I go to the lake house a lot and i haven't been since i got my new pup, Guinness. I am going soon and wanted to know everyones opinion on how to let your dog meet water and and some tips i could use. i have stuck him in the bath tub with water and he seem to not mind it and if its not to full he drinks it, lol. He is 10 weeks old.
Just be gentle with him. Throwing them in doesn't work (not that I've ever done it, but seen it done and the dog was forever terrified of water). We just took our dogs to the park near the river when they were little and let them experiment at the edge. If there are other dogs there, they watch and learn. We never pushed them into anything. Kira's feet didn't leave the bottom until she was over a year old. Finley had his first swim at 13 weeks, the first time we took him to the river. It was by accident, because he was hanging on to Kira's tail when Kira swam out to fetch her ball. He let go when he realised he couldn't stand, and swam himself back to shore.
That's what happened with Milly - she followed a big black lab into the water at the beach playing and didn't even realise until she stopped that she was neck deep! After that she was fine - she still doesn't swim yet. Just wades to her comfort zone.
I'd find a nice shallow part of the lake/river and let him feel his own way. If he only gets his feet wet the first time then so be it - just don't force him and you'll be fine!
Last summer when Bruno was young, I went in with him and held him in deep water (over his head) then let go to see if he can swim. (ready to hold him up if he had a problem) He did well. This year he goes in with M&J and swims on his own.
I would let them check it out at thier own pace. Just be there incase anything happens, Bogey has no fear of the water which is good, but he still sinks. Most labs it just comes naturally.
The first time Abbey went swimming, she went in on her own.We were at our friends' house, and they have a big pond out back. There were a bunch of other labs there who were playing fetch in the water, as well as another puppy about the same age as Abbey. I think she was about 3 months old when we took her. The other puppy was running into the water, then running out and Abbey was like "HEY! I wanna do that too!!!!" So she slowly started going in and running out. The last time I took her swimming at the end of the summer, she still wasn't very big, so she didn't go very deep.
Now she's a little over a year, so the next time I'll take her swimming (this weekend, i think), she will probably have more fun since she's bigger and she has a sister to swim with.
I would maybe just go to the beach or wherever the water is not deeper than him when he's standing and just play with him a little. If he's scared, don't rush it. But if he seems not to mind, go a little deeper and coax him to come to you. Maybe even have a couple of his favorite treats
Put some waders on and wade in calling your puppy towards you. He/she might just splash along the bank the first couple of times. Take it slow, don't push him. Evey has been swimming since 4 weeks old.
When Tal started, it was with puddles. When i took him to the lake, I let him explore on his own. Once he figured out he could swim, he had a great time. I am going to do the same thing with Barney. Weather and time hasn't been very cooperative up until here lately and so I will be doing this soon. Barney is 16 weeks.
Definitely let him get used to it on his own. There are exceptions, but most Labs will need no prodding once they gain a little confidence.
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