# swimming



## itzmeigh

Poodles are water retrievers just like labs. They can swim. No reason to not let them swim. 

Hazel kayaks with us so I made sure she could swim when she was young just in case she jumps off or the kayak tips. When we kayak she wears a life jacket. (Not only for safety but also because if we tip and I need to reload her I need to get in the kayak first and be able to lift her into the boat, or if she jumps/falls out I need to be able to lift her back in. I actually made effort to teach her to be comfortable being lifted by her harness or life jacket.)

She loves playing in the water! She isn't in love with swimming just yet but last year during swimming weather she was a bit young so I'm hoping this year she'll get more comfortable. (She's only 19 months.)

If you are going to be around deep water or far from shore you'll want to have a life jacket. Dogs can get tired while swimming just like humans. You'd be ok without a life jacket playing ball off shore in a still lake just be sure you pay attention that they aren't getting too tired. While they are getting comfortable swimming you might want them to wear a life jacket.


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## Caddy

Swimming is excellent exercise, there's no reason why they shouldn't enjoy it often. Abbey started swimming last spring at 7 months old, it was a great way to exercise her without stressing her joints. It is important to limit the fun though, sometimes dogs retrieving balls or sticks can take in too much water which can be a real problem. I've found they will retrieve until they drop if you let them, so just keep an eye out, they will build stamina and develop swimming mussels. I always carry cotton pads and a small hand towel for immediate ear drying, we had labs before so I got into that habit with them. When we are on the boat Abbey wears a life jacket, if the boat hits something in the water and we get thrown out, she could hit her head and drown just as easy as one of us. Have fun, it's so exciting when they take that first swim!!!


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## Tiny Poodles

Caddy said:


> Swimming is excellent exercise, there's no reason why they shouldn't enjoy it often. Abbey started swimming last spring at 7 months old, it was a great way to exercise her without stressing her joints. It is important to limit the fun though, sometimes dogs retrieving balls or sticks can take in too much water which can be a real problem. I've found they will retrieve until they drop if you let them, so just keep an eye out, they will build stamina and develop swimming mussels. I always carry cotton pads and a small hand towel for immediate ear drying, we had labs before so I got into that habit with them. When we are on the boat Abbey wears a life jacket, if the boat hits something in the water and we get thrown out, she could hit her head and drown just as easy as one of us. Have fun, it's so exciting when they take that first swim!!!



My girls don't swim so I didn't pay too much attention, but Last summer Petplan posted an article about water intoxication, which can lead to death (hours later) in dogs who take on too much water while swimming and playing in the water, so it would be something to read up on for folks whose dogs spend a lot of time swimming!


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## ApricotsRock

My previous guy was a swimmer. He swam any time he could see open water. 

There's this place where we go to pick apples and they have a apple launcher that you fire a target across their pond. The orchard owner's dogs chased apples all day long. So we let our guy off his leash and he swam after the apples too! 

When he finally got out of the water there were gasps of astonishment:

Oh, my that is just a little poodle!!! 

Miss him so much.

Rookie not so much of a swimmer, even though he is exposed enough - lol!

I think it all depends on the dog.


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## lily cd re

Swimming is great exercise. I would suggest to be careful while starting to watch for excessive fatigue. Since our swimming is seasonal we always limit the duration of swims the first times the pool is open to them. Mostly Lily and Peeves just like swimming to retrieve balls so it is easy to turn it off by putting the balls away. Javelin just had a few introductory swimming lessons last summer, but I hope he will love it as much as the older dogs do.

As to water toxicity the possibility of swallowing a lot of water when tired and swimming lower to the water line is part of why I limit how much I let them go.


