Summer is here! It’s time for swimming and anything else that helps us stay cool. Here are some tips for teaching a dog to swim.
Let’s start with what you should NOT do.
1. NEVER use the “sink or swim” method where the dog is thrown in the water. This is inhumane, frightening and can result in a dog who has a fear of swimming (and you).
2. Don’t assume all dogs can swim. It’s a myth that all dogs are born swimmers. Some need training and others, in particular those with short legs and proportionally heavier bodies (think Bassets, Corgis, Dachshunds) may sink. While there are dogs of these body types that can swim, be very careful.
What you should do:
1. Use the behavioral procedure called ‘shaping’ to teach swimming. Shaping means baby steps. Start with low water if possible (a lake) and gradually let the dog get into deeper water.
2. If you’ll be starting your pup’s swimming lessons in a pool, consider using a canine life vest until your dog is a reliable swimmer.
3. Teach the most important lesson first-how to get out of the pool. Put the dog a few feet from the steps and say, “go to the steps,” or “get out.” Then back up a few steps and repeat, and finally practice “go to the steps” from different places in the pool. A helper can stay on the steps, call the dog and reward him for coming.
4. Always supervise dogs when they are swimming.
Have you taught a dog to swim? Do you have any other tips?
AKC's Canine Good Citizen and S.T.A.R. Puppy Director, Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist
If learning to swim in a pool, the first thing I do is coax the dog to step onto the first step, praise and then call out. I do that until the dog readily jumps onto the first step. Then I move to the next step down and do the same thing. Depending on the dog, the next step may or may not be too deep to stand on, if it’s too deep, I move to my next training phase. As long as the dog is comfortable with me picking him/her up, I will do that and step down into the pool holding the dog in my arms. My arms are around the chest and below the tail so the feet are dangling. Slowly I lower them into the water a little further than the steps would put them and then stand back up. I do that over and over again (slowly), going further down when the dog is comfortable. Once I have the dog comfortable with the water being three quarters of the way up his/her back, I start moving about the pool talking to them happily all the time. When I have begun this phase of the training I return to the steps often, setting them on the one they can easily stand on. I leave them there for a short time and praise them while I sit one step lower. Once they are comfortable with me doing that, I lower them further into the water so the water is over their back and begin the whole process over again. When they are comfortable with that, I move on to the next phase of the training. In this phase they actually begin to swim by themselves. I take them just a few feet from the steps, turn them towards the steps lower them into the water and loosen my grip on them while guiding them to the steps, using the command ‘steps’. As they get more comfortable with the idea of swimming, I loosen my grip more and move further out, still guiding them to the steps and using the command ‘steps’. Once I am sure they have mastered that, I move to the next phase. In this phase I completely let go of them, giving them a send off towards the steps while using the command ‘steps’. I do that all around the shallow end of the pool so they know where the steps are from every direction. Once they have mastered that, I move to the next phase. I call them down to the lowest step they can stand on and I move a short distance away and call them to me. They will usually paw at the water for a moment and then launch themselves towards me. I will wrap my arms around them, tell them how wonderful they are and then turn around and send them back towards the steps using the command ‘steps’. I move all over the shallow end of the pool using the same training method until they are completely comfortable launching from the steps and returning to them from any direction. Then on to the next phase. I find one of their toys that they love (and that floats), toss it close to the steps and encourage them to get it. As they become more adept at retrieving the toy, I throw the toy further out and in all directions including further into the deep end, always using the command ‘steps’ in order to get them to return to the steps as soon as the toy is retrieved. With this method, the word ‘steps’ and the meaning is very well ingrained in the dog. I have had this help with an exhausted dog who was swimming in circles trying to find her tennis ball that had sunk to the bottom of the pool. She did not want to give up her ‘search’ until I told her firmly… ‘steps’. she circled twice more and headed for the steps, got out and laid down to catch her breath.
On the subject of ‘Teaching Dogs to Swim’-
I had a therapy dog program entitled;’First National Aquatic Therapy Program’ for disabled children in Lake Tahoe, CA and I had many volunteers who applied with dogs that were not classically considered water breeds. Even with some of the goldens and labs who originally moved to the lake from out of the area, there were behavioral issues when they attempted to swim in the deep water with moderate currents. Since they all had passed their CGC, they had basic obedience skills and that turned out to be helpful when ‘working’ by the water, along with some agility exercises that they had learned to aid in the process.
Since one of the exercises was helping children learn which direction the current was taking them while lounging on rafts or other flotation devices, the dogs did often swim toward or against the current to show how the leash would go taut or loose. The trick for me with all the dogs, was to introduce water games that they were used to on land(retrieving a ball, doing a right or left turn to bring the ball back, doing a ‘heal+ finish’ by going behind me and ending up facing front toward the water, and weaving through poles on an agility course.
Weaving in and out of waters edge, another exercise to help the children identify where the water changed depth and familiarize themselves with any mossy slippery boulders or other obstacles in the shallow water(that could cause them to slip/trip or fall). I usually try to go in knee deep with the dogs at first, and only invite them in as far as I am, since another exercise for the children was to never go in the water passed their knees without an adult present. The dogs do a stand/stay in front of me so I can’t go in further until I release them verbally.
The biggest motivation however for one very sensitive golden retriever was enticing him to go fetch the ball in the shallow water with his best friend. Watching the other dog and wanting to play with her made him forget his fear or apprehension, and following her out incrementally to deeper water became a ‘goal oriented’ exercise. When he finally went to get his own stick, the praise was his biggest reward and it appeared as though all the beach goers wanted to join in loud and happy praise. He has never been big on the retrieve in the water without his highly motivated/compulsive labrador friend, but after many years, any canine he sees is now enough to trigger his ‘happy play’. Training any dog for any task has to be initiated as a working game they enjoy, and taking small steps toward a successful outcome.
As a senior, he now needs the less strenous exercise in the water for his joints in the summer, so this has been a lifetime achievement that has paid off for him and many others, including rolley polley basset hounds, bulldogs, etc. (albeit they must wear their flotation vests), a sight to behold on the shores of Lake Tahoe!