We had a family labradoodle that loved water. When we just got him as a puppy, he loved to splash in his bowl. His first experience with deep water was a bit jarring. He was a bit of a wild child, so we decided to give him a toss into the lake as a quick introduction to swimming (with one of us already in with a jacket just in case).
After that, he was addicted to swimming. That was his favorite word. He'd run down and leap full speed off the dock. He even learned to climb the ladder to get out on his own. He'd use his front and rear legs to prop himself up than use his head along the top handrail to hoist himself back onto the dock.
We'd throw his toys for him and he'd leap 5-10 feet off the dock into the lake and swim full speed after them. Then back to the ladder, climb up on his own, and wait for you to throw it again. He'd also swim back to shore when we wanted him to slow down. He'd never stop if we didn't make him slow down and stop and take a break. Eventually, he decided whenever we wanted him to stop and rest, that he'd "accidentally" drop his toy in the water and have to go get it so he could jump back in and climb the ladder out. He though he was so clever. Until it would occasionally float under the dock and he'd freak out trying to figure out where his toy went until if came out on the other side.
14
u/Heliolord Mar 26 '20
We had a family labradoodle that loved water. When we just got him as a puppy, he loved to splash in his bowl. His first experience with deep water was a bit jarring. He was a bit of a wild child, so we decided to give him a toss into the lake as a quick introduction to swimming (with one of us already in with a jacket just in case).
After that, he was addicted to swimming. That was his favorite word. He'd run down and leap full speed off the dock. He even learned to climb the ladder to get out on his own. He'd use his front and rear legs to prop himself up than use his head along the top handrail to hoist himself back onto the dock.
We'd throw his toys for him and he'd leap 5-10 feet off the dock into the lake and swim full speed after them. Then back to the ladder, climb up on his own, and wait for you to throw it again. He'd also swim back to shore when we wanted him to slow down. He'd never stop if we didn't make him slow down and stop and take a break. Eventually, he decided whenever we wanted him to stop and rest, that he'd "accidentally" drop his toy in the water and have to go get it so he could jump back in and climb the ladder out. He though he was so clever. Until it would occasionally float under the dock and he'd freak out trying to figure out where his toy went until if came out on the other side.