How do I teach my dog to jump into the water?

My dog jumps if I jump first.  

Maybe try throwing something your dog LOVES into the water?  Honor LOVES (mad, crazy, obesessive love) geese, and randomly jumped into the pond after one a few weeks ago!  I was stunned, because she considers water to be one of the seven cardinal sins, but in the pond she went!  So maybe you could toss a favorite floatable toy a few feet in, and see if your dog will go after it.

this might sound mean, but would pushing him in show him that it's not a big deal? or would that do the opposite? 

i would also love some advice on getting a dog to jump in.

Zoey, a JRT (not exactly a newf!) has started wading in the water, usually at the lake where we do agility after classes, with the other dogs going way out to retrieve toys. she'll only go in as far as she can without having to paddle. sometimes she goes a little too far and just paddles back to standing depth.

i've heard "take her out with dogs that swim", and that got her in, but any suggestions on getting her to go out???

JRTzoey

this might sound mean, but would pushing him in show him that it's not a big deal? or would that do the opposite? 

Do NOT push a dog in. Dogs that have issues don't necessarily want their head underwater. If you push them in most likely they will go under with their head and that can scare them.

First of all not all dogs "want" to jump in. What is your dog 'obsessive' over, is there a specific toy? Find a place where your dog can walk in, take the toy (it doesn't hurt to be in the water yourself) and gain his/her confidence. If the dog doesn't have confidence in the situation don't expect him to jump. Once they realize what is up jumping may come naturally.

I do dock jumping with my dogs. I have one that has the biggest jump but she won't jump at all in certain situations. I can not force her. Keep it fun, and understand if your dog just won't. My lab (that won't always jump off docks) won't ever "walk" into water, she will get to the edge and make the biggest leap I have ever seen. She is so goofy.

I was watching a show recently that was featuring dog breeds and what they were bred to do. They featured a Newf that wouldn't jump in the water. They were trying to teach this dog to be a water rescue dog, but it would not jump out of the boat. Eventually it did but it took quite a while to gain the dogs trust to do it. All dogs learn at their own speed. Go slow and work for confidence and trust. Keep in mind their are labs and goldens who do not swim either.

Good Luck!
 

 Lab that doesn't swim?

                                      Communist Lab.

I wish Apollo wasn't so water crazy! I can't keep my boy out of it- he'll jump off anything to get in!

I would try going somewhere familiar with your dog, like the creek. Let him walk around and get used to it, then toss something he's crazy about in not too far away. Let him bring it back, do that a few times. Then try throwing it a little farther, then a little farther. Take it slow, and work up to where you want to be in baby steps. Getting in the water yourself will probably help too.

Heidi just this past weekend finally got the courage to get in the pool.  I attribute it to having a fun day with another dog (very cool BC) who showed her it was ok.  Heidi didn't get in that day, but later on, I got in and lured her in with her most favorite ball in the world.  I encouraged her by being a crazy lady and making it like a big party in the pool and she was missing out.

 First, she was on the step of the pool and I had the ball about six inches from her nose...let her touch it, then slowly brought it further away from her...encouraging all the way.  Once she did finally swim in, eventually she was jumping in from the step.  Her confidence went through the roof...it was so cool to see the progression.

Me thinks we've created a monster.  LOL

ETA: I can't get my LAB in the pool.  I think he doesn't like the chemical smell.  Take him to a lake, creek or the neighbors KOI pond and he's a happy boy.  But he doesn't like swimming in the pool.  He'll cool off on the first step...but thats it.

 I don't know if I should just start a new post, since this one is so old....

 But I've got a kind of catch-22... I live in Colorado.. a fairly dry state... 

I live in an apartment complex... There's a pool, but dogs aren't allowed in the pool.

There are very FEW places in the state that allow swimming...I'm really not kidding... all of the places I know of... don't allow dogs in the water!!!! Dogs can get away with jumping in the water a lot of places.. but they don't allow swimming!  So, there are FEW places that it's legal for us BOTH to be in the water. Weird, huh????

He won't go in over his "ankles" anywhere we go, and he's jumped over creeks rather than even step in them. 

I'm a little stumped as to how to get him in the water... There are a couple of reservoirs within somewhat reasonable driving distance, so I guess I can try that. 

What I'm REALLY trying to find out is this:  I want to get into boating... canoeing, fishing boat, ski boat, something.  I have no idea if Taz will even get in a boat, much less go swimming somewhere with me.   But the boating is the big thing.  I may have to get a pretty good size boat, with a canopy or something...

Any ideas?  Especially from other Coloradans?  I live in Co. Springs... Rampart Reservoir and Eleven Mile Reservoir are not that far away.  I can rent a boat at Eleven Mile.  

Thanks in advance for any help.  Taz says thanks, too.  

 My first dog was a mostly lab mix who did not know how to swim when we got her. We taught her to do it by going out with her. She learned to jump because in the park here, there's a bit that goes under  a bridge. On either side of the bridge, you can walk down some rocks. We'd stand on either side with a long line, so one person on each side. We'd toss the leash across to each other, then when we started it, whoever was opposite from the dog would pretend to walk away. That made her do it.

This lab also didn't know how to retrieve.