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Springer Spaniel terrified of going swimming

  • 24-05-2010 9:45am
    #1
    gazzer
    Registered Users Posts: 4,051 ✭✭✭


    Myself and my partner took in a 2 year old Springer Spaniel last year. She is a lovely lively dog and we love her to bits. There is one issue though that we are hoping to get some help with.

    She is terrified of going into the water. We live near a lot of lakes and often walk her out at a lake along with our other dog (A pom cross). The Pom loves water and loves jumping in to get balls and sticks etc. In fact yesterday we spent 3 hours down at a local lake and the pom was in the water for most of that time.

    The springer however will not go into the water at all. We brought her to the edge of the lake and tried to coax her in with balls, sticks, treats etc but she wasnt for budging. I have been around dogs all my life and this is the first time that I have come across a dog that is afraid of water. Im just wondering if anybody has any tips as to how to get her to enjoy playing in the water. I was thinking of getting into the water myself and bringing her in with me on a lead but I dont want to traumatise her.

    Thanks


Comments

  • #2
    morganafay
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,534 ✭✭✭morganafay


    I took my dogs to the river behind my house and tried to get them to go swimming (Cavaliers but one of them thinks she's a Springer!) and they wouldn't go in. But I just put leads on them and lifted them into the water (with me in the water too) and they instinctively started swimming of course. Then they really seemed to like it.

    I still have to drag them into the water, but once they're in they love it! On warm days anyway. I still keep leads on them because they're small and I'm worried they might get washed away :D And because with three, I wouldn't be able to mind them all on my own, in case they got tired and couldn't swim anymore.


  • #3
    iguana
    Moderators, Entertainment Moderators Posts: 12,909 Mod ✭✭✭✭iguana


    You could try tossing a dog treat in the water for her. We did this to encourage Toby to swim when he was younger. Start by throwing it in a very shallow area and build up to throwing it a little further each time. Give her lots of praise each time she goes in the water. Springers are natural water babies but if she wasn't introduced to water at an early age or had a bad experience it will take her a while to get used to it.


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