Water

[dreamerofdreams]

How do you handle a pup who hates water? At five months old, Kodi still abhors water, rain, and sprinklers. She'll wade up to her knees fine (especially if there's a cheese poof in it for her), but no further. She can swim well - as we discovered when she leaped off the boat dock thinking that water lillies were solid ground - but just beelines for the shore. Tried going in with her, tried the cheese poof thing, next plan is to borrow the neighbors golden and get him swimming. Anything else I should be looking into?

[SpinoneIllinois]

Yup, borrow the neighbor's golden. Heap praise on the golden, while ignoring yours.
I went through the same thing -- tons of wading, treats, etc. She'd get in chest-deep, but wouldn't swim. After two bumper tosses with my brother's water dog, my spinone was jumping right in and swimming right along.

[jcalla4]

I experienced a similar problem. My pup jumped out the boat when she was young trying to eat a dragonfly. Made her very apprehensive to go in after that experience. To start fixing the problem, I used her desire to retrieve as an advantage. I got her worked up over a dummy, then threw it where she could wade to it. After a few times, I started working out further into the water. It was a slow process, which involved many trips to the boat landing where i bring her, but it definitely is working. The most important thing imo is to not try and rush it though. Make it enjoyable for the dog so the dog looks forward to going back.

[jimbo&rooster]

Ive got one that will be 3yr old in a couple of weeks, that will not get any more than belly deep in water by his own doing, I have taken him out with my other 3 dogs and they will run through and swim, he just doesnt want anything to do with it. Some dogs just dont like it. I know he can swim, because I dumped a quail that set its wings and sailed across a small creek about 30ft wide and he made the retrieve but you have never seen a more unhappy dog. Id say borrow the neighbors Golden and see what happens.

Jim

[DonF]

Your pup is only five months and had a bad experience jumping off the dock. Keep taking it out by the water and get it to play in the shallow water. Now and then throw what ever those things it like are, in the shallow water. Learn where the spot is he'll just lose touch with the bottom and when it's really comfortable in the shallows, throw one just out of the shallow's. Not three feet either, you want it to just get it's feet off the ground a bit until it's comfortable. Take baby steps.

[birddog1968]

You could also get in the water too, usually don't have to go that far but if pup trusts you then it may get him over the hurdle quick.

Just watch out for flying paws !

I've taken a few dogs in the water over the years, usually to get their front ends down and get them swimming efficiently.

[dreamerofdreams]

I've tried the getting in the water with her thing, and this definitely predates her jump off the dock, hahaha. We'll see how the golden works, thanks for advice!

[Francois P vd Walt]

I've tried the getting in the water with her thing, and this definitely predates her jump off the dock, hahaha. We'll see how the golden works, thanks for advice!

What breed dog is this ?

Water can frighten a dog when they fall in like you explained, it will take time, start with small river crossings little ponds to get confidence back, slowly go to bigger water. Maybe with dogs that love water you should even join in, swim in and call your buddy. Maybe on a hot day you sit in the shallow water and play with our dog.

Good luck

[JIM K]

Yup, borrow the neighbor's golden. Heap praise on the golden, while ignoring yours.
I went through the same thing -- tons of wading, treats, etc. She'd get in chest-deep, but wouldn't swim. After two bumper tosses with my brother's water dog, my spinone was jumping right in and swimming right along.

GO TO HEAD OF CLAS

[Qwernt]

Ducks.

My pup wasn't so sure about water, not even puddles to run in, until she found some ducks feeding in 3 inches of water at the dog park when she was about 9 months old. She now has an association: water == ducks. That said, it took a year after starting to swim for her to decide she wanted to fetch something out of the water. Two days ago she found a tennis ball in the water and brought it back to me. We spent a few minutes playing swim fetch for the first time. It was great. Taught me once again the simple truth: wait for you dog to catch on, don't push hard or she might just push back instead of follow.

[Trekmoor]

I like to start off with very shallow 6 - 12 inch deep streams and I like those streams to be narrow if possible , feet wide rather than yards. When taking a pup there I also take along the rest of my gang of water crazy dogs and I choose a warm day. I give the dogs a quick run before arriving at the water and the pup gets to chase after them. When the older dogs reach the water they pile into it and very often the pup does too. It learns to like water by playing in it with other dogs. Pups seem to accept any little mishaps that happen to them while playing in water if it is another playful dog that caused the mishap.

Bill T.

[DogNewbie]

Ducks.

My pup wasn't so sure about water, not even puddles to run in, until she found some ducks feeding in 3 inches of water at the dog park when she was about 9 months old. She now has an association: water == ducks. That said, it took a year after starting to swim for her to decide she wanted to fetch something out of the water. Two days ago she found a tennis ball in the water and brought it back to me. We spent a few minutes playing swim fetch for the first time. It was great. Taught me once again the simple truth: wait for you dog to catch on, don't push hard or she might just push back instead of follow.

Same here. My pup never swam his first summer (born late May) but the first ducks he saw in the spring he jumped right in...once they flew away he realized what was happening and turned around and cried the whole way in. After that I just let him chase/swim after every duck he encountered and build confidence in the water. After probably 2 weeks of chasing ducks he started swimming short distances after sticks. By mid summer he was hitting the water hard after sticks in river current. IMO it's all about the pup gaining confidence.