Bulldogs and Swimming

Question
Hello, I'd first like to thank you for your advice about Bella's food. I switched her over to Innova and so far it's going very well.

I now have a question about bulldogs and water. In a couple of weeks I'll be moving to Plattsburgh, NY for a few months. My family lives on the lake and they have two golden retrievers and two yellow labs who are always in the water during the summertime. I've heard from several people that bulldogs don't swim, but the other day I met one that does. He was a rescue so his owner wasn't really sure how he picked it up. There's a shallow, slow moving creek in our neighborhood so we brought the dogs down to check it out. Bella isn't a huge fan of being bathed but she was more than willing to follow her friend in to get her feet wet. Her buddy then jumped right in and swam around for a while. The creek is only about two and a half to three feet deep, but for them that was deep enough to require them to swim. She slowly made her way out but once the water got deep she literally sank. I've never seen anything like it. She sank like a bowling ball and didn't even move her legs to try and do the doggie paddle, she just wailed her head back and forth. I obviously felt terrible and ran in to pull her out of the water, and while I thought she'd be terrified she just shook it off and stayed in the shallow portion to get her feet wet.

Since we now know that she can't swim, I'm afraid to see what will happen when we head up north. I'm honestly terrified that she'll follow my father's dogs down to the lake and something really bad will happen. I know supervision is key and she shouldn't be outside for more than ten to fifteen minutes at a time anyway because of the heat, but should I try to teach her how to swim just in case? I feel like it's a double-edged sword. If somehow she learns, at least she'll know the basics. But then she could become overconfident, try to keep up with the boys and get in over her head. I'll obviously supervise her everytime she goes outside, and I plan on getting her a lifejacket since my family really enjoys boating together. But I'm wondering your opinion about whether I should actively try to teach her how to swim just in case she somehow finds herself near the water without her lifevest. I'm also wondering whether or not you've heard of anyone teaching bulldogs how to swim and if so, how they did it. I'm finding myself in unfamiliar territory since I've never had a dog that couldn't swim, and I wasn't really planning on spending the summer in NY. Thanks so much for your help, I really appreciate it.  

Answer
There are Bulldogs who swim and some, quite well in fact. However, this is the exception. Bulldogs aren't built to swim in case you hadn't noticed. Their legs can't paddle fast enough to support their bodies. They don't bend in the middle like a Lab either. Think Pepe' Le Pew.  I had a Doberman who couldn't swim once. You don't think that was embarrassing?

You can't teach her to swim. You could get her a life vest. They do make them for dogs. However, my main concern is not her drowning but her dying from a heart attack trying to save herself. For the most part, she probably wouldn't be outside in the heat with the other dogs. You're just going to have to be hyper vigilant or you'll lose her for sure.