Oh what fun for the doggies & you!!!
I miss Miko sooo much - he loved to swim laps with me in the pool
- I'd throw his floating duck toy and race him to the far end to pick it up, and if he wasn't swimming, he'd run along the edge & drop toys in the water until I'd swim over & throw them for him to retrieve.
Dona hated the water (and she was a golden!
) I taught her how to swim over about 2 years (she was a sloooow learner, & kept panicking
), but after a lot of love & persistence, she would grudgingly swim & as soon as I let her out of the pool, oh what a happy dog to be all wet & cool in the Texas heat!!!
Did you have to coax Samson or Pippin into the water? How'd you do it?
Casper thinks my pool is EVIL!!!!
I put (yes picked all 91 lb up and put) him in the water on the first step (6 inches) and he was soooo mad at me he wouldn't take a treat for an hour!!!! The second time, I put him on the first step and then had to put his forepaws on the second step (12 inches deep) and then pulled like crazy to get those back legs to walk down with the front ones!!
Then to make his day worse, I made him swim 3 circles in the shallow (4ft water) - he panicked & tried to step out of the water, and so I put my hand under his butt, and he finally got it after the 3rd circle - so I let him swim for the steps & get out ---- you talk about a wet, mad dog!!!!! And I was covered with scratches on my arms, legs & torso from those flailing back legs that couldn't get the hang of a dog paddle!!!
The only reason I am going to persist with Casper (and Dona before him) is the fear that one day he would slip & fall in and not know where the steps are at to get out of the pool - When I was teaching Dona to swim - she would panic & swim for the side & hang for dear life...if I hadn't been there to teach her where the steps & seat benches were, she'd never have known how to get out of the pool...my worst fear was that she'd go for the side instead of the steps, and her legs would fail & she'd drown!!!
Bella has shown no interest in the water...Lucy keeps going to the edge & looking - as if to see how deep it is.
She's been trying to climb into the large bucket of fresh water I keep for them outside....so today I picked her up & put her on the first step - she didn't run away or get mad!!!
I didn't want her to go any farther into the pool because her incision is still healing, but can hardly wait for another week to go bye & try again when the skin is fully healed!!!!
She like to retrieve balls & I'm hoping she'll want to race for the duck, too!!!!
