When is it ok in regard to bone development to let a puppy swim? My 7month old paddles in her small swimming pool and enjoys it,but I mean actual swimming..
My girl was swimming after she fell in a duck pond at the age of 4.5 months old. I limited her swimming back then to only a few mins to make sure she dummy overdo it. Nowadays (aged 4) she swims a lot more, but only usually for 20 mins with breaks.
Nibbler is eight months - he is terrified of the water- he jumped on a pond covered in algae in the summer and went right under - got such a fright that he just won’t go near it. When I asked his breeder about this he said that it’s quite normal for dogs to be a year or so before they are going in the water as their coat isn’t fully waterproof until then.
I was so worried about Tatze swimming - all our walks are by rivers, lakes and reservoirs - I took her to swimming lessons at a local doggy swimming pool at 5 months old. She still doesn’t swim!
My first Labrador pup was swimming pretty soon after we got him at 10 weeks of age. It was in still water (a lake) with a shallow, sloping bank. And I went in with him. Keep it easy, safe and not scary for early swimming experiences
ha! I was also worried about Lilly falling into a water-logged hole in the woods once and struggling to get out, so that's why I started swimming with her (for fun, but also to help her hips). She isn't the biggest fan, but does almost anything for cheeeezzee
Our two pups were wading as soon as they could walk to the creek. I think they were both swiming by 10 or 12 weeks. Cooper was a little bit water shy for her first few trips, but now she is a swimming fool.
Despite having baby pools for my puppies and multiple trips to the ocean per week, I've never had a dog that could swim. They all loved water, but would only go in to their elbows. But real swimming? Nope, they all sunk like stones. So the idea of swimming dogs - something most people on the Forum take for granted - is fascinating to me. For the OP question, though - there's really no danger whatsoever in a young puppy swimming, right? I mean to his joints? As long as he can actually swim and there's no issue around being safe in terms of staying afloat, there's no risk at all to joint development so no risk of overdoing it as there may be for walking/running?
Our little guy is absolutely obsessed with the water. We took him to the river when he was around 12 weeks and he jumped right in. He has since been swimming every chance he gets. He goes on his first duck hunt this coming weekend at 5 months old and will be retrieving in the water. We do limit his number of retrieves in the water, as I think he'd swim all day every day, but we go as often as we can and just watch for when he starts to wear down.
This what I was wanting to know...was swimming ok for joints and bone development before a puppy is fully grown...
While swimming doesn't impact on joints it is extremely tiring so should be in moderation for young pups, just like walks. Also to bear in mind is how well an individual dog swims. Many dogs 'flail' their legs around in the water rather than have a smooth, equally balanced swimming action which could have an impact upon joints if left uncorrected.
My hydrotherapist says a 1 minute swim is equal to a 5 mile walk. Not being an expert on equivancy of swimming to other exercise I think it's probably safe to work on swimming is potentially very tiring
