Teaching Dogs to Swim and Enjoy the Water

We’ve been talking about swimming (and sinking) a lot this month, so we asked our Facebook fans, what’s your best advice for teaching a dog how to swim and/or enjoy the water?

Positive reinforcement, a life vest and patience all made for water-loving pooches. Thanks everyone for sharing.

I think the best way to get your dog to be comfortable in the water is to be right beside him the whole time, in the beginning. My dog can’t swim well (physical reasons) but when she does a brief paddle, she is reassured when I keep an arm under her torso for support.

Every dog is different. My Canaan took about a month of watching other dogs swim before she finally jumped in and started swimming. My Corgi can’t swim, he needs a life vest and even then, he’ll roll over. But he does like to get in occasionally, just to join the fun. And my bully just blasted into the water the first time and swims like a champ, she swam in the river with and against the current her first time. So, I think just go with the dog’s needs… let them tell you how ready they are and let them go at their own pace. I think forcing them has the potential to make them fear the water.

Michael loves the beach! I knew he would, too, because like with every new experience, I have taught him to be more curious “dog” above anything else. So when he “met” the ocean for the first time, he did his usual sniff/play bow/chase/goofy grin, and then he was off and swimming!

Yes every dog is different! Our AmStaff Rocco (85lbs) has a very hard time swimming. He is a very large, clumsy guy but our Staffie, Abbi, that is a lean, muscular athlete, swims like a fish! The most important lesson to teach any dog if you have a pool, is how to get to the stairs just in case they fall in. And, as always, never leave your pittie unsupervised in the yard!

Find what they love most and throw it in the water…and be IN the water to encourage them. For my blockhead it was a ball, but I’m always aware if she is getting too tired, she’s not exactly built to swim.

I made it a game with my Lab when she was a pup. I put enough water in the tub for her to splash around in and then I’d throw toys in the mix. I let her get in and out as often as she wanted. Made for a wet house but a very happy Lab who can’t stay out of the water… even if it’s an ornamental pond!!

We started all our dogs in a shallow cool creek on extremely warm days. We would walk them out till they were comfy. After a few times my one boy started dunking his head and doggy paddling. They key for me was making the water better than the outside air. The way I taught my one to swim in deep water was a little different. We have an equine center (pool for horses) that allows dogs. It has a gentle slop into the water like a creek or a beach. We threw his ball out and he swam after it. We realized that he would keep going till he had no energy and sink (typical pitty), so I started using a doggie life preserver. He LOVES to swim and like I said before, he likes to dunk his head and sometimes dives under for rocks in the creek.

My small terrier mix was afraid of the water for the first year of his life. We went to the dog park last summer and there was a Lab mix puppy swimming and splashing around in the water. My dog actually mimicked what the other dog was doing and started swimming! Now, all he wants to do is swim! We are hoping that our pit bull will want to go swimming this summer, too!

We have two bullies – one loves the water and is like the bratty kid doing cannon balls in the deep end. The other is a little more timid and is like the kid with his swimmies on in the shallow end. We got a kiddie pool and work with the timid dog alone to get him feeling more comfortable without having the other one splashing around like crazy.

My dog (a Lab believe it or not) was afraid to let his feet leave the bottom of any water source. We encouraged him to come in, but let him go at his own pace. We also tried various types of water (pools, rivers, ocean, lakes)…once he discovered the ocean, that was it! My poodle also was very wary of water initially. Again, we use positive reinforcement techniques and let him find his own way. If he gets in and swims, he usually swims to us and then wants to be held gently underneath (so he just floats there). This seems to be relaxing to him and that’s fine. Also, big steep underwater drop offs were scary to them before they became swimming pros; definitely avoid those kinds of surprises. Basically, I just think dogs need to feel confident and secure to learn to love water, and those experiences need to be treated just like any other new experiences.

I use a life vest if they are unsure and take their favorite toy in with us for their first swim. I try to make a game of it. My pit was afraid at first, but soon learned to love the water, and now I can’t keep him out of it.

I bought a kiddie pool. I would sit in it with a toy or ball and let them know that it was a fun place to be. After they learned to like the kiddie pool, I transitioned them to the big pool. Now, my black Lab swims all the time and the others usually get on the sun shelf/fountain and play in the water. They swim sometimes and are getting more comfortable the big pool. I always teach them where the stairs are first thing.

As a puppy, my golden retriever fell in our pool and freaked out and has never learned to swim. She has a life jacket that she uses and we hold her up when we try to teach her. At 6 she rarely goes all the way in, but on her own but she will walk down the steps to play and moves her front arms like she’s swimming.

My Lab literally taught my pit to swim and love the water. Dogs learn from each other. So, the buddy system worked wonders for us.

My big guy, Pantera, loved the water until he got in over his head, and then he didn’t know how to keep his back end up. Being all muscle, he didn’t float very well! I bought a RuffWear Float Coat for him — it holds a dog in the proper horizontal position for swimming. After a few sessions swimming with the float coat on, he learned to use his back legs properly, and now he doesn’t need the coat.

Diesel used to hate water so much that he wouldn’t even potty in the slightest sprinkle. But, he loved his stick and playing fetch more than he hated the rain. So, we “starved” him of fetch until the next rain and a few throws later he couldn’t have cared less! Used the same method at the beach! Now we catch him in the shallows using his front two feet to walk and letting his back end just kind of float along. It’s pretty funny!

I got in the water and let my dog develop enough confidence to follow me. A life vest for your dog is a good tool to use as well.