# Introducing to Water



## Klamath Gold (Dec 26, 2008)

I introduced Rooster to water yesterday. He is not quite 6 months old and this is a little later than I would prefer. However his birth date made it fairly hard to get him started early. As it turns out, I just dont think it's going to matter.

Rooster has had training sessions where he would run through puddles and wet areas. He has been doing this since we had the whole litter.

In yesterdays session, I knew that I might be pushing it a bit. What I mean by this is that the air and water temps were cooler than I would normally like for a pup. However Rooster is an older pup and while playing he never balked at water or busting through ice covered puddles. I went out with the idea that if he showed any hesitation, I would back off.

I turned out Rooster and Amber. I led them to the shore of the pond and allowed them to romp and play. Amber loves water and I knew that she would eventually lead him in with her play. He followed right along never missing a beat. They wrestled and played in water that was about 12 inches deep. They finally came to shore and Rooster was completely drenched. They then continued their play in the uplands. I then led them back to shore where I knew the water got deeper a little at a time. I threw a fun bumper out and let them both go. They just romped and played while making the retrieve. Then I threw one out that required both to swim. They both went for it and Rooster was so busy trying to race mom for the bumper that he never seemed to really realize that his feet left solid pond bottom. His strokes were so smooth it appeared he has been doing this all of his life. I then progressed into just throwing marks for Rooster. He made four retrieves that required a swim. He swam and swam and swam, all with beautiful strokes. I ended the session and then allowed them to run and romp again in the uplands. This was a completely positive experience. It looks like this kid has a great water attitude. 

Normally I would not use another dog. It just seemed to be the correct thing to do in this scenario (older pup, cooler air temps than ideal, and cooler water temps than ideal). Remember I was fully prepared to back away if Rooster showed any hesitation.

_Normally I would have started on a sunny day with air temps 55 to 60 or above. The water temps would be 50 or above. I would have worn waders and waded in to the pond. THis would be a session with just a pup and myself. I would wade in and play, trying to encourage the pup to follow. After the little guy was comfortable, I would start thowing bumpers into water that required no swimming. Eventually I would toss them into progressively deeper water that required only a few strokes to get to the bumper. After a few successful retrieves I would end the session._

Thats all for now.

PS.
Never ever throw a dog in water to teach it to swim. What a way to create a poor water attitude.


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## Swampcollie (Sep 6, 2007)

I wish I could find a little "soft" water around here.  Hopefully the last of the hard water season is winding down and the pup will finally be able to get her feet wet.


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## bwoz (Jul 12, 2007)

Good boy Rooster, sounds like a great day for them both.


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## PeanutsMom (Oct 14, 2007)

My female wants NOTHING to do with swimming no matter the time of year or what kind of toy I throw. One of my boys will only wade slowly and the other loves nothing more than diving right in and retrieving sticks (logs). I think it must just depend on the dog.


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

I sure agree with this, it seems like it's just hard wired into some of them. My oldest dog (12 year female) and my youngest one (2 year male) are obsessed with water, and have been since day one. We never threw them into water to teach them to swim, they just waded on out and started swimming. Each of my dogs was about 8 or 9 weeks old when they started swimming.
My middle dog (11 year male) will swim if "everyone else is doing it" and doesn't seem opposed to the idea, but he doesn't actively seek it out like the other 2 do. If either of the other 2 know water is nearby, they just vibrate with excitement until allowed to fetch a few sticks out of the water.




PeanutsMom said:


> My female wants NOTHING to do with swimming no matter the time of year or what kind of toy I throw. One of my boys will only wade slowly and the other loves nothing more than diving right in and retrieving sticks (logs). I think it must just depend on the dog.


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## Tatnall (May 20, 2008)

I have found that another dog (or more) is sometimes just the ticket. The pup wants to play and if the other dogs like water, there is no stress or negative energy. Sometimes they are more people oriented so having dad or mom go in helps also.

My current pup loved water from a very little age. We had a baby pool for him and he loved playing in it, even putting his head under to pick stuff up off the bottom.

It took him a while when we took him to ponds to swim though. I think the feet leaving the bottom is the thing that bothers them sometimes, even if they like water. It took a few tries, but once he left his feet to get the bumper, he was a swimmer--no puppy splashing or anything. After that, it was all great.

I have never had a golden that didn't love to swim, but some took a little more time to do it that first time.


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## PeanutsMom (Oct 14, 2007)

Tatnall said:


> I have found that another dog (or more) is sometimes just the ticket. The pup wants to play and if the other dogs like water, there is no stress or negative energy. Sometimes they are more people oriented so having dad or mom go in helps also.
> 
> My current pup loved water from a very little age. We had a baby pool for him and he loved playing in it, even putting his head under to pick stuff up off the bottom.
> 
> ...


I figured taking her with the boys would help but no such luck. I really wanted to be able to take all three and watch them romp. I just love to watch Peanut go, and it's good for him  Peaches will just stand and watch them though. In trying to get Buddy to actually swim instead of just wade we'd entice him with a stick or ball then throw it, he'd stand there and cry till Peanut brought the stick or ball back to him.


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## Nash (Mar 23, 2012)

It's amazing the different personalities Goldens have when it comes to water activity. It seems as some know to dive right in as other need 
More time to "warm up to" the water. It only took one trip to the creek before my 3 month old jumped right into the water and was swimming. I had not intended on introducing him to water until a couple more months, but I can't seem I keep him out now


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## EvanG (Apr 26, 2008)

3 elements determine successful water work:

The dog
Type/procedure for water introduction
Formal training
This balance of items can shift to work favorably - even if item #1 isn't top notch in this area.

EvanG


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## Radarsdad (Apr 18, 2011)

I concur with using a another dog that likes water. That's how I taught my mothers German Shepard to swim. However I received a complaint from Mom that Anna kept playing in her hot tub. She was not amused.


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