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Teaching Your Lab to Swim Means Summers of Fun
By Scott Nyborg
There are few
breeds of dog more famous for their love of the water than the
Labrador Retriever. We’ve all seen a Lab (or a pack of Labs) frolic
in the water for hours on end, and most of us who have owned Labs have
had to drag them forcibly away from the shoreline toward home!
However, as unlikely as it may seem, Labs do not come “out of the box”
knowing how to swim. Furthermore, some Labs become truly nervous
around water. That having been said, most Labs can be taught to swim
quickly and easily, and a few simple lessons can lead to hours of
enjoyment for both you and your dog. Here’s a few thoughts on getting
started on the right paw.
A Sure Bet for Failure – “Sink or Swim”
There is no method
of teaching your Lab to swim more likely to fail than throwing him in
the water. Whether done from shore where it’s shallow, or (even
worse) from a boat, forcing your dog into the water is almost certain
to cause the instant development of aversion to water in your dog’s
mind. Even more serious, pushing your Lab off a boat where he can’t
stand on the bottom puts him at serious risk of drowning. Positive,
safe training methods are the only option for teaching your Lab
to swim. Never force your dog into the water.
Start Young
There are a number
of reasons to teach your Lab to swim while he’s still a pup. For
one thing, it’s easier on the dog.
A large dog has a lot of body weight to manage in the water, and for a
dog new to swimming, this can increase the slope of
the learning curve. Puppies, because of their small size, have
an easier time.
Teaching your Lab
to swim while he’s still a pup is easier on you, too. With a puppy,
you’ll be able to do all your training while only getting your hands
and lower legs wet! With an adult dog, you’ll have to get deeper in
the water and will most likely end up soaked from the dog’s initial
attempts to doggy-paddle. There’s also a safety concern worth noting
when working with a very large dog. When a dog panics, he may try to
plant his back feet on the bottom and his front feet on you. A large
dog can knock you over when he does this, and if he ends up on top of
you in doing so, there is a risk of him holding you under the surface.
Probably the most
convincing argument for starting young, however, is that your Lab is
less likely to have any serious fears of the water! There is no
reason for a dog to fear water when he has never had any experience
with it. By teaching your dog to swim while he’s still young, you can
ensure that his first encounters with water are positive. In fact,
starting young decreases the likelihood that you’ll have to teach your
Lab anything at all! One short, positive session may be all your Lab
needs to take off swimming. However, for those dogs with more
trepidation, starting young will ensure that a little nervousness
doesn’t turn into a real fear.
So what’s the
perfect age to start? Two to five months. At this age, your Lab is
old enough to be able to manage his body in the water, has developed
the immune system to protect him from being wet, and is still small
enough that you can handle him easily.
Build Confidence Around Water
Even before you
teach your Lab to swim, you can start off on the right foot by
building his confidence around water. Take your dog for a walk around
the local pond or lake. Encourage any interest that your dog shows in
the water with verbal praise. If he is willing to get his feet wet,
encourage him to do so and praise him when he does. Simple
preliminaries like this lay a strong foundation for you because you
teach the dog that there is no reason to fear water.
Remember that the
primary goal here is to provide positive experiences for your Lab
around and in the water. Making sure that the aquatic site
you've chosen is safe goes a long way towards ensuring such
experiences. Always check the shoreline and the water itself for
hazards before allowing your dog into the water. This includes
looking for submerged logs or other hazards that might injure your dog
when he jumps in. Also be on the lookout for old fishing tackle,
rusty metal, and so on. You should also be aware of the water
quality at the site you've chosen. Letting your Lab swim in foul
or polluted water is a good recipe for a sick dog!
Lesson One
 To begin
teaching your Lab to swim, take
your pup to a calm lake or pond on a warm day. Bring a helper with
you, and wear shorts, a swim suit, or waders. Leave your helper on
shore, and carry your puppy out about ten or fifteen feet into the
water – no deeper than your knees. Hold your pup by placing one hand
under his belly and chest, and use the other hand to hold his back end
level with his front (you can do this by gently holding the base of
his tail). Lower your puppy into the water, but don’t let go yet.
