Dutch Shepherd Forum

Im wondered what do your dogs behave like when you swim with them.

Swimming with Olaf is not really a lot of fun. When he is alone in the water, he doesnt go far, he walks through the water and swims a bit, but not far. If he sees another person swimming, he is very interested, watching carefully whats going on. (much more than he is interested in people on our walks etc).
But when i go to take a swim, he stays very close to me and swims at me, scratching me with his nails. I cant even swim away from him because he is much faster then me. He acts like wants to climb on my head. I have to push him away from me and then he circles around me with panicky face.
But as soon as I start swimming back out, he swims in front of me, like he is showing me the way.

Thats why I think he is trying to save me from drowning.

I havent tried tieing him up to something when I go for a swim, but I guess he would panick and probably bark.

My brother moved and no longer has a pool ... but, when he did. We had to either put Cino on a leash in a down stay or crate him.

He went nuts when the kids were in the pool. He especially dislikes it when someone goes under the water.

My niece was 18 or 19 at the time, a strong swimmer, lifeguard, dog lover ... she dove off the board and as she was coming up Cino was on top of her. She thought Cino was trying to bite her (think harmful). In reality he was trying to bite her...trying to save her by pulling her out of the water.

...

When I'm in the water I have to be very careful of him being loose. He wants to climb on me, pull me to edge, etc... So, when he is loose I stay in the shallow end, kneel down and let him sit on one of my legs as I support him. His other favorite place to be is on one of the floating mats.

Thalie will come in with me but wont swim around. She will go back out. Sadie wont come in yet. In the past other dogs I have swam with will come over and climb on top of me and I got scratched up. When we are in the pool, Thalie could care less unless the tennis ball is in there, then she will jump in and go right out. Sadie barks at the kids but has gotten much better, I used to have to put her on a leash and down and "QUIET!!" or she just runs laps around the pool and barks. Now she comes over to see what is going on but is much quieter.

I have never actually been in the water with Diesel when he was swimming and whenever I take him no one else is swimming so I really don't have any experience with that. But knowing Diesel and his intense focus on whatever he is doing at the time, I doubt he would pay any attention to me in the water. I will try to swim with him this summer if I can find a lake that is warm enough for me

I took Diesel swimming last night and he swam to a small island close by and wouldn't come back. I had to wade out there to get him. I have mentioned in other posts that Diesel and I are wroking on recall, so until that improves, I will be taking a 30ft rope with me next time we swim.

I have never swum with Zane - I stand at the edge of the lake or pool and throw toys for him to fetch. He's so single minded that he will plow through anyone who's in the water to get to his toy (ask the poor guy he landed on in the dog pool - through why a person would submerge himself in a dog pool, I have no idea). I bet that if I were swimming he would totally be one of those dogs who''s all over you and wanting to help.

Diesel wrote: I took Diesel swimming last night and he swam to a small island close by and wouldn't come back. I had to wade out there to get him. I have mentioned in other posts that Diesel and I are wroking on recall, so until that improves, I will be taking a 30ft rope with me next time we swim.

I think he was talking to Sadie, I had to go in and get her once too.

I haven't actually swam with Lotus but he has turned into a big water dog. Not surprising for a Hollandaise Herder living in Aridzona. He has just learned how to get out of the pool at the love seat. He waits for me to give permission to jump in. Lotus and Maggie the Chocolate Lab are swimming fools!

My DS doesn't like me in the water, either. Too bad for her .

What I do is throw out her water toy and send her, then dive in after her, and we swim back together.

We also work on swimming together, using "off" a lot.

You can try putting booties on her front feet; at least, you won't get all scratched up that way (BTDT )

My GSD was the same way. Herding dogs!

My Chesapeake will do the same thing, he'll try and swim "on" me until we're headed out of the water.

I've never found a solution, other than letting him do his swimming business and me keeping out of the water.

We took our new DS out for a swim today, Duke is only about six months old. I put him on a 30ft rope and let him run. At first he stayed very interested in this Beagle that was hanging around, but once that dog left, his attention went to the water. He stayed at the shore until my son ran into the water and in an instant he was right there with him swimming around and trying to jump on top of my son. My son thinking it was fun instigated Duke to continue this behavior. I stepped in with a tug of the rope and a stern voice commanding Duke to stop. After some repetition. He stopped but lost interest in swimming and would not go very far into the water. I hope we can get him down there to swim often. I have always wanted a water loving dog to play water fetch with.

RangerFamily wrote:

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We took our new DS out for a swim today, Duke is only about six months old. I put him on a 30ft rope and let him run. At first he stayed very interested in this Beagle that was hanging around, but once that dog left, his attention went to the water. He stayed at the shore until my son ran into the water and in an instant he was right there with him swimming around and trying to jump on top of my son. My son thinking it was fun instigated Duke to continue this behavior. I stepped in with a tug of the rope and a stern voice commanding Duke to stop. After some repetition. He stopped but lost interest in swimming and would not go very far into the water. I hope we can get him down there to swim often. I have always wanted a water loving dog to play water fetch with.

