I have a pure bred yellow lab who turns 4 months old on July 29th. She HATES the water. If it is raining outside, she will use the bathroom quickly; shake her paws of the water and be ready to go back inside. She doesn’t like going near the water hose, she doesn’t like going into water, Lakes or small puddles. I even had other dogs at the dog parking playing in the water and she would not. Today it was raining outside, and I had her walking in puddles of water about 3-4” deep. I gave her a treat every time she walked through the puddles and told her good girl. She didn’t like it, but she didn’t seem to mind it as much when food was involved. What can I do to get her into enjoying water? Other than this, she’s a smart, loving, and very playful puppy.
Hi there, and welcome to the forum . Plenty of four month old pups are shy of water so don't worry. You are doing the right things, making being around water a fun and rewarding experience. I have put some links about water training in this thread:https://thelabradorforum.com/threads/won’t-go-in-water.24476/ You might find those helpful. Shout if you have any questions
My dog is 2.5 and absolutely hates the rain, avoids puddles/baby pools/the hose/sprinklers. She learned to swim at 6 months old and is an amazing swimmer and it's her absolute favourite thing to do, in any weather or water condition and even puts her head under. 4 months old is young...give your pup time and as she grows more confident, will likely learn to swim in her own time, but may never like puddles or rain. They are each individuals just like us. Our dog learned to swim when we went into the water with her and gave her lots of praise, and it took her a few weeks to build confidence to take her feet off the shore when we weren't in with her.
