my 2 dogs came from a litter of 8. my mom also got 2 dogs from this litter. when the water sprinklers come on at her house, her dogs will run and attack the heads, playing in the water for a few moments. my dogs however, will run off and hide behind the bushes. all of the dogs like to get in the pool (small 5-foot wide, 8" or so deep pool) on occassion and drink the water, cool off their feet. when i use the water hose, on occassion my dogs will come up and drink out of it, but run like hell if i try to bathe them with it. are there any tricks i can abuse to get my dogs to be waterdogs? they are labs afterall... i'm looking for somewhere in san antonio to take them, to maybe get them in a body of water and swim some.
water water everywhere...
- Thread starter texn
- Start date
Howdy!!!! Try the Blanco River up in Blanco. There are many areas that are clean, quite shallow, ample pools, and gentle current, in fact, right off Hwy. 281. I'll let my dogs romp and cool down when passing through there. Avoid Calaveras, Braunig, Medina, and Choke Canyon lakes; underwater debris, moccasins, and gators. Have fun with your dogs and let us know how it faired!!!
always start your pup in very shallow water. I start very young pups in the tubby by putting in only a couple inches of water and some favorite toys then encouraging them to have a good time, i use tepid water, not cold. Then the first time we go to a big body of water i throw a favorite toy in only a few inches in and each time a little further until finally they lose touch with the bottom. My old boss always said leave em wanting more, three retrieves for a pup then stop and do something else for awhile. You want to build up the desire not burn it out. Having a good run before you get to the water helps as well. I have a video that shows what i am talking about and will get the link. You have to just minimize it and go on with something else until it downloads for it takes a couple minutes i don't know why. Be very careful where you go for water play. Broken bottles and fish hooks can tear up your dogs feet.
http://www.ourmedia.org/node/22496
the one i am talking about is boomer learns to retrieve
Vic shows a great water desire in his too
http://www.ourmedia.org/node/22496
the one i am talking about is boomer learns to retrieve
Vic shows a great water desire in his too
L
Tira didn't like the creek behind our old house in S.C. until we got her to see that water was fun. She wouldn't jump in the creek so I dug a 3x6 pond in our back yard and filled it with water. She loved the bathtub so I figured she would like a larger version to get used to outside water in. I tossed a ball in the new pond and she jumped right in. Well, after a few days of retrieving from the pond, she bypassed the pond and went straight to the creek to swim.
Start out small and work your way up.
Start out small and work your way up.