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## itzmeigh

Tiny Poodles said:


> Caddy said:
> 
> 
> 
> Swimming is excellent exercise, there's no reason why they shouldn't enjoy it often. Abbey started swimming last spring at 7 months old, it was a great way to exercise her without stressing her joints. It is important to limit the fun though, sometimes dogs retrieving balls or sticks can take in too much water which can be a real problem. I've found they will retrieve until they drop if you let them, so just keep an eye out, they will build stamina and develop swimming mussels. I always carry cotton pads and a small hand towel for immediate ear drying, we had labs before so I got into that habit with them. When we are on the boat Abbey wears a life jacket, if the boat hits something in the water and we get thrown out, she could hit her head and drown just as easy as one of us. Have fun, it's so exciting when they take that first swim!!!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> My girls don't swim so I didn't pay too much attention, but Last summer Petplan posted an article about water intoxication, which can lead to death (hours later) in dogs who take on too much water while swimming and playing in the water, so it would be something to read up on for folks whose dogs spend a lot of time swimming!
Click to expand...

The same thing can happen to humans. It can also happen to both humans and animals that drink too much water. (Like when just drinking water for hydration). It takes a very large amount but it can happen. 

You can also have a dry or land drowning. That's caused by aspirating water (breathing water into your lungs). The affects for it also show up long after leaving a water activity. 

Both are important things to watch out for with both humans and dogs around water. Both are more likely to happen when "you" get tired. You should especially monitor your dog (or human) if they have struggled in the water in distress (or near drowning, almost drowning, could have drowned if X hadn't happened...)


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## Mfmst

Neither Buck nor WestU's Lola have shown any interest in our swimming pools. Could it be the smell of the chemicals? I tried every trick to get Buck in last summer, but no dice.


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## itzmeigh

Mfmst said:


> Neither Buck nor WestU's Lola have shown any interest in our swimming pools. Could it be the smell of the chemicals? I tried every trick to get Buck in last summer, but no dice.


Hazel likes it best when she can wade in. She doesn't like the waves at the beach hitting her and when we put up the little pool in the yard she'll jump in and out of it until the water gets about belly deep and then it's hard to get her to jump in. I'm not really sure why. 

She's ok falling/jumping from the kayaks and doesn't really panic but I'm not sure she enjoys it. But she was young the last kayak trip and the water was cold. I'm hoping to give her better chances this summer with them.

The river isn't very deep so it's hard to judge there too. We are going next weekend so I'll pay more attention. 

I don't really have a good place to play catch around water to see if she'd fetch in the water. She use to wouldn't pick up her ball if it fell in a rain puddle but we've been working on it and I'd like to try fetching in water. 

We have a nice safe pond near the house where she could swim safely but there are a lot of ducks and she is VERY reactive to birds so I worry that she wouldn't be able to focus on fetching the ball and would just want to chase the ducks.


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## CT Girl

Swizzle has swum in a pool and a lake when I was kayaking. He fell in the pool running along the pool while I was doing laps and falling in did not bother him the slightest. He just continued what he was doing in the water. In the lake he had a life jacket on and I did it with my dog trainer. We wanted to make sure he would come when called or discover if he would swim to shore. He came to me. The life jacket is great if you need to pick him up from the water. I was surprised how much he enjoyed it.


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## mom2Zoe

We are putting a pool in next summer. How do you get the dogs to swim? Zoe is very cautious .


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## jcris

Zoe is adorable!
What worked for me was having my girls see another dog swim. Plus their insatiable desire to fetch the ball. There are few things in their lives that command such passion as playing ball. I started by taking them to the beach and watching them play at the shoreline. They were cautious at first but slowly lost their fear. They would not actually swim though. Fast forward to the lake near where I've moved. Very shallow area to wade but still no "swimming". 
I began tossing the ball into the lake a short distance out but as soon as their paws lost contact with the bottom they wouldn't go much further. In comes a friends Lab "Ebony" who swims so well it's really wonderful to watch. I could toss the ball out into the lake 50 yards and Ebony would happily retrieve it.
So very cool. Each time the girls would wade out as Ebony swam to the ball and stop when they lost contact. When Ebony was done for the day and had gone home I thought "let's see what the girls do now". I began tossing it out a short distance beyond their comfort zone and their desire for the ball overcame their fear and they actually began to swim. I was so proud. Like a Dad at graduation. Lol The girls have a rather long coat and that may be a hindrance so once I complete their grooming I'll be curious how well they do.
I guess Ebony taught them the weightless sensation was nothing to fear.
Not sure how this would work in a pool which is a few feet deep in the shallow end. It really depends on her, she may surprise you and just take to it naturally. Then again maybe some sort of flotation devise may be prudent at first. Let me know how it goes. Sorry for the long winded post.
Jcris


