Swimming pools - how to get a dog to go in

Start with something shallower.  We have tons of natural bodies of water so we go to a small pond or shallow stream and work towards the deeper parts.  Most dogs don't like to jump right in when they aren't used to deep water and many can't swim.  Just like people they have to stay out of the deep end until they develop their swimming skills.  My 5month puppy is just now starting to go into water that goes over her shoulders without getting nervous and we've been playing in the nearby stream at least a couple times a week for the past month.  If you don't have ponds or anything like that you could start with a plastic kiddy pool and other similar things that would hold water.  Then when you do go to a big pool or deeper water make sure to hold onto him until your certain he's swimming alright.  Also make sure he knows where the steps are so he can at least get partially out if he's tired.  If there are no steps he can use I wouldn't let him go to swim on his own.  Stay near him and along the edge or where you can hold onto something that will keep you both afloat should he get worn out or make a mistake.  Dogs can most definitely drown just as easily as kids and they can't as easily tell you when they are tired or having trouble.

For those of you with dogs and pools please, please insure that your dog knows how to swim and also knows how they can get out of the pool themselves via the steps or whatever.  I have heard way too many stories of dogs drowning in pools because they didn't know how to get out by themselves.
 
 

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I do have a kiddy pool which both of my dogs love. The pup goes swimming pretty much daily on our walks - in rivers, ponds and the great lakes on the weekends. He just won't go beyond where he can touch.
 
Maybe it'll come in time. I'm not going to force it. Or maybe I'll get him a life jacket just in case

I admit that I was surprised to learn that not all dogs know how to swim right off the bat.  Luke has always loved water but was very leery of deep water when he was younger.  I started taking him to boat ramps & beaches where he could gradually go deeper as he felt comfortable until eventually he was swimming.  His favorite toy in the world, his frisbee, was the motivating factor.
 
By the end of his first summer he was an expert swimmer.  We just took it slow.  He still doesn't like to jump into deep water, though, as he doesn't like his head to go under.  Even now when we play at the beach he much prefers me to throw the frisbee sideways along the coast so that he can make big splashes in the water versus swimming out deep to fetch.

I've never tried before as my dogs have all hated water, but if I were you I would try to teach him to swim the same way my mom taught me to swim - hold him up and let him flail his legs around. Just support his body with your hands/arms. Maybe that way he'll feel confident enough to figure it out on his own.

I think using a gently sloping lake or something works best for most dogs.
 
DON'T use this method. My mom dropped her dog off at a friend's for a couple of days while she went on a short trip. When she returned, I happend to be up visiting for the weekend and we couldn't figure out why this dog had suddenly started nipping us on the boobs--not hard, but not pleasant and certainly socially unacceptable.
 
What happened was that the friend had been trying to lure him into the pool using treats. She put the treats in the bosom of her swimsuit, to have her hands free and the dog decided that all bosoms contained treats.

omg, that is funny. No I don't think I'll be trying that method lol

Xerxes followed one of his dog friends into a creek.  Then he got out in the middle and realized he was *gasp* IN WATER!  He started crying and whining and stood completely still for 15 minutes.  I was tempted to go in and get him but I didn't.  I let him come out on his own and he's been going in and out of the water ever since.

Xerxes, did you intentionally follow CM's flooding technique?  Or you did what you did because you knew your dog, how the dog would react, and was prepared to intercede if Xerxes started panicing.  Most would agree that an indirect or gradual introduction to a pool or water would be the wise approach.  Even with that, some dogs just don't like to get wet.

ORIGINAL: DPU

Xerxes, did you intentionally follow CM's flooding technique?  Or you did what you did because you knew your dog, how the dog would react, and was prepared to intercede if Xerxes started panicing.  Most would agree that an indirect or gradual introduction to a pool or water would be the wise approach.  Even with that, some dogs just don't like to get wet.

DPU To be honest with you, that's not flooding in my book (though literally he was surrounded by 6-10 inches of water[] ) He had never indicated to me that he was afraid of water, and he followed his buddies in, so IMO I knew that if I went in to get him out all I would be doing was reinforcing his apprehensions, so I let him follow his buddies out.  I didn't drag him through the water, or splash him, or anything of that nature.  I let him cast his own net and bring it back in.

I don't understand what you mean by a gradual or indirect introduction... Do you mean start him out with a kiddie pool?  I live on the 3rd floor of an apartment condo, my "balcony" is 6 feet by 2.5 feet.    Like I said, we went to the creek park and he played with his friends and ended up in the water chasing them.  He saw that they weren't reacting poorly to the water.  And the rest is history.

Max avoids our pool like the plague, but when anyone is swimming he tears around the edge like a lunatic, leaping over the diving board every time he comes to it.  Two or three times he has done that just as someone was going off the board, and he wound up getting knocked into the pool. Each time, he went immediately to the side and got himself out. I've read more than once that a lot of dogs just recognize that swimming pools are much more dangerous for them than lakes or rivers. I know people whose dogs love going to the lake, but they still won't go near the pool.
 
Joyce

ORIGINAL: Xerxes

...realized he was *gasp* IN WATER!  He started crying and whining and stood completely still for 15 minutes. 

 
In all likelyhood, we robably share the same thinking of how a dog should be treated.  Regardless of whether you were aware of the dog's fear or not having a fear, to me your description of the behavior is fear based.  You left the dog frozen and maybe shut down to work it out on its own.  Please review CM's Shiney Floor episode and then the CM and Fear thread.  See if you see any similarities.

swimming pools are dangerous for dogs-- I'd start by teaching the dog how to get out of the pool safely, and teach him how to play and romp and swim in a more natural body of water like a shallow creek or pond.