Swimming question...

[Alicia]

Hey all,

Just curious when most of ya'all's pups started to swim. Dally is 5 months and still hardly will go in the water.. about belly high is the farthest and that's when she is focused on Kole and forgets and comes back out a bit shortly after. But. she wont swim. Is this normal?

[Sue R]

Celt still won't swim unless he has to - if I throw the ball and he thinks he can get to it first, he'll get on in and swim for it - but he gets out again as soon as he can. Megan and Bute swim just for the love of it and we have to watch that they don't just take off and go! Which they will do down in NC where Ed's family lives along a very broad tidal creek a mile up from the sound.

 

Rocket so disliked water that he would walk around puddles. So, while many can be real "water hounds", others just aren't water dogs at all.

 

Dally may develop a love for water as she grows and gains confidence or she may not. My Celt is the first in the cooling tank when he's hot from work or play, in spite of not being a big fan of water for "recreation".

[Dal & Mad's Mom]

So far we've only had one who will swim and fetch. Out of about 12. Most are thrilled to wade though like you describe. BTW as you can probably guess I have a Dally too. It was his registered name when I got him.

[juliepoudrier]

Alicia,

They can start swimming at any time, or never. Don't force the issue. If she wants to swim, she will.

 

All of mine swim, but some are more vigorous swimmers than others. Some will willingly swim just to be swimming; others wade unless they are inspired to swim, say, by a thrown ball. The pups all swim, but Pip is more likely to dive in and go, while Phoebe is more likely to splash and play in shallower water (though she occasionally swims just to swim). They're all individuals....

 

J.

[Anda]

Mine started being interested in water and getting wet (but no swimming) when he was about 4 (probably because it was March and super cold water ) then in April, at 5 months, he showed his real face and proved to us he was a duck in a previous life. He absolutly loves to get in water and chase balls. He wouldn't swim without a reason, but if there's a ball, he'll swim till the other side of the lake. Oh, or if there are geese or other birds on the water, count on him to chase them swimming

[Allie+Tess&Kipp]

My dogs are 1-1/2 years old and 3 years old and will wade at the beach and in ponds but won't swim.

 

Allie + Tess & Kipp

http://weebordercollie.com

[Allie Oop]

Allie is 19 mos. old and loves water -- to wade in, splash in, catch in her mouth, guzzle, etc. Swim?? She will if she has to, (like when she jumps into the creek that last week was only 18 inches deep, but finds out that this week is leaf covered and swollen to 5 feet deep ) but she'd rather just play in it.

[MrSnappy]

All of my dogs swim, but Piper sometimes won't, even for a ball. Woo will but prefers not to. RD and Tweed both plunge on in and are strong swimmers. Comes of growing up beside the ocean, I suppose.

 

RDM

[RaisingRiver]

River had the opportunity to go in water at about 11mos old. Had to coax her in the river by fetching stick. She ended up going in far enough to have to swim to it and back out. Haven't tried just swimming so don't know if she'd bother if I wasn't fetching anything. But we've only had the chance to try it at all for 3 days. We'll see next summer.

 

Oh, she doesn't like playing in the hose or take baths, but doesn't mind being rained on.

[Root Beer]

Speedy never swam until he was three years old. He had opportunities before that, but he never did it.

 

We were at the Outer Banks during the summer when he was three and we had taken our dogs to the inlet side since the crashing of the waves bothered all three of them.

 

We were walking along the inlet and Speedy just suddenly ran into the water - for all the world as if he had simply just discovered the fact that he would like to go in there.

 

Ever since then, he's been crazy about getting into the water.

 

Some dogs don't like it, though. Maddie doesn't. She likes to go in to get her paws wet, but that's it.

[shelb'smum]

Shelby is five months old and I did the bad momma thing.

I lured her into the water with treats and before she realized it she was swimming. then I put my hand under her belly and swam her around in the water. she only let me do it once. now she just likes puddles. and to Very quickly run in and out of the water. then run around like a mad dog. then back in and out. then run like a mad dog.

she could do it for hours if i let her. but she won't swim

[GeorgiaBC]

Swimming is no different than agility or any other skill--it can be taught with patience, positive reinforcement and confidence-building. I adopted an older rescue who looked as though she had never seen water. We have property on a lake, so we wanted her to swim. We started slow, in shallow water and built up her confidence. We also made it a game. Now we're working on dock jumping--with the full running start. She's awesome. Key words with BC's: make it a job, make it a game. Then they won't just want to swim--they'll need to swim.