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## lily cd re

We have taught our dogs to swim using our pool. Peeves was a natural as long as a ball was thrown, he was all in. Although Lily has strong retrieving drives she needed some help. BF would put his arms under her chest and belly and just walk around letting her float. When she started to paddle he would lower his arms. If she panicked in the slightest he put his arms back up. I was out in front of them with a ball to lure her into reaching for it by paddling. We started the same method with Javelin last summer, but didn't get very far. The cover is off the pool and we will get it ready in the next few weeks, then we will go back to work on the baby dog.

If you teach your dogs to use the pool make sure you teach them how to get out safely!


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## FireStorm

Hans likes to swim as long as there is something to be fetched, but he's so thin that he's definitely not buoyant. If he stops kicking he will sink, unlike his friend Sammy the golden who can just float. He does have a life jacket, especially handy for the boat, because it has handles for lifting. He really doesn't need all that much flotation, so I want to get/make him a neoprene vest with just a little flotation and handles. 

Also, I agree that if you have a pool it is super important to teach the dog how to get out in case they fall or jump in. I know someone who had their dog drown because it got into the pool when nobody was watching and didn't know how to get out. The dog knew how to swim but must have gotten tired trying to climb out the side instead of going to the steps.


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## jcris

Very sad story
My girls have done the same thing. Luckily I was home and heard the splash. This was in a Koi pond that has no real way out. Scared the heck outta me. They both did it at separate times and both were able to get out on their own, though I don't know how. Scared the devil out of each of them They never did it again. Wouldn't even get close to the pond for a long time
Jcris


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## CT Girl

For Swizzle he is never in the pool area without supervision. We also taught him where the pool steps are.


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## ApricotsRock

Rookie put his paws in the lake tonight to get a drink. He wants to know if anyone votes to consider that swimming.


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## Motion

Oh Rookie! Merlyn says that counts 100%, he wouldn't even step into a puddle when he was younger! He enjoys the beach but he really would prefer his humans to stop tossing his lovely toys into the salty wet stuff... its so not cool. Luckily he can usually recruit a nearby dog to save it for him!


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## jcris

Rookie reminds me of my Belle. He's so cute, of course it counts. Before you know it he's ankle deep then up to his chest.
Jcris


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## TrixieTreasure

My Tuffy ( toy poodle) was the only one of all of my dogs who loved to swim. He especially loved the beach. Never went into the ocean too far, but boy, did he love getting wet! I think it's really cool to watch a dog run into the water, without a care in the world, having so much fun!


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## jcris

I've had the same thought. "Not a care in the world" is spot on. It's funny to me that I should be so proud of Belle. She's kind of shy but comes alive when she's at play. I haven't really had dogs for a long time and now these two come along.
I can't imagine being without them.
My best to everyone,
Jcris


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## Tarnation101

Our pups adore water and they're 9 weeks old! They thoroughly enjoyed wading in their water bowls, so we'll have to get them a kiddy pool. We have a swimming pool but the area is completely off limits to them; especially as we have a cover and have known dogs (not ours) that have drowned after stepping onto the cover thinking it was solid. Anyways, we took our two to the beach today, and they adored it. We took them to a quiet area, and it's usually rock pools but it was low-tide so there was a lot of sand to run on, and a lot of big puddles. Without any care or hesitation, they dove straight in. Mostly just wading, but there was one puddle that was quite deep, and Rina was swim-walking (like a paddle but she could just touch the bottom). So very proud of them, they took like a duck to water. My previous poodle mix was a big chicken and hated swimming so this is new to us too


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## itzmeigh

Here's a video of Hazel at the river Waster weekend. This bit of river was about 2 foot deep. She wasn't completely swimming but it does look like she gets a few strokes in. This was the first time she's tried retrieving her toy from water deeper than a rain puddle. 

She did pretty good! The air was still a tad bit cool and the water there is always cool so we didn't get to play as long as we'd have liked because her and the boy child were shivering! Haha!

http://youtu.be/n1j59dGV1-U

(I hope this works! It's my first YouTube video!)


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