Dog Paddle takes on a whole new meaning when you go swimming with a Lab. All of ours could/can swim faster than I can, and they can do it for a long time. Our first Lab, Ginger, would swim through the surf on the Oregon Coast. We are waiting to see what Cooper thinks of the beach and salt water. So far she has only been in lakes and rivers. Even though we are only 60 miles from the Ocean, we spend most of our spare time in the mountains.
One thing to watch is with the sea is that they don't drink it because it can make them ill. My two both tried drinking on a few occasions, so I distracted them and then offered them fresh water to drink.
Tilly's first trip to the beach she drank some portion of the Ocean. Back at the car she threw up. Lots!. She never did it again. Dogs learn some things quickly. We will find out about Cooper some time in June. We don't have the Gulf Stream to warm up the coast.
My lab (Jax) is 7 months old now . Even when he was a tiny puppy he didn't mind the water we started with baths in the sink then moved to the tub and he's always just sat in the water not a care in the world. We just got our pool ready a week or 2 ago and Monday was our first swim. Jax is stuck to my daughter like glue . Everywhere the 2 year old goes Jax follows. We through on her life jacket, and wife and daughter hopped in the pool. Jax immediately hopped in and swam to my little one . I could tell he was getting tired so I brought him to the steps . He got out rested a minute and jumped right back in . This continued as long as my girl was in the pool. Yesterday I had to cut the grass so I had the fence open Jax was back there with me . I heard a splash and look and he was having a swim by himself .
I'm not a great swimmer and am worried that if my boy goes for a swim and gets in trouble then I couldn't help. Am I being crazy?? Is it ok just to let them get on with it. He loves jumping in and paddling but is desperate to go further. He's 7.5 months
Unless it is a really big lake, river or the ocean, I would not worry about him especially if he is a Lab. They swim a lot better than most humans. When he is grown up I would not worry at all unless he can't get out of the water because of a seawall or vertical bank.
