[Juneharwood]

Has anyone got any tips to stop my 2 year old lab Archie from swimming out too far please? Today he started off OK swimming up and down but then turned and swam out. I've tried chicken rather than his usual treats, whistle and calling to no avail. He doesn't retrieve so balls and sticks don't work. When he has had his swim he'll eventually come back in, especially if we are holding a large stick for him. We've had 2 labs before but never experienced this. He loves the water but don't think my nerves can handle it. I've even thought about just booking him a swimming session regularly at the local doggy pool. Any suggestions gratefully received. Thank you.
7

 

[Tarimoor]

As my old trainers would tell me, work on your recall. If he's not coming back it's a recall issue. If you're calling him and he's learned to ignore you then it's back to square one. It might be worth booking in with a good trainer who will help you to learn the skills to teach him reliable commands xx

 

[JohnW]

Labradors love water, but interestingly some are not good at it. What happens is, the rear end gradually sinks lower and lower in the water, with the front end powering away effectively powering the dog up instead of along in the water. Forward motion is lost, with the dog in fact just treading water, until he/she becomes exhausted and drowns. My Anna was one of these, though it was never a problem for her because the stream running through the shoot where I worked her was only about 3 or 4 meters wide. Amy on the other hand was always a very strong swimmer. Chloe, will do almost anything to avoid getting her carefully coiffured hair wet! Not the first time I've had to encourage her in with a well placed boot when the need has arisen.

 

[Petorama]

As my old trainers would tell me, work on your recall. If he's not coming back it's a recall issue. If you're calling him and he's learned to ignore you then it's back to square one. It might be worth booking in with a good trainer who will help you to learn the skills to teach him reliable commands xx

I agree , investing in a worth while trainer will be valuable. Its very scary not being able to trust your dog with coming back to you when you call.

 

[Tarimoor]

Labradors love water, but interestingly some are not good at it. What happens is, the rear end gradually sinks lower and lower in the water, with the front end powering away effectively powering the dog up instead of along in the water. Forward motion is lost, with the dog in fact just treading water, until he/she becomes exhausted and drowns. My Anna was one of these, though it was never a problem for her because the stream running through the shoot where I worked her was only about 3 or 4 meters wide. Amy on the other hand was always a very strong swimmer. Chloe, will do almost anything to avoid getting her carefully coiffured hair wet! Not the first time I've had to encourage her in with a well placed boot when the need has arisen.

I'm forever shoving chickens out of the way when digging up weeds at the minute, with a well placed trainer. They are literally on the end of the fork in the ground all vying to get the first worm.

 

[JohnW]

Anna was running in a Game Conservancy puppy working test in West Wycombe park. There was a retrieve out on the lake. I remember Peter Scott was the judge on that test. I sent Anna and she started off ok, but got slower and slower, more and more splashy, until Peter said, "Is she OK John?" I said, "Well if she drowns it will save on the food bill!" But I must admit I was mentally preparing to dive in after her. But she got to the dummy, and with the weight of the dummy her head came down and her back end up and she powered back fine. Below is Anna swimming. You can see her head up attitude.

With Amy swimming you can see how much more level she is in the water.

 

[Tarimoor]

Branta is initially head up, until she 'remembers' how to swim, then she's like her mum, almost seal like swimming along the water surface. And even now, Zasa is still faster than the hairy black pesky thing through water, much to Rhuna's disgust.

 

[JohnW]

Anna was never a good swimmer, but then, when working I've seen her power her body up half out of the water to see into reed beds when looking for a bird. So I guess her swimming style suited her needs.

 

[Tarimoor]

Zasa has always been a really natural swimmer, but Branta does take a while to settle in to it. I do wonder if it's because I introduced Branta to water on her own, as, when she's in the company of other dogs, she swims like her mum. This is Zasa and Rhuna coming back in, Zasa is lower in the water than Rhuna, she really is very seal like.

 

[JohnW]

Amy learned to swim the hard way. I took her to the farm, before she was 8 weeks old, to get her use to sheep. There is a foot bridge, (Scaffold board) across the stream from the car park, and there had been a lot of rain. The water was up level with the bridge. I walked across and Amy followed, except half way across she did a right turn and stepped onto the water! She learned to swim VERY quickly, but it never bothered her and from then on she swam at every opportunity!

 

[Tarimoor]

There's a fantastic local reservoir to us (coincidentally the one in the photo above) which slopes gently in that I use to get pups used to swimming. From memory, Rhuna was with Zasa when she had her first dip, but I took Branta on her own and she was a little hesitant, but absolutely loves swimming these days. Occasionally she'll do the puppy splashes where her paws are hitting the surface of the water, but when she gets her rhythm she powers through water like her mum.

She doesn't carry her head as low as her mum, this was an instance where she'd lost sight of the dummy, hence me throwing a stick out to try and get her attention to the dummy, but she retrieved the stick. Eventually we got the dummy without me getting wet feet!

 

[Lablover61]

Ben learnt to swim at an early age, now he's not happy if his walk doesn't include a daily swim🙂

 

[Ebygomm]

Ada is swimming pretty well these days, with a life vest on she can even tow me Doesn't get her swimming ability from her mum apparently, who swims like she's trying to climb out of the water.

https://flic.kr/p/2nxQE5A

 

[rachwarwick]

Freddie loves water, and will take every opportunity to splash and paddle, but isn't such a fan of the swimming. He'll do it for survival (like in the early days when I carried him out into Loch Lomond and let him go!) and to get a ball that's floating away, but only the first time. If we throw the ball out that far again, consider it lost.