Because we live on the water, it’s vital that our dog Honey knows how to swim. But even if you don’t live on a boat, knowing your dog can swim is important for summer safety. Here are a few tips on how to teach your dog to swim.
Teaching Our Dog To Swim
When Honey was a puppy, we couldn’t wait to get her into the water. After all, golden retrievers love to swim, right?
Apparently Honey doesn’t know she’s a golden retriever because it’s not her favorite activity. But we know she can swim, even if she chooses not to. Here are my best tips based on what we did wrong and what we did right teaching Honey how to swim.
How to Teach Your Dog to Swim
- Start Early
When you’re training a puppy, it’s never too early to have new fun adventures.
Honey was born in January. She had her first swimming lesson in May. If we had lived anywhere south of upstate New York, I would have gotten her in the water even earlier. - But Not Too Early
You want early swimming lessons to be pleasant–for everyone.
Our favorite swimming holes in northern NY had summer temperatures in the low 50s (around 10 celsius). I wonder if Honey would have taken to swimming more if I had been less reluctant to get into the cold water with her? - Start Out Easy
If you want to teach your dog to swim, don’t start at the ocean. Start in a placid pond or pool. With an easy way to get in or out. And that is at least 75 degrees (23 celsius – see tip #2).
Sure, we’ve all seen dogs go rushing through the breakers to chase their favorite ball. But they probably didn’t start out that way on their first lesson. - Keep It Fun
Do everything you can to make your dog’s swimming lessons fun. And if he looks like he isn’t having fun, stop. Come back another day and take a few more baby steps.
Play tug in the shallows. Toss a ball into slightly deeper water as your dog gains confidence. See if your dog will chase a floating toy filled with treats. - Use A Life Jacket
Some lean dogs don’t float naturally. But even an athletic dog with just the right amount of fat can get tired. That’s why, as long as you’re teaching your dog to swim, you should get him or her used to wearing a life jacket.
You’ll definitely want one if you take your dog on a kayak or a stand-up paddle board.
Get A Life Jacket For Your Dog
Unless conditions are very placid and it’s extremely hot, Honey always wears a life jacket underway.
But we’ve also found that she enjoys wading in the water wearing her life jacket. And seems more relaxed when she feels her feet start to float up in the deep water as she starts paddling.
Links below may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Finding the right life jacket for your dog can be as difficult as buying a bikini that fits and won’t fall off in the water or give you wonky tan lines.
You’ll want a jacket that is comfortable to move in has good flotation under the neck to keep your dog’s head in an upright position. Honey currently wears a Kurgo Surf N Turf Dog Life Jacket (Amazon)
You’ll never appreciate a dog live jacket more until your dog falls in the drink and you’re able to scoop her out using that nifty handle on the back of her life jacket.
If you’re still not convinced, check out my 10 Reasons Every Dog Needs a Life Jacket.
How My Dog Learned To Swim
Honey resisted swimming for a long time.
When she felt her feet floating off the ground as the water got deeper, she paddled a few strokes to turn herself back to shore and felt for the bottom until she reached solid ground. Luckily, we let her choose when she wanted to swim.
Now when I go swimming, she’ll come out to me and swim around me in circles. But she’s more likely to wade up to her chest to cool off and then return to shore.
I don’t mind that she doesn’t love swimming. After all, we don’t want her leaping off the boat any old time as we’ve heard is a problem some boat cruisers face.
But we need to know that if something happened and she found herself in the water unexpectedly, Honey wouldn’t panic and that she’d be paddle until she was rescued or found safety.
And that leads to the one reason EVERYONE should teach their dog to swim.
The One Reason You Should Teach Your Dog To Swim
Maybe just reading about our life on a sailboat makes you seasick. Perhaps you find the idea of kayaking or canoeing with your dog a little less fun than tying your nose hairs to the back of a bus as it pulls away from the curb. And since you live in a landlocked state and hate water sports, there is no reason to teach your dog to swim.
