Teaching Your Greyhound To Swim....

[Guest badderh]

Took Rocky to the beach this past weekend and he had a BLAST! One thing he really wasn't sure of was going into water that was above his shoulders, which I am assuming is because he doesn't know how to swim. I've read a few articles saying that Greyhounds have a difficult time learning how to swim, this made me wonder if anyone has had luck teaching their dog how to swim. Any suggestions or input?

 

Thought I'd include some pictures as well

 

Taking a break from the cold Lake Michigan water and warming up a bit with Mr.Ryan

 

Keeping an eye on the Beagle that is coming awfully close to my tennis ball

[mychip1]

No swimming advice...but boy is he cute.

 

By the way, my boy at the bridge, Jack, fell into a pool once (pool cover and all) and my friend and I had to dive in and save him. He completely paniced. However, when I would take him to the ocean, he would just lay on the sand and let the water come up and lapp over him.

[brandimom]

No advice. Rocky is one stunning gh - love the coloring. Michigan Lake looks so beautiful from someone that lives on the West coast.

[Sambuca]

Bu knows how to swim and knew how. I didn't have to teach him. He prefers to just wade, but has ended up in deeper areas in brooks and the ocean so was forced to swim. Im always close by in case of emergency and when I first had him near deep water I had him in a harness so I could grab him easily if needed and carry him like a suitcase out of the water. I figured it would be easier that way than hugging him to me or dragging him by his neck/collar. I never needed it though thankfully.

[Guest Plygreygirl]

Taught my Caryl girl to swim by just walking her out until her feet did not touch. The first time she rolled completely over. But got the hang of if pretty quick. I would take her every couple of hours out a little ways and before you knew is she was doing it on her own. Now that being said she did swim off and on but really pefered to just wade around usally up to her belly! Take your time and do it in stages don't push the issue you want him to like it!!

 

Now my Mia loves, loves the ocean she will run up and down the beach and every so often she will just crash into the waves! I have not taught her the swiming thing as we do not go to the lake any more so there was no need.

 

Good luck and such a beautiful face you have there Rocky!!!

[cleptogrey]

swimming is easier in a lake- no current. i taught my welsh terrier to swim in lake seneca. he hadn't figured it out in all the years i took him trout fishing. i just had him w/ me and we waded in, i picked him up and held him till his legs figured it out. felix, my grey did a head dive off of a sand jetty at cape cod. dh was casting out and he heard the rod, saw the lure hit the water and dove it! we all freaked, dh threw is wallet in the sand and was ready to jump in....felix went down pretty deep. the his tail surfaced and his head and he saw in. sputtered a little and went in the water at the bay the next day. my saluki and scottie just took to the water and swam. azim used to swim next to the canoe in the delaware river....then swim to shore, yeah a desert dog...go know.

[Guest FastDogsOwnMe]

I have yet to meet a dog that cannot swim, though some hate it. Most greys like water in my experience. Our racers charged into the dip tank after every race. He is a beauty.

[Guest Iceman41]

Very pretty

He is awsome

[MaryJane]

very handsome boy - love the expression !

[oscarsmom]

Funny story here! My family went to visit my dad who owns a farm that has 3 ponds and lots of acres. Well it was mid summer and all the ponds had that nasty green algea on top so they kinda blended into the rest of the pasture a bit. Well Oscar was having a blast running with the cows and such in the pasture and ran right into one of the big ponds at full speed. It looked like the old cartoons where they float for sec before falling in. Scared us to death! My dad was about to jump in after him when we were yelling for Oscar to turn around cause he was paddling toward the deeper end. He finally turned towards us and got ashore. It was only a minute or two but felt longer when we were on the shore. Till this day Oscar is very scared of those ponds at my dad's.

[Guest SusanP]

We swim in lakes up in Northern Minnesota. 4 out of 5 of our hounds won't/wouldn't go past about their knees in water, but Spinner waded as far as he could one day (on a long leash), and after long and intense consideration, lunged forward into the deep. He sank straight down like a stone, and I had to haul him up. I';; be curious as to whether or not he tries again this summer. I'm also wondering if our new, 3-legged Labrador, who doesn't even like to stand in a wading pool, will try to swim.

