Dog Troubles

Not uncommon for many dogs (even labs) to be hesitate about getting into the "swim" of things.

What I have done to introduce the last couple lab pups to the water is to find a shallow water area (a lake is prefect) and after playing along the edge as you have done for a few days I work on getting the pup to swim. I usually put my waders on and play with pup doing such things as fetch ect in the shallows until the pup is comfortable with the game. I also wade back and forth encouraging the pup to follow me (again stay in the shallows -the pups comfort zone). After a time or two the pup should be enjoying this new game. Once I reach tht stage I throw the bumper out a little deeper but not so deep that the pup has to swim. If the pup is hesitate to get deeper I would it to encourage to follow me to it. Repeating this a few times and you should be able to throw it so that a short swim is required. The idea is to make it her choice to swim to the bumper all the while having fun.

One word of caution - once it is a swimmer she will expect you to continue those "games".

Tight lines
Curt

Patience & a little tincture of time will work wonders.

When I was a teenager (decades ago) I lived by the ocean and really wanted my puppy dog to learn swim with me. I threw her in the water once, just messing around, and it took her years to forgive me for that.

But, long before she ever swam with me again I came to learn that she enjoyed swimming just fine. One morning, a few months after I had tossed her in the water, I was walking along the beach and noticed a couple of swimmers and their dog swimming together towards the shore. I remember thinking that that was pretty cool, and wondering where my dog was.

When they came ashore I could see that they were two elderly ladies. Their dog was running circles around them, then suddenly hightailed it straight to me.

It was my dog! Well. We greeted each other while the ladies walked on up to us.

"Is that your dog?"

"Yeah, her name's Sasha."

"Oh, we call her..." I forgot what they had named her, something silly like Buttercup or Peaches. "Did you know she goes swimming with us every morning?"

I pause, look down at my dog, who's looking up at me. She kinda winks at me then and gives me a real good wet sandy shake.

I laughed and shook my head.

"Well, I do now. Nice to meet you."

That was long ago, when you could let your dog run free in the morning on the beaches of Santa Barbara without a worry.

At any rate, there's no point to this. Just rambling. Sasha was an awesome good dog and smarter than me. She died in her sleep up in the mountains where she spent much of her puppy hood, in the middle of a cold winter night, in my sleeping bag with me. She was pushing 17 then, and ready to go after having seen me safely through most of my teens and 20's, a marriage, the birth of my daughter that she adopted, and a divorce. It was a 3 dog night, with 1 good dog.

You have plenty of time and a good dog. Treat them both well.

Smalma gives great advice here.

Best.

I had the same issues with my pups, a lab and a retriever. I used to take them out to Marymoor and wonder why they wouldn't jump into the river/slough there. It's too deep. I took them to Magnusson where there's lots of other dogs having fun and also the slope into the lake is gradual so they get their confidence up bombing about in the water at their comfort zone. Take a throw but be ready to get wet if they don't go for it, I started tossing out further and further and in no time I the reverse problem of trying to keep them out of the water. It just takes some time. They're a lot like kids, you just have to have a lot patience while they figure it all out. I'm glad others have warned of the just throw 'em approach, that's bs and simply freaks them out. To my shame I was stupid enough to do this with my retriever, still feel like an ass for doing it, scared the crap out of him and ruined the day, he did swim back tho' just took me 2 weeks to get him close to water again....

Dave