[wa.duckhunter]

I've been training my pup all summer on obedience and ground retrieves, he is coming along real good. Last night I decided I would take him down to a near by pond to test out his swimming ability. He was a little hesitant at first, but once he seen a more experienced dog go in, he was all over it.
The only thing that concerned me was that his front legs kept coming out of the water causing him to exert more energy to swim, and I could tell he was having a hard time marking the dummy because of all the splashing.

My question is will he eventually outgrow this habit, or do I need to implement something in his training to help him overcome this? :help:

 

[JJ McGuire]

Don't worry it is not uncommon for young dog to swim that way initially. He will progress out of it as he becomes more comfortable in the water.

 

[bullet]

I agree with JJ. you might even get in w/ him and p/u his back end to show him what he's doing wrong. Once he gets the feeling he will stick with it. Right now he's swimming straight up and down

 

[gsphunter]

WA my male did this when he first started swimming. If you can see his back legs, I would bet that they aren't even kicking. This can cause that straight up and down thrashing swimming style. They learn how to swim though just like kids.

 

[shrpshtr]

Don't worry it is not uncommon for young dog to swim that way initially. He will progress out of it as he becomes more comfortable in the water.

:withstupid: this is actually quite common depending on how young your dog is. i wouldn't even worry about it. just remember, you had to learn how to swim once too... :smile: .

 

[gunman]

my young Chessie did that for about a week when I was first introducing her to H2o, after that she figured it out and never looked back. just keep bringing her down there, she'll get it....-Chris

 

[wa.duckhunter]

Thanks guys!!! It sounds like it is a pretty common thing. I just wanted to make sure, if it wasn't I wanted to eliminate the bad habit right away. Thanks again. :thumbsup:

 

[cooter]

Yes, this is very common, matter of fact, more pups do this than don't. He will learn how to swim and this will go away.

You will also see this when you start getting a little distance on water retrieves. They will be trying to raise their heads to look for the bumper, which cause them to get out of balance.

Most of the time, just having something in their mouths straighten out this problem, once they get over the first few swims. cooter

 

[Goosen]

:withstupid: we call it high stepping! He has not quite learned he has to use his back feet just like us wen we do not no how to swim we call it dog paddling wen we learn how to swim and use or back feet we plane out on the water its the same thing. do a lot of water retrieves it will pass. :getdown:

 

[cmelik10]

definetly don't worry about it, it took my pup three weeks of going down to the lake every night for three weeks before she figured out how to swim. Now that she has figured it out I can't keep her out of the water she would rather swim than eat i think.

Scott

 

[wa.duckhunter]

Wanted to say thanks again and give an update. Went on a four day family vacation to Lake Roosevelt and took Coot with us. The two of us had swimming lessons every day we were there. By the time we left I seen a huge difference. He still high steps on the way out to the bumper, but on the way back he doesn't make a splash. We even recieved a comment on how fast a swimmer he was on his way back in. I will continue to practice and hopefully get the out going trips as smooth as the incoming trips

Thanks again guys for your thoughts and suggestions. :thumbsup:

 

[Goosen]

all right good job!! just keep it up and you well be throw it soon.