How Many Water-Dog Owners Do We Have?

[Benny]

Tonight, my parents finally bit the bullet and hired a trainer for their wild animal(a GSD about 4 months younger than mine). It was one-on-one training, but other dogs were allowed, so I brought Leonidas over for the last 10-15 minutes of the session.

While my parents were reinforcing what she taught them, the trainer decided to take Leo to the side and ask me what he knew and what he needed to work on. To make a long story short, it was a wasted 10-15 minutes, because 6-7 minutes were spent on showing what my dog could do and the other 7-8 minutes were spent on the trainer telling me something and me saying, "oh yeah, he can do that to, I just forgot about that one/oh yeah, my command word for that is [this]."

BUT, we took them down to the river to see if they wanted to swim. I've only tried a couple times, but my dog has never wanted to get in and I didn't want to force him, traumatizing him for life.

It was on wobbly rocks, so they were both reluctant. The session was over, but the trainer went home to get her GSD to show them how it's done and after about 5 minutes, Leo didn't want to get out of the water!

We would all throw a stick(3 total) and Leo, being the over-competitive jerk that he is would retrieve all 3 of them before the other two dogs could get theirs and then bring all 3 back to me.

Seeing as how hot it is, this is awesome because I have a new way of wearing him down without the threat of him overheating(I can see the Ohio from my front porch, so it's super-close).

Kara is editing pictures and has the memory card, so I'll post some when she's done.

 

[Titanium_Frost]

Do you mean Portugese Water Dogs or dogs that like water? I have both.

 

[Benny]

Do you mean Portugese Water Dogs or dogs that like water? I have both.

Haha, I thought I mentioned that all 3 dogs were German Shepherds, but maybe I didn't.

 

[jeremy]

My wife had me dig in a 125 gallon lily pond in our back yard. Beau thinks it is his private swimming pool...

I'll post some pics up tomorrow...

 

[Titanium_Frost]

You did, I just didn't really understand what the title meant in relation to the story right away (I skimmed it)

I ran a dog daycare for several years and I can tell you Shepards LOVE water. We couldn't keep them out of it. Now my mom has a Portugese Water Dog (same as Obama) that my beagle mix had to teach how to swim. The Portie is an utterly worthless dog IMO. I'll post pics of beagle tomorrow.

 

[Sgood]

my lab goes fishing with me all the time.....had to get him a life jacket, just so I had a handle to pull him back in the boat......

 

[Benny]

I ran a dog daycare for several years and I can tell you Shepards LOVE water.

I now know this.

My previous GSD was like an old man by the time he was two...He didn't like playing fetch and he didn't like the water.

He was very receptive to learning tricks and commands and was a boss at protecting the house and herding kids away from danger(ie, streets and strangers), but taking a bath was the most water he ever wanted to be around.

I can't wait to take Leo swimming somewhere I'll actually get into the water with him.

 

[starbreather]

Dexter, named by my lovely wife, is a confused mutt that trees cats, points @ rabbits & has webbed feet. Lets begin by stating he has had no formal training, but does follow the basic sit, lay, stay (yeah that's me wishing), fetch (if that means tug of war). But when it comes to water and fetching a sticks, be very prepared. First, he will begin by find a stick, log, tree or whatever happens to tickle his fancy. Second, he will bring substance that has once had bark on it & put it at your feet
Third, he will.begin the barking & not just any barking mind you. His barking us the loudest, most annoying, ear piercing sound. When he began this behavior, I thought to myself he will go hoarse, was I ever wrong. With this barking goes a stick protecting stance, like go a head try to take it while I bark like I am begging you to, confused right. Fourth, once you launch the end over end projectile as far as possible in he goes. Oh, I forgot to mention, I or I should say we have figured a kind of hand signaling to help hum locate the sticks once in range. After he returns the process begins again & once finished he leaves the stick at the shore line. He & I both love the water.

 

[Benny]

You should work on teaching him "back(back up from what he's hovering over)" and also "release(release the stick he just brought back to you)."

I don't believe in the saying, "you can't teach an old dog new tricks."

Oh, I would also teach him to STFU! That has worked with Leo since day one...I toss the F bomb in when I want him to know I mean business.

 

[Titanium_Frost]

F bombs work great on dogs! LOL

 

[Dr.Midnight]

My yellow lab LOVES the water. He's an old fella now, but I used to take him walking with me. He knew exactly where he was, because once we got near our neighbors pond, he was off like a rocket. The only bad thing was cleaning him up when I got home.

 

[Denny347]

I have a water dog, a Flat-Coated Retriever but he doesn't like to swim go figure.
Here's Cooke (pronounced Cook)

 

[N_K_1984]

My 6 month old Vizsla (Vee-shla) puppy loves to swim! When we take her to a creek, pond, or lake we can't get her out of the water.

 

[Benny]

I have a water dog, a Flat-Coated Retriever but he doesn't like to swim go figure.
Here's Cooke (pronounced Cook)

He might just need a dog to show him how it's done...That's all it took for Leonidas.

Pretty dog, BTW.

That is a cool looking dog. I just did a search and it says they are medium sized dogs...He looks pretty big for 6 months though.

 

[N_K_1984]

Thanks! She is definitely a cool looking dog. Vizslas are a a great breed, with a fascinating history. They are a blast, very high energy, and a lot of fun. I'm in love with this breed. The plan is to get a second Vizsla in the next couple years.

My pup, Phinley, weighed in at 40lbs last Friday (at the vet for her 6 month check up). Phinley's mom is about 55lbs and her dad is 75lbs! So I'm hoping for somewhere in that range.

As much as she loves to swim and for how strong her retrieving instincts are, I'd like to get her into dock jumping. I think she'd be great at it!

 

[iChokePeople]

The gsd I got from Jeremy LOVES the water. My other dog, not so much.

 

[snowrs]

I do not own my own dog, mostly because I was soured on them as a kid. We had hunting dogs, like German Short hairs and wire-haired Griffins. They were no fun because as a kid you could never just play fetch, or tug of war or anything of the like. Back on subject it was beautiful to watch the retrievers do their work, Mike our Brittnay was never as happy as when he was in the water.

 

[Rayne]

Ready, Set...

Jump. Hard to take a picture of a moving target.

This is my water dog. Not the typical breed you'd think of when talking of a water dog. She started out going boating with us at 10 weeks old. When we pack the boat she's at your feet making sure she doesn't get left behind. Either that or she goes ahead and gets in the truck and will sit there for hours waiting to leave.

In this picture below she's trying to catch water drops. She also will run through her baby pool and flip water up with her nose and try to catch the water drops. She can swim just fine, but I put a life jacket on her. I want the peace of mind, so I don't have to keep a constant eye on her. Plus as someone else mentioned it sure is handy to have the handle on the back to lift her back in the boat or onto the tube.

Here she is just chillin, while we're fishing.

I know I'm prejudice, but that is a beautiful face. BC's are so smart. I don't think I will ever own a different breed.

 

[philo]

My 6 month old Vizsla (Vee-shla) puppy loves to swim! When we take her to a creek, pond, or lake we can't get her out of the water.

Great looking dog. Vizsla's have a lot of energy - I knew one that could clear a 6 foot fence from a sitting start (no running just "springing").