How do I persuade my Doodle he can swim?

[Alex, Chad & Louie]

I had always heard that doodles love the water, and we live in beautiful Ontario, so there are lots of lakes to swim in, but louie refuses to be any more daring than a little paddling and swishing around.
we have tries tossing balls and frisbies to temp him but he is just stares at them baffled as to how he could ever get to them!
with the warmer wether approaching we would are looking forward to being active again finally and would like this year to be the year that Louie "learns" to swim.
Apart from jumping in myself, I am at a loss as to what to do, or is he just not a water dog?
Does anyone have any tips or are we the odd doodle out?

[Linda and Murphy]

Murphy was not a good swimmer his first summer. (he was born May 5).
I used a kiddie pool, then my fountain, and finally would take him out in the water at a beach. I had to hold his tail up so he could move forward. It was sad. When spring came along (and he was huge) he started swimming like he had done it all of his life. Rough seas and all. Anything to retrieve that ball.

That would be the "Please save me" look.

[Kim]

This is one of the cutest pictures I have ever seen!!!!!

[Tamara & Giada]

That is precious!!!

[Ellen aka BeauBeau's Mom]

For his first two years, Beau and I lived right on the ocean......we're talking about 20 paces from the door. And when I first brough him home at 3 1/2 months, I had visions of swimming with him, throwing balls and sticks in so he could retrieve them. Anyway, he was (and still is) terrified of the water, other than to gingerly dip his tippy toes in as we were walking on the sand. And we walked on the sand three times a day that entire two years! You'd think he might want to at least try it LOL The one and only time I got him to submerge was at a Doodle Romp last summer, in the jungle heat we get in Miami, and I had to CARRY him in. I held him in my arms, sort of like Murphy's owner above, and then we were in up to my waist, I turned around and held him by the waist,. hoping he would naturally start to swim. Well, he swam, but like a drowning man, frantically paddling til he hit the shoreline. The poor little guy's heart was beating a mile a minute! Here's a photo of that. In the meantime, the other (granted bigger, but does that bring bravado?) dogs were leaping in and having a wonderful time. I tried one more time that same day, and just came to the conclusion that Mark Spitz he is NOT going to be!

[Cam & Oski]

Oski is about Louie's age (16mo) & started swimming when he was 6mo old. At first, he would only stand on the edge of the water & run along it. When his friends, who were 3-4 months older, would wade out to about chest level, he would follow them but only because he wanted to stay with them/keep up with the big boys, lol. Then I started throwing balls out into the shallow part of the water where he could easily stand & he would bring them back to me with lots of cheering & encouragement. One day, I kept on throwing them farther & farther out. The last ball, was just out of this reach & he really wanted to get it so he swam the foot out to the ball & brought it back. It took a few more times throwing the ball a little farther each time to coax him into swimming. Now he loves it & will swim just about anywhere. He still likes to be able to walk out & swim (he won't jump off a pier). Of course, he's also a cold weather doodle. He doesn't mind swimming in really cold water (~5C) or even the cold air afterwards (he used to swim in Lake Washington in Seattle which is around 5C in the winter when it was snowing outside as a puppy). You might want to try the ball fetching thing in the spring/summer when it's warmer & paddling around in the water feels good to him anyway due to the heat :)

[Margot]

Woof! The first time Jennings saw water last year, he just couldn't figure it out... I felt like a failure as a Boston dog owner. But a few weeks later, I tried it again, with his favorite dog pal who is a couple of years older. Reilly chased a stick that was thrown in the lake, and in went Jennings right afterwards... just like a little kid trying/wanting to keep up with the big sibling! Does Louie have any "older" dog pals he can swim with?

[Jojo]

My aunt has a Westie and she just would put her in the water everyonce and a while. Our first time was an accident... the ball was thrown in and SPLOOSH!

[Adina P]

Doodles really vary in their love of swimming.
This was my experience:

Two summers ago we took our dogs to the lake--this was the doodles' first time. As soon as we took off Thule's leash, she ran to the edge and dived in like a pro! It was as though it was her life calling :-)

Rosco on the other hand was tentative. He waded and tested the water and at one point decided to try to be brave. So he went further and then suddenly disappeared under the water! It was quite funny at first but it took a number of seconds for him to reappear and we started to get worried. Thankfully he popped out of the water soon after we started to think that we had to dive in after him. He was a terrible swimmer!

That fall we took the dogs to the beach and while he never really got good at swimming he had a good time.

However, this past summer I took Rosco to that same lake 2 to 3 times. He was like a brand new dog! I did have to get into the water up to my waist and pull him along a couple of times... But after that he took to fetching in the water like it was his lifelong dream. And he started to swim beautifully.

So, while your dog may never like swimming, perhaps with a little practice and experience (and maybe you going in with him) he might learn to love it!

[Linda and Murphy]

I really like the description of "like a drowning man". That was where we were the first year, when I had to hold his tail up.
I also love the description "brand new dog". That is what he was the following summer. These are some photos the following year. He had just turned 1 yr. He would not bring the ball all the way to me because he was afraid I would make him get out of the water! I have trouble walking him on the lakefront because everytime he sees a set of steps he starts pulling trying to get to the water.
He has also figured out (since he is as tall as I am now) that he can stand up in 5ft of water!
It looks a little silly, kinda like he is doing piroettes (sp?). He does a lot of things I have never seen other dogs do.

[Alex, Chad & Louie]

Thanks for all the great tips and pictures, it looks like I am going to have to take the plunge too!
we will attempt it this summer together, and I will let you all know how it goes.

p.s I have only been a member for a few days and I am already addicted! lol

[Debbie and Thomas]

Hi, i am from Canada too(Toronto) and Thomas is now 6 months old and most of his life so far has been winter-no lake swimming here in this season!!!. I am looking forward to watching him romp and swim in the water at our cottage(Georgian Bay-near Wasaga) this spring and summer. But after reading this discussion- maybe not. We'll have to see I guess. Louie is so cute and I love the name!