Naw Terry, you can't teach a dog to swim by using hot dogs. That will never work. You have to use Cheetos.......they float.
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Naw Terry, you can't teach a dog to swim by using hot dogs. That will never work. You have to use Cheetos.......they float.
My idiot will do anything for a hotdog. But the floating Cheetos thing does make sense.........
[QUOTE=overtheir;980954]Ok u stated that u where over protective of the dog and let it go do to gators how u inforced that maybe the cause or another thing that could be a factor is the size of body of water it may intemadte the dog .
I think we are talking about two different people here. The original poster and skypilot
anyways DDT be patient and make it as fun and exciting for the pup. Leave the training and commands while your attempting to get him in the water. As mentioned already throw the shorts on and go wading in the shallows and tempt him to play. I had a yellow that would wine and watch the others swim then one day it clicked and she won't leave the water now she loves it. Best of luck
Some pointing breeds that compete in NAVHDA hunt tests require forced retrieve training before they will enter the water, something to consider.
Good advice here ^^^.Quote:
Originally Posted by terrym
The approach we use in overcoming obstacles is to create motivation. You could start by standing on the other side of a small stream and calling her over and giving praise and the reward when she does, gradually work up to bigger bodies of water. Start small, give lots of praise and use a rewards and make it fun, we will sometimes call the dog and jump up and down.
In regards to the reward, find out what your dog is crazy about and use it only for training. It may be a hot dog, or a squeaky toy, if she is still reluctant and you are using a food reward skip the meal before training - skipping the meals before training made the biggest difference for my dog.
- As previously suggested used food as a motivator. Peanut butter on dummies, wieners, cheesies, dead birds
- Find a body of water with a gradual, solid bottom (no soft muck) like at a boat ramp.
- Start small, just getting her feet wet may be all you get the first time, and be happy with that. Go back the next time and getting the feet wet should be easier. PRAISE her for any slightest achievement.
- Go in the water with her.
- Once she is wading in the water with confidence, playing with dummies, you can toss the odd one just beyond where she can reach by less than a foot. The idea here is to have her lunch for the dummies lifting her rear legs from the water and returning to water she is confident in. Gradually repeat this until she is taking more stokes to retrieve the dummy. Food as a motivator will enhance her drive. Praise her
- If you have a wing from a bird and a fishing pole tossing it just beyond her wading depth is another motivator. I have also used pigeons, with primary feathers pulled from one wing.
- If you have a location of a small pond with an island, take her to the island and leave her or a stream where you can cross and she will need to swim. A few trips to the island will force her to swim. Praise her.
- Remember, this can not be done in one session, be patient praise the success, encourage her. This is a good time of year to work on this while the water is warmer.
Word of caution .... if you are going to work on this around a public boat ramp .... as where there are fishing boats being launched, more than likely there are lost fishing lures on the bottom in the area! You do not want to have to get a treble hook out of either your foot or your dog's!
If you have access to a swimming pool with stairs (not a ladder), it makes things easier. I just carried Rocky in and let him sit on my lap in the shallow end and let him swim off my lap to the stairs. I would get further and further from the stairs each session and before I knew it, he would follow me into the pool whenever I went in.
so here we go. tomorrow I have all the family gathered together to trick or show her this is what we need you to do. lots of treats plus above 30 temps thanks for all the tips and help lets see by 7 tomorrow night.
not perfect but a better outing. I think she is on the right track. thanks all