Can all dogs swim? My dog didn't know what to do when he went in the river.

No, not all dogs can swim although most can be taught with time and patience

Think all dogs can swim if their lives depend on it. Many dogs don't like water at first though. Best way to introduce swimming is to have one dog who loves swimming to introduce a newbie, who will eventually realise it's great fun. That's how all mine learnt. Sadly, we're not near a river now & my oldies have gone, so there is no one to show my present dogs who won't even walk through a puddle!

lol - if you were closer you could borrow Sam. She can find a muddy puddle in a dessert and is a real pain to keep out of any available water :)

Unfortunately dogs can also drown. Labradors, generally recognised as a dog which swims well is one of the worst puppy's for getting into trouble. When young it tends to carry it's head rather high in the water and as it tires it's head comes up even higher and it's behind sinks lower. Eventually it is standing vertical in the water and all its legs are doing is to try to push the head even higher. All forward motion is lost and unless you take action and physically push the head down the pup will eventually be exhausted and will drown!

My Anna started to get into difficulties in the very first working test she went in and I was standing by to dive in to rescue her but she got to the dummy in time and the added weight of the dummy in her mouth brought the head down, Now, as an experienced dog I've seen her stand vertically in the water with her head over a foot out of the water to look over a reed bank for a bird!

Best wishes, John

John,Thanks for that, that would explain the strange way my Sox swims(!)will keep her out of water now,the rest of my gang are fine though,Sandra.

It's not so much a question of keeping her out Sandra as not allowing her to get too far away. Given experience, just like my Anna she will learn the way. One of the problems of a puppy going in with older, good swimmers is that the puppy could go too far. If it is a large expanse of water it forgets that when it has got tired that it still has to swim back!

Best wishes, John

I know this might sound a bit strange but I actually go in water with the dogs and now you mention it our Soxy doesn't stray too far from me.Don't get me wrong I'm not swimming in this weather!!!!BRRRR!!!

Why not? COWARD! ;)

I remember when I was younger swimming after a ball which had gone into the sea. The wind was blowing from the shore and after a little while I was still no closer to the ball. Getting a little worried I looked behind me at the shore receding in the distance and nearly panicked! By the time I finally made it back into shallow water I was about all in!

When taking a water training class I start with a retrieve into shallow water, something they can walk to. The next retrieve is into quite steeply sloping water, just far enough to take the puppy out of its depth. After this I'll do a little work on land to allow the puppy to recover. Swimming uses muscles not so usually used so a pup can get tired very quickly until the muscles have been developed. After this and its back to the water again. If all has gone well then I'll try a retrieve of around three of four yards swim. With strong swimming puppies I'll probably do just one more retrieve of a little further then call it a day. I always have my own dog around to retrieve anything which has drifted too far away. Short successful retrieves build up the puppy's confidence. A longer one which ends with the puppy getting into difficulties can so easily have it's confidence destroyed for all time.

Best wishes, John

John,your story of swimming and ending up so far out reminded me of when we were on hols a few years ago.We saw the wild dolphins and jumped into a kayak and followed them,BAD MOVE!!!!When we tired we turned and started for shore,it was waaaay over there.I think it took me an hour and a half to paddle back,i couldn't move for days after it what with the sunburn,sunstroke and muscle fatigue.:D sandra.

my 6 month lab gets in our fish pond every day, just cant keep her out, my 4 year old lab watches her like shes mad.