Taking the plunge

[maya's dad]

Maya LOVES the water, she loves her bath and stands quitely whilst being bathed, loves the sprinkler system and plays in it for hours, loves dipping herself in the canals where we live on her daily walk, and loves to sit on the steps in the pool. But that's it. She just won't take the final plunge into the pool. You can see she is dying to try but just won't. We have tried to intice her with her ball, she goes crazy but won't swim. We have carried her in, and not too far from the steps release her. She swims back to the steps, very proud of herself, but won't try it on her own.

Suggestions please?

Thanks

[Xena's Daddy]

Well, the first time my dog went swimming was because I dragged her in!!! LOL....... (I could always tell she wanted to also, but she was scared to make the 'plunge' on her own as well.) She swam immediately back to the boat (3-feet away!), but she DID swim......so I tried again, but held her up by her belly longer and longer with each try, and from further & further away. I always had a close hand by her, only inches away from the underneath of her body at any given time. Also, I did it in very shallow water, so that even if something DID go wrong, her rear legs could 'touch' the bottom.

After the 3'rd trip out on the boat, she loved it SOO much that I had to keep a close eye on her, as she would jump in all by herself!! She DID learn to 'wait' until I was ready to go in before she could. But she would spend her 'waiting' time pacing back & forth on the dive platform, looking back at me like, "Aren't you ready YET?!"

She spent the rest of her life swimming whenever she got the chance!

Good luck!
MK

P.S. If you're nervous about the first couple of times, you could get her a life jacket........they make them for dogs! They even have a convenient 'handle' on the back to make grabbing them a little easier!
Xena had one, but never liked it or needed it........so now it sits in a storage compartment on my boat!

[AngelBunny]

I assume Maya is reluctant to use the stairs to get into the inground pool??

Sounds as tho she's very close to swimming, so keep trying.

Our foster loves wading in our beaver pond. He was a city dog and was clearly astonished by the pond the first time he saw it. Now he happily runs into it, wading along the shore. I couple of times he's run in over his head and has splashed frantically, goggle-eyed, as he heads back to the shore.

I know he'd be swimming if I went into the pond--but it has leaches so he's gonna have to learn to swim on his own. I encourage him as best I can, but as I won't set a toe into the pond, it's slow going.

You'll have a swimmer on your hands soon. Keep encouraing her!

[mamamia1]

Have you tried the beach? I don't have access to a pool so we've taught our girl to swim at the beach. The beach is good because of the gradual depth. Lots of patience and encouragement is definitely the key. I've even floated treats/kibbles so she has to swim out to get them. Now she swims out like nobody's business. She even dives with her whole head under the water for up to 5 to 10 seconds.... crazy!

P.S. Getting the whole family in the water is a big lure as well.