# A Poodle Who Can't Swim!



## mom24doggies (Mar 28, 2011)

Haha, Trev was the exact same way!! He couldn't swim to save his life.  I put him in the water (we'd been playing in the shallows, so he wasn't afraid) and he paddled with his front feet so hard he was going over backwards! Of course I was standing right there so I just pulled him out. Finally one day I actually got all the way in the water and called him. He came to me, and I just kept boosting his rear up until he finally figured it out. Now he's a great little swimmer! If I could just get him to understand how to fetch in the water...we're working on it!


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## Arcticfox (Dec 12, 2011)

Ack! I wish Tesla had the guts to jump off a dock. So far she's been terrified of all ledges leading to the water, or at a height. She's afraid of our balcony, and she refuses to walk near the waterfront where there's a 2 foot drop from walkway to water. We have gone wading through the shallows a littler bit though, but she seems more interested in drinking the water than anything else. We'll see if we can coax her in with us once it warms up enough to jump in the lake.


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## tortoise (Feb 5, 2012)

Arcticfox said:


> Ack! I wish Tesla had the guts to jump off a dock. So far she's been terrified of all ledges leading to the water, or at a height. She's afraid of our balcony, and she refuses to walk near the waterfront where there's a 2 foot drop from walkway to water. We have gone wading through the shallows a littler bit though, but she seems more interested in drinking the water than anything else. We'll see if we can coax her in with us once it warms up enough to jump in the lake.


My fiance told me 3 yrs ago that his dog would never jump off a dock. I took the dog out to work on a wooden picnic table. It's similar experience for the dog, minus the water. An old wooden table is a lot like an old wooden dock.

We did one session on the picnic table. His dog started dock diving! Not competitive-huge jumps, but fun and good exercise.


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## Arcticfox (Dec 12, 2011)

The picnic tables sound like a good idea to get used to the whole jumping thing. But it feels like the poor girl has a fear of heights or something. She wont even approach a ledge with metal gating to tight for her to fit through, if there's a drop of more than a few feet (not necessarily onto water, but water makes it worse).


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## Countryboy (May 16, 2011)

Tonka won't go near anything bigger than a puddle. If the water moves . . . he jumps away! Down at the lake, with the kids, he stays on the beach.

Gooooooood dog!!!


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## Poodle Head (Sep 12, 2011)

Oh this story reminds me of when I had my mini! We put her in the water assuming she would swim, and her butt just sank and then her front started to go under. We tried a few more times, and she would just start trying to climb me to get out. We have a boat, so we got her a life jacket after that. I had never heard of a dog not swimming either!


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## t_meghan (Apr 26, 2012)

Well my little Astro can't swim either, he almost drowned today. I put him in the pool and held on to his sides and when I felt like he had the hang of it I let him go. He ended up drifting towards the middle just out of my reach and couldn't swim in any direction he could barely keep his head up and slowly started to sink, I jumped in and saved him!!! I am definitly going to start practising with him and hoping he will one day be able to swim with our other dog because she loves the water!!!


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## Sadie Girl (Jun 17, 2010)

I took Sadie to the dog beach on the Gulf in Venice last March. The same dogs that she had played with at the Bark Park were playing in the water. Sadie refused to even walk in the sand to get to the water. No, it wasn't hot at all ... early morning. I guess she just didn't like the feel of the sand on her feet. She's my princess, all right!


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## Fluffyspoos (Aug 11, 2009)

Vegas was the exact same way, I really had to introduce him back into it slowly since he was so scared the first time as a puppy he jumped and disappeared beneath the surface.. then did major zoomies once he got out.

I found a dog life jacket helped us out A TON! It really helped build his confidence, and using a tennis ball was also a huge help since that's our top value item.


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## t_meghan (Apr 26, 2012)

That picture of Vegas is adorable!!!!


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