I took Captain with me when i went fishing the other day. It was his first time. It was also his first time really having mostly-free reign at water. He took full advantage. He is wearing his 30' lead because there is a slight current in the water, and he continued to try to get out of water at the dock instead of the shore. I put the lead on him to have a line if needed for rescue, but i intend to get him a PFD until he becomes older, stronger, and more skilled at swimming.
We don't use a DFD when swimming from shore but always do when they are in a boat with us. We have always started our pups swimming at 9 to 12 weeks though no pressure, and just let them wade at first. We did not use a lead on them, since they wanted to come back anyway. All of our Labs took to water like fish.
Today we went to the beach, and Captain was fantastic in the water. I have changed my mind. I will not be getting him a flotation device because he demonstrated today that he is naturally very strong in the water. I don't have a boat, and i don't know that he will ever go aboard one, but if he does i will certainly get him a device.
The danger of using a line in water @Anthony Abrao is that if it gets snagged on something then the dog can be endangered. I would not use a line in water unless I was 100 per cent certain the long line could not get snagged on anything. And even then I'd be concerned. I would focus on recall or giving him some hand signals re direction. Have you taught any directional signals?
@Michael A Brooks we have not worked on any hand signals. His recall was great while swimming at the beach yesterday. I would toss the ball into the water and follow him at a distance that allowed me to reach the leash if anything were to happen. He wasn't allowed to be on a leash longer than 6 feet, so i was always very near. When he was swimming at the park the other day i kept one end of the lead in my hand at all times he was in the water. We were using the 30' leash at he park, and i was certainly concerned about it catching something which kept me very aware and ready to jump in the water to assist. Hand signals...potentially something else to add to our training. I have always included hand signals with commands, and Captain demonstrates a good understanding of them. None of them are directional though like "go that way", "go this way". I'll do some research and see what turns up. Thanks for the suggestion.
Hi @Anthony Abrao If you look up directional jumping you'll find some coverage of hand signals that indicate to the dog in which direction to move. It also comes up in gundog work when the handler gives signals to the dog in which direction to move to find the downed game in a blind retrieve. If you cant see what is in the water then I wouldn't even use a 2 metre lead. I remove my dog's collars when they go in a river swimming. I don't want my dogs getting caught up on any drift wood. Maybe I'm over-protective but I feel that as leader it's my job to take precautionary steps. You'll have fun with the directional hand signals.