I stepped in with a tug of the rope and a stern voice commanding Duke to stop. After some repetition. He stopped but lost interest in swimming and would not go very far into the water.I have always wanted a water loving dog to play water fetch with

Charles, do you see how what you did here did not contribute anything positive to your new puppy wanting to enjoy the water with you?

Your son jumped in the water and riled Duke up, and Duke responded. You didn't like the way he responded and corrected him with your voice and the leash, repeatedly. Suddenly, a pup that was having fun in the water wasn't having so much fun any longer?

He doesn't know how to play with your son yet. You need to teach him that, and if possible, in a proactive manner (in other words, show him what you want from him, how to play with your son, rather than just correcting him when he does something wrong). Also, you'll need to teach your son how to behave around Duke; an excitable puppy will get riled up with a screaming, wriggling little 7 year old to egg him on .

Thank you, I have noticed that. I have talked to my son about how he plays with him, So far I am not letting Duke pounce or bite at him in any manner. When he does, I wrap my hand around his snout., Look him in the eyes and say "NO" He seems to have caught on and is playful with my son, yet gentle. i do allow him to get a little rough with me however. Is this okay? The day in the water, we had only had Duke a couple of days. I don't want to ruin his water fun, however, next time we go, I plan to go in with him for more one on one interraction with him. Any more tips, advice is greatly appreciated. I am new to this and want to do the best I am able.

Also he was not very interested in the water if nobody was in it

RangerFamily wrote:Thank you, I have noticed that. I have talked to my son about how he plays with him, So far I am not letting Duke pounce or bite at him in any manner. When he does, I wrap my hand around his snout., Look him in the eyes and say "NO" He seems to have caught on and is playful with my son, yet gentle. i do allow him to get a little rough with me however. Is this okay? The day in the water, we had only had Duke a couple of days. I don't want to ruin his water fun, however, next time we go, I plan to go in with him for more one on one interraction with him. Any more tips, advice is greatly appreciated. I am new to this and want to do the best I am able.

It sounds to me like you're on the right track, Charles. Consistency is the biggest key here. Keep doing what you're doing as far as explaining things to Duke, about being gentle with your son, and make sure to tell him how good he's being when he's doing the right thing, too (most people tend to focus overmuch on when dogs do the wrong things, rather than noticing and reinforcing when they're doing right things as much as possible. It's a good mode to get into. Behavior that is rewarded will be repeated, and you want to become his Main and Somewhat Mellow Reinforcing Machine .)

Your plan to go into the water with him one-on-one is perfect. My DS only wants to be in the water with me, or fetching with me on shore. Duke sounds the same (as opposed to a dog who loves the water so much, over the prey game or interaction, that s/he'll just hang out in it alone and swim and play.)

As far as playing rought with him yourself, it all depends on Duke. One of the important things for him to learn at his age is self-control. Often, when these dogs get riled up from very excitable play, they can't stop themselves and get way too wound up. If you are able to control how rowdy he gets, meaning not let him mouth you at all, and he can slow down and stop when you tell him it's enough, then I don't see a problem with that kind of play. (It's not a bad idea to have a toy with you that he can mouth in these kinds of games, too. It's another way he learns what's acceptable and what isn't.)

Your comment that he hasn't chewed on anything inapropriate (this thread of the other? ), says you are doing a great job of supervising him. Just be ready for him to become a bit more of everything he's showing you so far, as he's so new to you guys. In several weeks, you could find youself saying, "who is this dog?"

Thank you so much for the input. I have a chew rope that I use when playing with him. I reward him with healthy bite size treats. (chewy) Made by Zuke's. I change it up on how they are distributed so he does not make a habit of looking at my hands for the treat but rather, my eyes. Along with or sometimes just lots of rewarding affection. When walking him he sometimes gets excited and bites the leash wanting to play tug, I pull it gently out of his mouth and tell him we will get your rope, after we walk. after a few times he gets the idea. He does his business then I get his rope and we play.

Yesterday I took Sugar to the lake hoping to entice her in to swim, but no such luck. I didn't go in so there is still that approach for me to try, but yesterday I would throw a stick in the water just out of her reach and she wanted it so bad she would streeeetch herself out trying to reach it but would not let her feet leave the bottom. SOOOO funny to watch! She tried barking at the stick telling it to come closer, going different angles to get it, but had to wait til it floated close to her before getting it. Wish I had taken pics of her stretched out, lips and teeth stretched forward to get as close as she would dare to try to get to the stick just out of reach. Poor girl!

Duke seems to enjoy getting his paws wet, but I guess he needs a good reason to go more than a few feet beyond the shore.