Dog's first time swimming (today in Metro lake)..

[Kylersk]

Started out really slow, just trying to get him in the water. I didnt bring a bumber with, for fear he wouldnt get it, so I grabbed a stick. Threw it just barely in the water and he'd work his way to get it.

After a while, he had no problems swimming out to it, but coming back he'd hold his head high and swim with only his front feet. It really was comical.

Let him rest, [PoorWordUsage]'d (Bull Scat) with a friend I ran into and then went back to the lake. Threw a couple more times and he finally swam back with stick in mouth, just like he swam out. It was awesome!

Now on to the I dont know what I did wrong part...

After swimming, he was shaking quite a bit. Was it the temp of water? Or fear? Or excitement?

[Kylersk]

Forgot, He's a 5 month old GWP. We were out for maybe 30 minutes to 45 minutes. Did I work him too hard?

[rundrave]

alot of times dogs will be afraid once they cant feel the bottom, once you get them past that they may swim but not use their back legs as they are still trying to find the bottom. both of my dogs never swam with their back legs and they looked so awkward out there. the first time I threw a live bird in the water they started to focus on the bird and were not so concerned how they were swimming and we have never looked back. now they are swimming machines and can cover a lot of ground searching for those birds.

you just got to build that confidence up after that it will all fall in to place.

[TylerS]

Good looking pup! I remember when my GWP, Remy, was that age. He's a year old now.

Last summer after I got him, the breeder told me to get him in the water as much as possible. So at 10 weeks, I brought Remy to the lake. He was just like your dog, in that his first few attempts were timid. But after only a short while, he was out retrieving his duck with ease. But the days after that it was all downhill. The older he got, the less he wanted to swim until I couldn't even drag him into the water.

It was something I was very worried about, as I'd planned on running Remy in the Natural Ability tests, and water aversion is a big negative.

Fast forward to this spring. The Red River flooded and we had some slack water in a park near our house. A couple ducks were making a rukus one day on our walk, and Remy just couldn't take it. Before I knew it, he jumped into barely-above-freezing water and was swimming out to them. I was stoked! Since then, he's loved water and any hint at his previous difficulties is gone.

Can't wait for duck season!

[870Express]

The water is still pretty cold for a dog that young. I'd still encourage him swimming but be aware it's pretty cold a foot down in the water. I spent a good month trying to get my Brittany into the water at 4 or so months. Two things that worked more than anything for me: 1) I swam into the water further than he could walk in (you will understand what I mean by cold) and 2) Find a good friend with a water-loving dog. This is lab country, they're everywhere. My dog learned to do water retrieves because I'd throw "his" bumper into the water for a water conditioned lab. My dog would lock onto the labs ear after a couple throws and the lab would drag him into the water and bring him back through the whole retrieve. I'm sure there are easier ways but these are proactive approaches. Three things I learned: water is colder than you think; jealousy is a great trainable feature; labs have great personalities (but have tails, roll in things, shed - should I keep going?)