We've just been checking out some breed descriptions (yes we are anoraks :D ) and the Newfoundland breed description quotes that they are exellent swimmers, however it's not the dog to swim with as they would keep trying to bring you back to shore ! :D

Chesapeake Bay Retriever-no water too cold or rough and quite happy to let you hold on to them.

I started swimming with Megan my Newfoundland when she was 10 weeks old and have not had a problem, in the water she doe's as she is told ,as in obedience.

It is a great experience, I was 47 when I got my first wet suit

Lynn

I would dearly love to swim with mine but they hate water! and its so liberating to swim out into the sea but dreadful to hear the howls of dissaproval from the mutts on the beach as they fight with their conscience to swim or not to swim!I end up swimming back!

My wonderful Spanish Water Dogs, although I wish I was in Spain with cleaner water and nice weather :d  Don't know anywhere suitable to swim with them here in the UK!

I took my boys to Dawlish warren for a few days for Paignton dog show, it was dead hot and the beaches were empty so the boys were let lose and the further out I swam they followed, even little Alf who had never swum before :p  It was so weird swimming along with my boys paddling away next to me :D :D

I swim with all four of our goldens in our backyard pool. They just love it and are so cute paddling! Friends usually bring over sibe huskys and standard poodles (which i'll tell you are amazing swimmers!).  Snatching rope ball toys off the bottom is there favourite game , all are tuckered out by the time we go in!

my spainsh water dogs  then my fcr,i very luck after the season at the lido has finshed on sept 3 the dogs can go it in untill march when it got to be drain to be clean for the season in the summer.

this is a good train place to get pup into the water and water retrieves too

I've swum with my labrador and it's lovely, but we do need to avoid kids on bodyboards and surfboards or she'll swim over to them, clamp her jaws on the bodyboard and pull them back to the shore!  She always tries to save my kids in particular if they are swimming on any kind of board.  Also, her claws really hurt if she swims too close to me, but it's lots of fun.  Always used to love swimming with our (late) spaniel cross, as he'd just swim around until he was tired and then just kinda jump on you for you to hold him and bring him back to the shore - a real baby LOL.  Now we have a little cocker puppy and I can't wait until he's old enough to get down to the beach and start swimming with us.  They are all different, but I do love watching a dog swim.  Our lab swims in a pond in a park close to us on a daily basis, past the ducks with no problem, just splashing around, but then she also managed to 'swim' in a small stinking mud puddle in a local kids park recently and looked more like a farmyard pig than a dog.

My Newfie pup is just starting to gain her confidence in the water so the local ducks had better watch out or they'll find themselves being 'rescued' and safely deposited on dry land :D :D

One of my friends had newfies & I loved swimming with them, they only rescued you when you needed a tow back to shore, LOL they taught one of my GSDs to swim & after that I couldn't keep him out of the water  whenever he got the chance in would be in

Not sure about our boxer yet - haven't had a chance to get to our beach yet as it's pretty packed with the old holiday makers but once the kids go back to school we'll be down the beach with him and see how he gets on.

Our springer cross on the other hand has this thing about water - he hates it, bath, sea, pond, puddle !  He actually jumps over puddles when we go out for a walk whereas I, big kid in wellies, jump straight in the middle and as for the sea - he walks along the beach just on the edge of the shore line but when a wave comes in he runs a mile :D

I've paddled with my Cavaliers and American cocker, but they only followed me in through loyalty, they don't like swimming. OTOH my friend's Cavaliers all love swimming!