When to start swiming?

[rsaarinen]

If all goes well I will be getting my first puppy at then end of October! I plan on getting him into puppy class and doing extensive training with the dog. The one question I was thinking about is how young should I expose the puppy to swiming?

I don't want to stress him out or place him in a situation that he isn't ready for. However I love the water myself I own a boat and am always camping and swiming. So I would like the dog to be great in the water. Any help I would appreciate it!

[damp]

Expose him to water the sooner the better (it's part of proper sosialization) and he will swim when he is "ready", if you give him the time he needs!

[rsaarinen]

So i should expose him how? Walk into the water holding him and lay him in the water like teaching a kid to swim or just let him be around it. When you say "time" I take it I should let him take it at his own pace?

[autumn]

The best way I have found is to have the pup around another dog that likes to swim. Don't put any pressure on him. Just let him play around and as long as it is a positive experience he should be swimming in no time. Every dog I have raised from a pup starts swimming around 5 weeks. My problem now is I cannot keep them out of the water! They go crazy as soon as they see any body of water.

[damp]

Yes EXPOSE to water!

I would take him out in rain, let him explore the puddles, take him to small streams etc. and let the pup investigate on his own. When he is confident to walk into and through brooklets, take him to a sea or the beach and again let him do it in his own pace. Some just jump in the water and other are more hesitating.

Let it be a fun game just like the rest of the socialization/ teaching/training.

[rsaarinen]

I think what I will do is take him somewhere with my brothers yellow lab. This dog goes CRAZY when he's around water and is really good about being around other dogs/puppies. Having a puppy swiming at 5 weeks scares me ! I think I would be real nervous if my pup was swiming in deep wated that young. But then again I will be watching him every step of the way.

I will make sure I bring him in the rain ( shouldn't be a problem in Seattle ) and work his way up the the lake/rivers around the area! Thank for the input

[damp]

Well my first choice would definitely not be having an other dog around, but last resort.

The idea with all socialization is that the pup makes its own experiences and gains confidence by its own and it should not be an appendix to an older dog.

[rsaarinen]

That is a good point! The other dog could put added stress on the puppy. I think I'm going to handle this with exposing him slowly and make sure he has positive experiances when he has them. I like the idea of starting in the rain and working your way up! Makes the most sense to me at least

[mrsgrubby]

When Jasmine was about 16 weeks I took her to Lake Michigan and I just started walking down the beach, taking a walk. By the end of the walk she was playing in the water (there were no big waves that day, waves would have scared her at that age.) The next trip we did the same and I threw a few sticks for her into the water which she chased. The next trip there were waves and she didn't go in much.

But now at 10 months I can't keep her out, waves or not.

However, I did make one mistake. I took her to a small inland lake and she started swimming. Well stupid me, some ducks swam by and she started swimming after them...and she would not come back... and she still would not come back.. I finally hado to jump into the lake with my clothes and shoes on and swim out and get her. Good thing I did because she was way far out and got really tired and started to struggle and panic. I held her and swam back in.
Now when we go to that lake, she swims with a 20 foot leash and me at the other end of it.

[Judi W]

Please tell us that you misspoke about 5 weeks and that you are not getting your puppy at such a young age.

[flyballmom]

Originally Posted by Judi W

Please tell us that you misspoke about 5 weeks and that you are not getting your puppy at such a young age.

Oh my yes, PLEASE Hopefully that was a typo. No reputable breeder would let a pup go home anywhere near that young.

Swimming. Take it slow. Don't rush. Blitz wanted nothing to do with water when she was young. I have pics and a video clip of her when we had our 6 month old puppy reunion doing everything she could to NOT get in the lake. I took her to bodies of water (calm stretches of a river, lakes) fairly frequently, walked into the water myself, threw in toys, made a huge game of it. It took until several months for her to actually go in and swim. Now she thinks it's the best fun to run in and splash after a stick. Let the pup go at it's own pace.

[LynnS]

I imagine every dog is different...Bella launched herself in her breeders pool when she was about 4 months old and has been a water dog from that day on...If your pup is not interested I would not push it -

[spidey]

Just keep in mind that dogs need to develop swimming skills, just like people do. Yes, they will usually automatically "dog paddle", but that doesn't mean they can swim well, and it doesn't mean they can't drown. Dogs can and do drown, so don't let an inexperienced pup go swimming unless you're there and can get to the pup if he gets into trouble.

[gomer9855]

Frau loves the water from 8 weeks old, but wouldn't go past where she could touch (actually swim) until she was year. I threw Jolley Ball out for her and it went too far, so she wasn't going to get it. So I went to get it, clothes and all (that ball wasn't cheap!). I was in the middle of the river and Frau must have decided she needed to rescue me. Her face got her wrinkled up and she leaped in after me, feet flying, water splashing all over until she got to me. Then we went back to shore. She was very pleased with herself. . Now she jumps off docks. Faust ran into the river of her own accord to swim the day after we got her. It all depends on the dog.

[annie]

Originally Posted by Judi W

Please tell us that you misspoke about 5 weeks and that you are not getting your puppy at such a young age.

Well, I agree that the sooner is better... We have a training pool for the dogs, since I consider swimming one of the most important exercise for our rotts. In all cases,puppy or not , I go into the pool with the dog,holding him/her whenever necessary in a reassuring manner that everything is allright.Thru an experience of "teaching" a lot of dogs to swim, I can tell that usually a 6 week puppy is the first to swim by himself . It is important to say that I live in a tropical country and those first experiences happen on a sunshine days..And that swimming session lasts 2 minutes, according to my vet instructions.Its very cute !
Annie