Teaching Your Pet Dog Swimming

Not all dogs are natural swimmers, which is contrary to popular belief. If you want to teach you dog to swim, which is important for safety, here are five useful tips to help your best friend learn safely.

1. Making use of a life jacket.

A dog life jacket is one of the most useful pieces of equipment for helping your dog to learn to swim. The extra buoyancy provided by the life preserver not only helps him to learn to swim a lot easier but also reduces the amount of fatigue he experiences. It will also keep him warmer in the water. Also a dogs life jacket will usually have a handle on the top which is helpful for lifting him out of the water. This makes it a lot easier for getting him out of the water should he become panicked or fatigued.

2. Be in the water at the same time as your dog.

Being in the water with your dog helps you with keeping a close eye on him whilst in the water. it very much the same way as if you were teaching a young child to swim. Being in the water at the same time allows you to encourage your dog more and guide them. It also enable you to quickly lift him out of the water if he runs into difficulties. Large dogs may need more than one of you in the water at the same time to help lift him out.

3. Small steps first.

Starting small by introducing your dog to water in a swimming pool is a good idea. IN this way, your dog can slowly ease himself into the water, feet first. On no account should you ever throw your dog into the water and hope for the best. You are likely to induce a fear of water into him doing it that way.

4. Keep episodes short.

Swimming expends a lot of energy and dogs can lose a lot of heat in water. Many of the dogs that are bred to spend time in water are usually large and have a lot of fur. Preventing hypothermia is important. This can be achieved by spending shorter periods of time in the water, drying off the fur after getting out of the water and wrapping in a blanket.

5. Have fun.

When a dog sees his family having fun and jumping about in the water, he wants nothing more than to join in. Make the whole learning process an enjoyable and fun one. Keep telling him what a good boy he is and give him treats. This way, your best friend will associate water and swimming with having a good time and encourage to get in the water