Teaching Your Dog To Swim
Swimming is an excellent way to cool off your dog on a hot day, it’s great exercise, but more importantly it’s FUN! However if your dog does not naturally like the water, it can be a very stressful experience for them. Just like with any interaction with your dog, teaching a dog to swim all comes back to communication and training.
You want to make sure your dog has a pleasant experience with water. If your dog seems overly nervous by nearby dogs or excessive distractions, it may be beneficial for first introductions to be done in a calm surrounding. When first introducing a young pup or older dog to the water, there are a couple of things that you want to make sure to do:
- Find a pond or calm lake that has a shallow gradual entry
- Make sure the water is warm
- If possible, get in the water with them
- Motivate your dog (throw a toy, have them chase another dog, etc.)
As they start to get more comfortable being in the water, there are some tools that may be helpful. A doggie life jacket helps if the dog panics or only kicks his front legs, and they usually have a handle on the back so you can help stabilize the dog. A long leash will help guide the dog into and out of the water, and also prevent them from trying to escape from the training session. You can use basic obedience commands like come or here to direct the dog and give them important information.
At the same time, there are several things that you want to avoid when getting your dog comfortable in the water.
- Do not throw your dog into the water and see what happens
- Don’t force or push them too soon
- Don’t expect them to jump off of a ledge or dock in the beginning
Do not expect your dog to actually swim right away. Having you dog’s feet in the water and having the water come up to your dog’s chest may be a big accomplishment in the beginning, the rest will come with time.
Unleashed Unlimited incorporates swimming into our training as much as possible. It not only help clients problem solve with their dogs, but also builds confidence. On our personal time we are always swimming with our dogs. We have participated in Dock Dog events, as well taught our dogs to do some very fun things in the water. Below is a short video of Boomer having fun in the water.
Once they are comfortable in the water, you really can do some amazing things with your dogs. Not only does Boomer swim underwater, but our German Short-haired Pointer, Louie, is quite good also. Dogs of all breeds, not only hunting dogs, can do equally as well in the water. Our Cairn Terrier, Walter, is quickly learning to jump off the side of a pool and retrieve in the water.
Teaching your dog to swim is not only fun, but it is a safety issue as well. If your dog should accidentally fall into a backyard pool, it is important that they don’t panic and know how to safely swim to the steps and exit the pool. If you have any questions about teaching your dog to swim, or would like your dog to learn how to swim, contact us and we will be happy to help you out.
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thanks for this great post! I’m trying to teach my Manchester Terrier to swim and enjoy the water..I’ve got some friends that compete in DockDogs, and it looks like fun..but Simba is like a cat around water!!
Melissa
Just remember to go slow look for small signs of progress; don’t rush it! My brother has 2 Manchester Terriers, they can be a lot of fun. Dock Dogs is a great sport, some of those dogs are INCREDIBLE athletes. Good luck with Simba, please let me know if we can help in any way.
How in the world did you teach your dogs to swim underwater like that? I wish my lab did that, how did you do it?