Do(es) your GSD(s) like water? - Page 1

It's around 35 degrees F. outside and every time we are down by Lake Superior both dogs go jumping in the water. Are they nuts? Or is this normal? They don't even seem to be affected by the cold at all. My last dog that did that was a lab/gsd/husky and she was always shivering five minutes later. What about your dog(s)? Just curious...........

Mine are kinda nuts that way too.  They don't seem to care about swimming in the cold.

My GSD lays down with side of his head in his water bowl and will even fall asleep like that. Loves waterin any shape or form.

My boy Mace will wade out into the middle of the creek we walk by every morning and lay down.I mean down like he is on a nice warm blankie.Even in the 40s and I know the water has to be really cold but he loves it.

All of mine love water but one and she will not even drink from moving water.

All three of mine swim and play in it, but one has fins and gills. I have to work at keeping her out of it so she doesnt make my Jeep all wet for the ride home.   I think she's part lab sometimes.

All of mine love water,,,they dig with their paws every bucket from the time they are 8 weeks old ....Most of them chase the water out of the hose , which i try to stop and not let them......Bear who is fully trained , I let him chase or jump or actually use it for exercise....

all of them go to the creek ,even when pregnant,, and come back to have to be washed down...

They cant wait to swim in Lake Tyler and retrieve the water kong ...Here the water isnt that cold until next month....

I have  had pups fall asleep with their heads in the water bowl....paws too...Bear carries any water bucket or bowl in his mouth and is not happy unless its in his mouth...after he drinks hes not happy to leave it on the fence...he works at it until he gets it off or empty....if it wont come off the fence he gets the food bowl and carries it and chases it until I remove it...That s the Korbelbach in him....

I can't keep Scooby out of the water, even in winter and it gets cold here!!!!

I only have one (1) that does not like water very much, yet she does like to splash her buckets dry. The rest of them are definitely hygraphylic and are absolute nuts when presented with a garden hose or a muddy pond.

Regards,

Bob-O

Ranger was raised on a lake. One day, when he was still small, his idiot owner decided to teach him to swim. He picked him up and tossed him into the lake.

I've know a couple of dogs who have had this done to them as pups, and the results were the same each time: a dog who grew up frightened of water.

Anyway, last summer, I decided to do some work in helping him overcome this fear. I put a collar and leash on him, and a life vest, to give him a bit more buoyancy, and coaxed him out into the water, to the point where he had to swim. I kept the swim REALLY brief, about 20-30 seconds or so. He panicked, and was thrashing around with his front paws. After a very brief swim, I gave him lots of praise and let him go. He made a beeline for the dock, and clung to it for dear life, but wasn't able to drag himself up onto it, as the water was too deep. I had to rescue him, and guide him into shore. Again, lots of praise and petting.

After a bit of a rest, I took him out again, for a little longer. Again, he thrashed around, churning the water with his front paws. Lots of praise, then I took him back to shore.

Now, I decided it was my turn for a swim. I stroked out to slightly deeper water, and began to swim parallel to the shore. Imagine my surprise when Ranger jumped into the water, and swam out to me!  And THIS time, he was more relaxed, and doing a proper dog paddle! Boy, did I ever heap the praise on him!

I noticed this with my previous dog, Tasha. She would get very anxious when she saw me or my husband in the water. She wouldn't be happy until she'd had a chance to swim out to us, and make sure we were okay. Then, once she'd checked us out, she'd go back to shore! This happened too often for it to be a coincidence. Once she swam a quarter of a mile out to our rowboat, where we were fishing. I wasn't pleased about having to drag 65 lbs. of dripping wet dog over the gunwale of the boat, but she didn't have a life vest on, and we were afraid she would be too tired to swim back to shore. After a short visit with us, she jumped off the prow of the boat, and swam back to shore. She was never an eager swimmer, but if we went into the water, she'd usually follow.

I am lucky enough to live on the water, and all of my dogs at the very least love to wade in it. My 8 month old female took to it like an alligator- she will do anything to swim, I gave up a long time ago on trying to keep her out of it. I can't stress enough how good swimming is for all dogs. And what fun! All of my puppies start swimming at around 5 weeks old, I let them decide how they want to get into the water, never push, toss or throw them in, but all have willingly learned very fast. In the winter I can start them in the bath tub, and that way they are used to swiming and not touching the bottom- they love it. As adults dogs new to swiming try it one of two ways- either they get it right off and doggy paddle, or they try and walk on top of the water- causing the panic splashing and fear. No dog should be pushed/ forced to get in the water, but most GSD's seem to really love it.