[kudzu]

One of mine loves to wade into water & lay down with just his head exposed. He also managed to miss & land in deeper water so I decided we needed to help him be a confident swimmer not just a panicked flailer. So last Fall we went to a few swimming lessons at a facility that teaches dock diving. We've just signed up for a 4 lesson package at the same location, starting in a couple weeks. This course has the goal of not just having the dogs swim but actually getting them to go in from the dock. My goal is just to get him to go in from the stairs. If he just cautiously entered from the steps at water level that's fine by me. If he actually jumps I'll be ecstatic. I've no real interest in dock diving for him it's just an excuse to get him swimming in a safe, controlled environment.

[Hubcitypam]

What a handsome boy!

All of my big boys have been good swimmers on their own. Bella didn't like the water, but then Bella pretty much didn't like anything. The only thing both Rex and Buck liked about the dog park was the lake access and Rex was a swimming fool.

 

Sorry to old timers to trot out the story, but we went to a gathering on lake Lewisville and they had a spit of land fenced off for a play area. As soon as we got in there Rex made a bee line for the lake and jumped in. He was having a grand old time swimming parallel to the shore when this woman started screaming "Get that dog! Greyhounds can't swim! Someone save that dog!". I yelled back "It's my dog, he's just fine. You want him out go in and get him." She suddenly decided that greyhounds could swim after all.

[greytpups]

All of our greyhounds found out on their own they can swim and none panicked. Bailey walked off the end of a dock at a friend's cottage. She had never seen a lake. Ben walked off right after her. Both swam to shore. We were on the dock and did not have to do or say anything, they just naturally swam to shore. Brooke fell out of a canoe and swam straight for shore. I swam near her in a kayak and Dave quickly paddled to shore to help her over the slippery rocks once she got to shore.

 

all of them were fine after their experience. They just gave themselves a good shake and went on their way. Perhaps it is because dh and I didn't panic either. We were right there but they all knew where the shoreline was and none were in any danger of sinking, nor did they flail around in the water.

[Guest maidmarcia]

I taught Licorice to swim last year. We simply carried him out to water as deep as our chest...then I held him with my hands under his stomach and waited for his legs to start kicking. When we let go of him, he promptly swam to the shore, haha. We took him back out again and then he stayed out longer.

 

He prefers the shallows though.

 

 

Edit: Haha, I totally forgot...the first time Licorice swam was awkwardly enough at my boyfriend's extended family picnic. It was the middle of a hot day, they had an inground pool.... Licorice was walking around the edge and then just jumped in!! It was crazy. The worst part was that no one would help me get him out and he scraped his legs open trying to climb out onto the concrete.

Edited June 12, 2012 by maidmarcia

[mangos_mom]

All 3 of mine have managed to fall into a pool, Nedra twice, as they seem to think the pool is nothing but a big water bowl. Each time, I've been right there. The first time, Nedra went in first. As I was turning to go get her, Ruger went in on the opposite side of the pool ( and I'm not convinced that he wasn't going in after Nedra, as connected as these 3 are). They crossed paths underwater and came up paddling instead of panicked. I only had to call them to me and they swam to me at the steps and got themselves out. It was impressive, and a sight I won't soon forget.

 

Delta swam, but panicked when she couldn't get herself out and no amount of calling her worked, so we lifted her out. She won't go near the pool now.

 

I do wish I have pictures of Ru and Nedra swimming, though.

[Guest Snazzy_Chloe]

All my hounds have instinctivly know how to swim - however they really don't feel comfortable when their feet can't touch the ground. Usually, if I coax them in they want to turn right around and get out - unless there is a beach that they can lay in where the water /waves lap in around them. They don't have much body fat so it is a lot of work for them just to keep paddling very far for them and also to keep their nose & ears out of the water/waves. Other breeds float higher in the water so it is easier (less fearfull) for them. Lake Michigan is pretty cold water plus it had rip currents so I would use a lot of care with a dog around there. Mr Ryan is stunning!