Swimming pools - how to get a dog to go in

ORIGINAL: Xerxes

Yes, he was traumatized.  Look how scared he is in that water.  []

I agree with you. Looks still fragile to me, though.

My biggest question is not how do I get my golden retriever Abigail in the pool but how do I get her OUT!!!

She seems to think that she lives in the pool and have to keep her on a leash when I let her out in my landlords backyard.

whew...lots of pages!  in response the the original question, since all dogs are individuals I can only tell you what worked for me.  We bought a house with a pool and my older bc immediately hopped in.  She has spent lots of time in and out of shallow pools, stock tanks, ponds, etc., knew how to swim and loves the water.  She never got to swim as much as she desired because we live in central Florida and most bodies are off limits cause of gators.  I threw the tennis ball in the pool and in she went.  Fastforward a year.  I now have her son and he watches his mom in the pool but doesn't want to get in.  He is happy to plop down in a wading pool when working and hot and will swim in creeks, etc.  I put him on a leash and spent some time teaching him to step down on the first step of the pool stairs.  We would go play/train and then I'd take him to the pool.  Eventually he was happy to hop in on the 1st step and flop down for a while.  Then I played with the ball getting him to reach off of the step and fetch it...then I moved to playing with his mom and having him on the step watching her.  After a few mos. of this, one day I pushed him off the step while she was playing.  We can't keep him out of the pool now and he treds water, floats around, and general refuses to get out.  He also bounds off of dock into the one lake I let him swim in.  Soooo....this worked for him?  Before I pushed him off the step, I should say that I had seen him swim quite happily in a pond where he gradually got deeper and deeper. 
 
Along with what others say, if you have a pool dog, you must teach them where to get in and out and secure the pool when you're not there to watch. 
 
So now I have my girl's 6 mos. old granddaughter.  She isn't too keen on the pool but is learning to hang out on the top step.  She might be swimming by the end of the summer?  I won't push her

I *guess* that by some people's unusual definition of "flooding,” I flooded Bevo in his first experiences with water. This is actually a terrible misrepresentation of what really happened. I too, let Bevo work things out on his own. He & I were working on "send outs” on some hiking trails. I sent Bevo out then called for a stop, face, sit. Bevo did as directed & was sitting on a bridge that crosses over a creek. As I approached him, I decided to send him out again. This time I sent him off the side of the bridge into the water. As soon as he hit the water, he froze for about 25 seconds. He stood there looking to me for help/guidance. I called for a sit & he was instantly re-focused. He realized that I was still in control of the situation even though I was not right there. After the first 25 seconds, Bevo realized that he loved water. He now plays in the creeks, lakes, streams, & even puddles, that we encounter.

IMO- This is not flooding & I believe that it is ludicrous to refer to it as such.

Does this look like a flooded dog?

 

 

Who knows...Maybe this is his way of showing just how stressed he is.[8|]

I let Ben figure it out on his own too. He was young and I took him, often, to places where there was water he could swim in. I would encourage him to go in, but the first several times he would wade in but not swim. That was ok with me, he just got used to the water. Yes he looked to me for guidance and I just let him work out what he was supposed to do. Sometimes he appeared to be a little freaked out but I refused to coddle him. One day we were at a park that has a small creek running through it...Ben ran in and started swimming as if he'd been doing it forever. Now I can't keep him out of water, and make an effort to take him swimming a couple of times a week.

Amanda those are the BEST pictures of Bevo I have ever seen you post!  What a beautiful, totally happy boy he is!!  He looks like a grey in the last picture![]

Too bad that I don't have any water areas that are completely closed in... I would  take mine to the water too! []

 
those are great pics! He's having so much fun!

I think those are staged photos of Bev.  No dog could possibly be that happy and thrilled to be in the water.  []

He looks great.  Such great pics!  He's a gorgeous dog.

Shelly, there are instances when Bev does look very Greyhound-ish.
 
Ed, you saw right through my "staged" pics.  I had to continuously send Bev back out, with instructions to "look happier this time."[8D]

Shelly, there are instances when Bev does look very Greyhound-ish.

Due to JJ's amputated tail, he OFTEN gets mistaken for a Doberman![]