Wrong! Do you ever go hiking? What would you do if your dog tumbled into a fast-moving creek or river while chasing a critter?
Will you ever stay in a dog-friendly hotel with a nearby swimming pool? And can you be sure you’ll never live somewhere affected by severe flooding? When the water is rising on the banks of the Mississippi, it’s too late to start swimming lessons.
So take a step toward summer safety by teaching your dog to swim. You can relax knowing your dog will be safer in situations near water. And who knows? Maybe you’ll both find you love the water even more than you thought.
We are pleased to be joining the Positive Pet Training blog hop hosted by Wag ‘N Woof Pets, Tenacious Little Terrier, and Travels with Barley. Thanks for hosting the hop on the topic of Summer Safety.
Through the Eyes of a Dog (Literally)
Mom’s dogs have all learned to swim and love the water. Right now Madison is not liking water, so we are working on it with her. Hopefully she will start to follow Bailie and me and get in and swim.
Every dog is such an individual, eh? Maybe Madison will learn from you sisters. Or maybe she’ll be like Honey and not swim at all until she’s five years old. 🙂
Patience is important when encouraging a dog to swim. The thought of being thrown in as a pup is too horrible!
I love the water and I’m quite a good swimmer, but I prefer to stay in my depth most of the time.
You have such long legs, Clowie. You can probably go out pretty deep and still have your head out of water.
Sam’s no fan of water despite the webbed feet and seems thrilled we live in a high mountain desert. 🙂 I envy dog owners who have a dog-paddling swim companion.
I guess Sam doesn’t know he’s a poodle just like Honey doesn’t know she’s a golden retriever. :p
Our first golden, cooped up in a car with us for a couple of days as we traveled, had his first experience with water when, at the end of the trip, he leaped out of the car, ran down the hill out onto a dock, then to a floating dock, and hit the brakes. But the edges of the floating dock were all moss-covered and slick, and he went right on into deep water. Even though he later learned to swim, every year he started the summer being afraid of the water even though he desperately wanted to go fetch that stick. After the first plunge, he’d be OK again till next year.
Oooh, poor boy. And that’s the kind of story that demonstrates how important it is to give dogs positive experiences with the water.
Of course, there’s little you can do if your dog is determined to thwart your best efforts, eh?
Jimmy went swimming on the very first day we had him so around 11 weeks. He’s been obsessed ever since! He’d swim in February if I would let him! Same is true for Wilson. Both are water freaks from the first time their feet got wet.
That lab you saw in my FB photos….that was only the 2nd time he has been diving, and the first time off a wooden dock. He can be timid in unfamiliar situations, but obviously the water gene kicked in here!
Wow, what a water-loving family you have. I’m not a little bit jealous that your boys like swimming so much.
As for the lab–amazing that he’s a newbie. He looked like an old pro.
Such great tips! Barley hates to get wet–she doesn’t even like to step in puddle–and we don’t live in a flood zone and we hike on-leash, so as soon as she sees water, she’s stuck to my side like glue, so I don’t worry too much about whether she can swim, but her little sister Rye loves to splash at the edge of the lake. The beaches are too busy for her to get much time to practice swimming this time of year (and I’m too wimpy to go much deeper in Lake Erie than my ankles anyway because it is COLD!), but I’m hoping that I can get her out there with a long line to give her a little more of a chance to explore at her own pace, but still give me a way to reel her back in.
Honey loves puddles so much you’d think she’d be a natural swimmer.
At least Rye is having fun in the water. Can’t blame you for not wanting to swim in Lake Erie. I have swam in Lake Ontario and crossed Lake Cayuga, which is over a mile wide. But it was definitely too cold to be fun.
I wish I had taught my guys to swim. I think it might be too late for them. They’re splashers not swimmers.
At the dog park, I saw a guy drop his lab puppy by the handle of her harness into the kiddie pool. Not sure where he got his training advice on how to get her to love water!
Great post!
