Hello, I have a 2 1/2 year old female lab that is not fond of water. She has her own wading pool and will RELUCTANTLY go into a few inches of water to retrieve her toys, but will not sit or lay in it. She will lay in the sun and pant (she is black) and we are moving to AZ soon and will have a pool. We are worried that we will constantly have to keep her from being outside in daylight and she won't go into the pool to cool off. We plan to exercise her only in the early morning, or well after dark, but she won't even take a bath without a fight. Any way to help her learn that water is not a bad thing?
Some dogs, even Labs don't like water. While all of our Labs have been serious swimmers, I had a Malamute that only went into deep water twice in his life, and he made it clear that it was a mistake and would not happen again. Oregon can get pretty hot in the Summer, but cooling off in water was not going to happen.
Baths and swimming are not necessarily the same thing. Many is the dog that doesn't like a bath but is quite happy to leap into a pond or lake. If your pool has a sloping entrance, it could be an ideal time to work on water with her. Just stick to playing in the shallows and take it easy. If she will wade around she will get cool enough that way...
I had a pit bull that was the same way. So I gave him the 24/7 option of a kiddie pool in summer time, and would take my daughter in that pool to play. She called him (as best as a 2 year old could) and he got in the pool because she asked him to. We gave him meat treats (the highest of all high value treats) and got our hands wet to rub him down. It was very slow going, but it paid off in the long run. He learned in time that he could get in the pool without us, and that the pool wouldn’t hurt him. And surprise, surprise, the water didn’t hurt him either! he was a big scary looking sissy dog haha Time, patience, and kindness. And try to come to terms with the possibility that your dog just may not be a water dog.
