I would like my English Pointer to swim.  How do we teach this or should I say encourage it.  My English Pointer can swim, but I have only seen this in very short times.  I take her to a pond, and the water is clear enough I can see if she is swimming.  Each time she gets to a depth of water requiring her to swim, she just turns around and comes back to more shallow water.  To me, it seems that swimming would be great exercise for this high energy dog.  I have tried tossing treats out to water levels just high enough to have her swim.  If she figures she will have to swim she just comes back out of the water.  A couple of times, labs have been at the pond.  Our dog will go out in the water and watch the labs swim in deeper waters and retrieve.

Any helpful tips?

Pointers are not big on swimming. Think about their job of work, they are the game finding dogs. They hunt the moors looking for Grouse and the like then, on finding something go on point. One place they are not likely to find a Grouse is in the middle of a lake!! ;) It is just not their natural hunting ground.

Again, look at the coat. All retrievers have a thick heavy coat. A coat which traps a lot of air. This air has two functions. One: it keeps the dog warm even when the temprature is below zero, and Two: in effect it acts like water wings!

Yes, by all means let her have a paddle and if she wants to go deeper she will but she is never going to make a "Channel Swimmer"

Best wishes, John

Good points.

I am surprised she has a coat at all considering the volume she sheds!  Everything I read called them "moderate" shedders.  Ha Ha Ha

Hi there, we've got a pointer too and he does exactly the same - goes out to just his depth but no more.  It would be lovely to see him swim but I'm not going to push it as it's obviously not his thing.  Anyway, he's quite happy watching the other dogs swim and then trying to steal their sticks from them as soon as they get back to shallow water! 

Pointers HATE swimming.  They are just not designed for it, although there are the exceptions.  Whenever any of mine go out of their depth, they look as though they are drowning, with their paws splashing about.  I've nearly jumped in after them as I thought they had got into difficulty.  Mine like having a gentle paddle where they can stand up :-D

Helen

How old is your pointer?  I really enjoy hearing about others' pointers.  Mine is only a year.  I wonder how much more she will settle and etc.  Right now it seems that my world revolves around her.

I've got three.  One is just over 12 months old (Milly), one is 6 years old (Lucky) and then there is Goldy who is 11 years.  You may have a long wait for them to calm down ;-)  We're still waiting for Lucky to and it's only been in the last couple of years that Goldy has slowed down.

They are a lovely breed but bloomin hard work ;-)

Helen

Tell me about the difference in behavior from the year old to the six year old pointers? 

My Sadie is 13 months.  She requires as much of my attention as any of my children when they were toddlers.

And, as much as the girl drives me crazy, in the back of my mind I would like to have a second dog.  Of course after much advice, I will wait until Sadie is a minimum of two years old.  Sadie is very very social and very submissive with other dogs... 

Do you have any opinions on what a good breed would match an English Pointer?  I do not really see myself with a second gundog or high energy breed.  I was hoping to look for breed with traits a bit calmer and likes to stay closer to me on walks...yet wants to interact with the Pointer?  I wonder if a small dog would not match well.  What has been your experience?

>Tell me about the difference in behavior from the year old to the six year old pointers? 

lol, not much ;-).  The older one has a better recall but we are working on Milly's and we are getting there.  They are both working dogs and we have yet to work Milly properly.  She's going to be out on the moor this July so we will see how she fares.  She does have an amazing nose so we do have high hopes for her. 

They are both fairly calm in the house unless they've not had enough exercise and then they will start running around the living room.  They are both buggers for counter surfing and nothing we have done has stopped it so we just make sure they don't go in the kitchen.  They can be working for up to 6 hours so they are incredibly fit so when it's not the counting season, we can't really complain when they are still raring to go.

> I wonder if a small dog would not match well.  What has been your experience?

As well as the three  pointers, we have two springers and a gwp.  They all get on really well.  The youngest springer is only a few months younger than Milly and they get on great.  Pippa (springer) is a really easy dog and they spend most of the day playing.  When we've met other dogs around, they seem to get on great so I don't think a different breed would matter. 

I didn't go for the advice of waiting until Milly was 2 years old and I'm glad I didn't.  It's been REALLY hard work but worth it.  It was just the right time for us to get another springer so we could get her ready for this years shooting season.

If you want to see any pics of my lot, let me have your email and I'll send you some.  My email address is (I think it's different on my profile) hv.foster@ukonline.co.uk)

Helen

"Counter surfing" that is hilarious!  I must tell Sadie "down" twenty times a day.  The stuff the breeders leave out for us, first time owners....lol  We would love to see photos.  I will send my address.

Thank you.

Not meaning to be picky, but when you tell Sadie 'Down' from the counter, what word of command do you use when you want her to lie down (a totally different action)?

We say slowly "lay down" and use an open hand palm facing the ground. 

We started using "down" to mean off counters, table, furniture before we started obedience classes.  We did not know better... so this is what the trainer recommended we do.

You may be better using simply "Lay" for lying down, because the use of the sound (I won't say 'word' because to a dog it isn't as such) "Down" in two different situations can cause confusion. Many people use "Off" and "Down" as they sound very different.

Equally you'd be astonished how common it is for owners to tell their dog to "Sit Down" - very muddling, and often leads to owner frustration.
:)

I know using the word "No" is politicly incorrect in some people's eyes but to me it is a general command for "stop whatever you are doing" and I find it works well in this situation.

Best wishes, John

Me too John, usuall followed by some expletives :-D

Helen