[Cheri McDonald]

My boys love the water and will swim whenever they get the chance. Briar will if tempted with a ball, but otherwise wading is her limit most of the time.

[Anda]

Originally posted by RaisingRiver:

Oh, she doesn't like playing in the hose or take baths, but doesn't mind being rained on.

Dogs are so funny! Mine loves water (see in how many pics he's dripping wet), but when it comes to bath, he barely tolerates it, and he absolutly hates rain and stepping in puddles! He act like a cat and walks around them and totaly lothes being dripped from above

[LaurieB]

Can't keep mine out of the pool!! My Dally(Dallas) wasn't used to it, but once she got wet with Casey, forget it. She takes laps, slashes herself, barks, etc...just like a kid! They all love the hose and go CRAZY when it's turned on

[Alicia]

Thanks guys I'll just have to wait and see if she ever decides she likes it It's such a contrast, my Lab mix LOVES to swim. He'll head out there before ya even throw anything and just swim laps. Maybe it'll rub off on my Dally ;D

 

It's neat to see the other Dallys out there! I've always liked then name, it's real western and cowdog ;D

My Best friend almost named her heeler Dallas (Dally) but settled on Levi, I'm glad because now I have a Dally girl:D

[borderlicious]

Dakota started swimming (to retrieve a toy) when he was about 6 months old, but didn't LIKE it until he was about 8 months. Now we've created a monster. Any time he sees a body of water bigger than a puddle, he gazes at us, pleading with us to give him the "ok" to jump in.

[Alicia]

Lol that's the way my lab mix Kole is. He LOVES water. lol

[sandra s.]

Kessie didn't like water for a long time. Then she started bathing in it but still didn't swim.

 

At some point she "learned" to swim: I played tug with her in the shallow water and pulled the stick (and her) towards me where her feet wouldn't touch the ground anymore, then I let the stick go and she swam back to the beach with it and got praised as she did it.

 

Now she thinks swimming to get a stick out of the water is a great game, but when there's nothing to retrieve she sticks to lying down in the water to cool off.

 

Kyla doesn't really like water (yet).

We get huge puddles when it has rained for a while. If Kessie and I walk into one of the puddles, Kyla will follow us in her excitement, but once she notices where she is she leaves the water, leaping into the air and lifting her feet in the funniest way, trying to stay dry .

[BayouBC]

All of my dogs, BC or not, will swim. Reece, the ACD mix, doesn't really like to get in the water by choice, but if I put him in he'll paddle around, especially if it's hot. His aversion to swimming is more from Pith constantly dunking him (literally) when they were younger. But all four of my boys (ex-boyfriend's dog included) started swimming between 6 months and a year, but that's probably because that's when I first started taking them to water.

 

Just about every rescue I've had come through has ended up enjoying swimming or at least standing in the pond and walking around. The four littermates I had last spring (one still here) took to water almost right away, and they were about 3 months at that point. One, Riot, was the smallest of the bunch but would go out as far as the big dogs. Talk about a little fish!

 

Pith and Kodah, my two BC's, LOVE swimming. They're mainly in there to retrieve whatever I'm throwing, but if I run out of toys or if I just stop throwing things, they'll start paddling around just for the fun of it.

[Alicia]

I think the delay may be because she wasnt exposed to water before I got her at 4mths old. So, I think it'll come around. I was just curious My Best F's ACD panicked when he swam up until a few montha ago It was a sad but funny site. He'd let his lil tush drop, put his head back, close his eyes and start slapping above the water lol it was silly but he learned after a while

[caninecards]

Neither of my current two will swim although they love a deep paddle !! I have a video of Ross at 8 months on holiday hiding behind rock becasue he didn't want to go in the water -- now -- he runs down to the sea and gets ery wet nut never actually gets into a position where his feet leae the seabed.

 

On the otherhand - I had a dog called Corrie who loved swimming and I have another video shot - of my friend the foreground with the dogs in a large deep pool and Corrie behind (oblivious) swimming up and down. It is a precious shot becasue she died two days later of a liver cancer of which she had shown no sign.

 

So --- some swim -- some don't !!

 

(ps - I lived in Ireland for a while as a kennelhelp at Brittas kennels -- we had German Shepherds and Irish Water Saniels and one IWS - Fynn wouldn't even get a toe wet -- not much good for a "water" spaniel !!)