared to go further out. If I throw a toy or stick just beyond his reach (leg wise) he comes back empty handed. I will try to get in and swim myself come summer here in Canada, but what are other experiences you Lab Owners have had while you raised your guys or gals?
Do you have any friends with dogs that love to swim? I bet if your pup saw others dogs playing and having fun in the water he would start to go in deeper water and realize that it is okay. I have a 7 yrs Golden Retriever He loved the water and was a swimming champ then one day I was training on the river and he was pulled into a whirlpool. He was sucked down twice before my son got to him and could pull him out. Now to this day 6yrs later he is still apprehensive about swimming. He will go in short distances but like your pup if I throw a bumper more than 10yrds he takes forever to go out and get it. I had to give up my dream of titling him any higher than a started dog. I hope you do not have too many issue with getting your pup to swim in deeper water.
Getting in with him worked for us. If the water is too cold for you, send some kids in to swim with your dog (they don't seem to notice the cold ).
My late boy Sam was " water shy " after falling into our garden pond on his first day home .I didn't even try to encourage him until he himself began to show an interest . I think he was around 10 months or so old , when he followed me into the river , and didn't want to come out ever again ( him not me ! ) x
All of our Labs have loved water and swimming. We started our two pups at 9 or 10 weeks in shallow water wading, and then went to lakes with fairly gentle slopes. Since they were already tennis ball retrievers, it only took throwing the ball into the water to get them into deeper water. All of them would swim for long distances in lakes, and go into breaking waves on the beach. Ginger (our rescue) would not jump off of anything to get into the water, she had to walk in, but once in she would swim for a mile following our canoe. Tilly and Cooper will jump off a dock, or out of a boat on their own. I have only seen a few Labs that did not like to swim, but their are definitely some that really don't but only want to wade. Ours don't have to be encouraged at all, they have to be restrained, if you don't want a wet dog.
Thank you all for your advice. I'll get in with him when it's warmer and just wait this out. He is still young!
