Dive Into Water Video 307kb
Uses
It is great exercise, great way for dogs to cool down, you need it for water retrieves and dock jumping. It is especially good for dogs with hip displaysia.
Equipment Needed
Food that floats - rice crackers, bread
Waders (gumboots attached to plastic legs, Rays Outdoors Stocks Them)
Retrieving Toy - that dogs likes
Body of Water - preferably beach, or lake with gentle incline.
Method
Food Method
You need to first go to the lake, where there is an easy entry. Very important. Beach is ideal.
Put on your waders or just walk in if you are wearing shorts.
1. Show the dog, you have the food and lure the dog in. Only lure him into so his legs are just in the water. When he does this, feed. He will probably either walk out of the water after the reward or stay where he is.
2. If dog has walked back to the shore, (that is where he is comfortable), just go back to the shore and lure him back in. You are only going in, so he can get his feet wet.
3. If the dog has stayed in the water, walk a little bit further in, and reward any footsteps towards you. You are facing the dog.
4. Practice this each day, gradually getting the dog further and further in.
5. When the dog gets to his tummy and is about to go out of his depth, place the food on the water (if it is a rice cracker or bread, it will float). The dog will eat the reward and go back to his comfort zone. Repeat this step a few times. Until the dog gets comfortable and starts swimming. You may need to place the food in a few spots on the lake. Keep practicing this step and the dog should get more and more confident.
I have found that practicing each day really helps. With one of my dogs I thought great he is swimming now, I will give it another go in a weeks time. In that space of time my dog forgot that he liked swimming and we had to go back to the start again so keep up the practice.
Once he is confident you can replace the food with a toy.
Toy Method
Same as food method but you are using a toy.
Key Points
1. Put the toy just out of the dogs reach, so he was to walk in to get it. When he gets it, lots of praise and happy talk. Some dogs will need the toy right at the waters edge. Then slowly increase the distance.
2. Once the dog is getting more confident, stand a couple of metres away from the water edge, get the dog really interested in the toy and then throw it, so it lands near the waters edge. The dog may want the toy so much that he forgets he is scared of the water.
Follow Me Method
Put your swimming gear on, and swim. This is especially good for rivers. I did this with one of my dogs, and before I got to the other side he was swimming along behind me.
It also helps to have other dogs that like swimming around when you practice, because some dogs will watch them and try it out as well.
I have also crossed a small stream, but deep enough that the dog has to swim, and kept walking, the dog knew if he didn't follow he would get left behind.
Important Point
Never throw the dog in. I know a couple of people that did this with their dogs that like swimming and now their dogs will never go in again. It can be a bad training pitfall that you can never get out of, for some dogs. Some dogs will never go back in.
Advanced
Teach your Dog to run and leap in and jump off the waters edge, piers etc.
Before teaching this make sure the water is deep, and the dog cannot impale itself on snags etc in the water. Very Important - Make sure that the dog can get out of the water by itself. A lot of dogs won't go in if they think they cannot get out.
Method 1
Get a retrieving toy and stand about 5 metres away from the waters edge, throw the toy in. The dog should be so keen to get it, that it will run really fast and get more confident with water entries. After a while it will just run and jump in.
Method 2
You can also find a small edge, could be a small pier and just simply drop the toy in the water. The dog may get so frustrated that it simply just jumps in.
Method 3
Play tug with the dog, so it jumps for the toy on land. Then walk into the water and play tug there so it is jumping out of the water and back into the water for the tug toy. I found this method on dock jumping site.
I have one dog that does belly whackers into the water and my other dog does running jumps but not as good as the first dog.