Argggh! How did the puppy react to that delivery method? Did he enjoy it?
I ask because I met someone on a sailboat who dropped his Jack Russell on board the same way–by swinging his pup by the leash on a harness. Godzilla (the dog’s name) didn’t seem to mind it. So maybe it was just the thing?
What a great choice of subjects, and such great advice. Our golden Moses didn’t like swimming either. Sheba would swim laps around him, but he still wouldn’t give in. He did love the water, but if he felt his paws going out from under him, he stopped. We just let him do as he wanted, and brought two balls so we could throw his in the shallow water. Maybe if we’d been able to take him more, eventually he would have learned to love it. I also wish I had thought to try a life jacket, that might have given him some security – what a great idea.
Funny how some goldens just don’t have that water-loving instinct.
We had plenty of people tell us Honey would swim if she saw other dogs doing it. But like Moses, she wasn’t buying it.
Mr. N just got a new float coat! He doesn’t enjoy swimming but he knows how to do it. He got pushed into a pond once and he made it out by himself by knowing how to swim! Vital life skill.
Is there anything Mr N can’t do? Glad he had the instincts to swim.
We know boaters who put their dogs in life jackets every time they go onto the dock because their dogs are clumsy and just fall overboard while not watching.
Delilah LOVES it, Sampson not so much. Sampson is more like Honey, a wader. He might go in if he’s hot, and take a quick swim, but then it’s right back out. Delilah’s favorite thing is to fetch in the water. It’s a shame we don’t have many places that allow dogs around here.
I’m glad Honey knows how to swim!
Swimming is so fun! Phoenix loves to swim, Zoe not so much but we keep working on it. We recently got a life jacket and I’m already noticing how much better Phee does in the water with it on!
I wish I could get to a dog-friendly beach easily. Years ago I had two dogs that loved to swim and it was so much fun to take them to Green Lakes. A few years ago we stayed at a cabin with a small lake nearby. My dogs had the chance to enter the water at their own pace. While they didn’t love it, I think Sophie would have if she spent enough time there. They did swim a little bit, but it isn’t their thing. Theo loves to float on the raft in our pool. He can swim, but he rarely chooses to do so.
Great tips, and I especially love that you emphasize the importance of taking it slow. I cringe when I go to the beach and see people forcing their scared dog into the water before they’re ready. I don’t know if they realize how exhausting being scared is, and how much of an effect that has on their ability to swim. I also find it funny that people take their dogs to the lake to learn to swim but don’t want to get in themselves. Leading by example and showing them that ‘hey look I’m in here and fine’ works so well (for my dogs at least).
You don’t even want to know how many times I’ve seen people dragging their dogs into the surf just to have the pup scamper back to dry land and safety. Makes me want to ask, “Are you sure you love your dog?”
Love this post. Summer safety is one of those things that I’m a stickler about. We got Ringo as a foster and within 30 minutes he slipped and fell in our pool while chasing one of our other dogs. Because I’m one of those “crazy dog ladies” who actually watches her dogs outside, I was right there and jumped in to save him (after he panicked and sank straight to the bottom). I got him a life jacket the next day and started swimming lessons with him at the lake that weekend. I don’t care if my dogs don’t like to swim, but knowing that they CAN if they need to is SO SO important. I’m a stickler for life jackets too! Loved this, thanks for sharing.
Wow, what a frightening experience. As a former foster person myself, I know it’s especially horrifying when a dog is in your care for a short time and something goes wrong.
Sounds like Ringo is a pretty resilient dog. Glad you and he were able to make sure he was able to swim for safety if for nothing else.
Love your blog and 5 tips to teach dog to swim. My Dachshund really loves water, specially He often bath himself, may be 4 times a day. He can swim but quickly tired in the strong surf and undertow.
Dachshunds can be really hard to fit in a life jacket. But your comment shares why it’s so important.
Would you believe that dachshunds are perhaps the most common breed we see living on boats? I guess your pup isn’t the only one who loves the water.