Instinctively,
your Lab will start paddling. Encourage him! Use positive verbal
reinforcement to praise your pup. Treats and toys are a bad idea as
they distract the puppy from the job at hand, but there’s nothing
wrong with verbal praise! Once your pup is paddling strongly, remove
your hand from under his belly for a few seconds, but continue to hold
his back end level with the front.
Keeping your dog
level during the first few swimming lessons is important. Most dogs
that have trouble swimming let their back ends sink. Once the dog is
vertical in the water, it’s very hard for him to make forward
progress.
Once you feel
comfortable that your pup can stay level and afloat, have your handler
attract the dog from shore. Exciting body language, clapping, and
verbal enticement are key here. When your pup is paddling strongly,
release him completely and let him swim to your helper ashore. When
he makes it, praise him generously. Be ready to scoop him up if it
looks like he’s having trouble. If he does have trouble, decrease the
distance between you and your helper and try again. That’s all there
is to it! After several repetitions, pack up and go home. Repeat the
training session daily, increasing the distance your Lab has to swim
as he becomes comfortable with the exercise.
Once your Lab is
comfortable swimming from you to the shoreline, you can begin to
encourage him to swim out away from the shore on his own. With Labs,
the easiest way to do this is to take advantage of the dog’s inherent
retrieve drive. Away from the water, develop the go-fetch game with
your dog, using a toy that you know will float. Once your Lab has
learned to retrieve this toy on land, take him to the water. Throw
the toy a short (10 feet) distance from the shore, and encourage your
Lab as he swims out to retrieve it. If the bottom of the pond slopes
gradually and your dog doesn’t get his feet off the bottom, don’t
worry – the idea is simply to encourage the dog to go out into the
water without you. When he returns his toy to you, praise him
heavily. As the dog becomes comfortable with this exercise, you can
gradually increase the distance you throw the toy. In no time, your
Lab will be swimming like a champ!
Older Dogs
What if your Lab
is already an adult, and you can’t start young? You can use the very
same techniques to teach your adult Lab to swim. Keep in mind that
you may need two helpers – one on shore, and a second to help you hold
the dog in the water. Also realize that you’ll have to go deeper to
get your dog’s feet off the bottom. If you’re not comfortable in
water deeper than your knees, find somebody who is. Remember that the
trick when starting out is to ensure that your dog stays level in the
water.
 Dogs and Boats
Never take a dog
who doesn’t know how to swim in a boat of any kind. However, Labs who
are experienced swimmers can have a lot of fun aboard boats – and they
make great company as well. Keep safety in mind when you bring a dog
aboard. Your Lab should wear both a canine life jacket and
identification when on board. Don’t let your dog romp about the boat
while you’re underway, either. Make him sit or lie down. Don’t crate
your dog aboard a boat; in the event of an accident, he will drown as
the kennel sinks.
Introduce your Lab
to the boat while it’s still at dock. Encourage your dog to explore
the boat, and to board the boat from the dock. Once he is
comfortable, take him on a short trip away from shore, watching him
carefully to make sure he doesn’t try to jump overboard. As always,
increase the length of your trips gradually, as the dog becomes
comfortable with the new vehicle.
Don’t Force the Issue
For most Labs,
there are no better times to be had than those had around (and in) the
water. However, there are those Labs who harbor a true fear of the
water. There’s seldom a compelling reason to force such a dog to
learn to swim. Your dog is no less a Lab just because he can’t swim,
and he’ll make just as good a companion dry as he will wet. Swimming
is supposed to be a fun activity for people and dogs; if your dog
can’t see the fun in it, simply find another game!
As for the rest of
the Labs out there – those for whom wetter is better – enjoy the
summer!
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