Bing conquers his fear of water!

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Peartree

I thought that I would write about Bing and the efforts we have made with him and water I case it was useful to anyone else.

Bing tried to walk on a neighbors swimming pool bubble cover as a young dog while I was visiting their garden. One moment he was with me and playing with their pointer and the next I heard a noise and rushed round the hedge to find him struggling in the middle of the pool while the bubble cover trapping him. Luckily he was wearing a harness and we were able to hook him out. He was very lucky not to drown

Since that day he’s been very scared around water and as my other dog is a water retrieving fiend I haven’t been that bothered
 
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Peartree

Peartree said:
I thought that I would write about Bing and the efforts we have made with him and water I case it was useful to anyone else.

Bing tried to walk on a neighbors swimming pool bubble cover as a young dog while I was visiting their garden. One moment he was with me and playing with their pointer and the next I heard a noise and rushed round the hedge to find him struggling in the middle of the pool while the bubble cover trapping him. Luckily he was wearing a harness and we were able to hook him out. He was very lucky not to drown

Since that day he’s been very scared around water and as my other dog is a water retrieving fiend I haven’t been that bothered
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Sorry had to stop and deal with my houseful of people at home!

While I accepted that Bing was never going to be that happy around water I was hoping that he would gradually over come his fears.

I have tried treating him gradually for putting his feet in water but not had much success and have been very careful not to make the process adversive.

I was able to take him to a traditional trainer last summer who was running a special morning for reluctant swimmers. She had her own lakes and was very careful how she approached the problems. She got him to go into the water and retrieve a dummy but he wouldn’t go out of his depth at all. I had brought some cold partridges with me and after some patience he started a couple of strokes swimming in order to bring back the bird. He only has a great desire to retrieve if there is feather involved! She also by wading out into the water in waders to get him to swim across the lake to me on the other side. I was hopeful that this experience that was so successful combined with the hot summer would get him over his fears but that was not to be.

Whenever Diesel was water retrieving Bingley would go in if the water slopes from the bank and he could get in and paddle but our attempts to encourage him seemed to make his hesitation worse.
 
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Peartree

I have left him alone now for some time. I quickly gave up on a paddling pool in the garden as he didn’t go out side for a week after he realised it was there!

I’ve been taking Diesel for hydrotherapy for some time and looking at their timetable board with the dogs names and their problems made me aware how many conditions can be improved by swimming. I asked Becks what she would do with a dog that was terrified by water and she admitted that it can make treatment very difficult but that now she has had quite a lot of experience with getting dogs to like water and swimming.

I asked her what we could do with Bingley and she suggested that I brought him in to the pool area every week to get him used to being around the water before we tried anything in the pool.
 
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Peartree

Two weeks ago she carried Bingley into the pool in a flotation jacket. He was very scared and when she got him to swim back to the ramp his eyes were bulging out of his head! I was not sure that we were really making things any better but interesting she was massaging him in the warm water while he stood on the bottom. Becks was picking up him legs and softening him feet, which were gripping the floor and gradually he started to relax slightly. She took him for a carry around the pool but kept one leg bent under her so he had something to stand on.
 
kateincornwall

kateincornwall

Location
Cornwall , UK
If they are afraid, then the gently gently approach is the very best . Sam had a similar experience , he tried to walk into our pond when he was a very young puppy , it took 18 months before he finally went in after watching other dogs having fun , but I also had to go in with him ! Once he realised the joys , there was no stopping him so I hope that Bingley will soon grow to enjoy it too ! x
 
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Peartree

snowbunny said:
Is it that important to you that he swims? Some dogs (even Labradors) just don’t like to swim.
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I didn’t really have need for him to swim as I had Diesel but I realised that being so scared around water would be a problem if he needed hydrotherapy at any point. I’m used to waiting with him while everyone else does their water retrieving but I discovered in that the grade 3 Gundog test refusal to enter water is an elimination and that was the catalyst for me to have another try with him.
 
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Peartree

I’ve had to set up a special YouTube so that I can show you these videos. I’m really pleased with Bing after the first session where he almost sat on Beck’s head trying to keep out of the water:oops: This is his second session where he was carried into the water and then decided to swim himself. Even the hydrotherapist was surprised by how quickly he improved. After about 5 minutes we tried a retrieve and this was the result! Becks went out to help him on the way back as she was concerned about the amount of water he was taking on board. Hence you can see her holding him higher in the water. He is being rewarded with spoonfuls of Forthglade food so she was concerned about him being sick.

 
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Peartree

This is from last week. His third session in the pool. We were trying to get him to walk into the water without any holding his jacket and I think you can see that he is quieter while swimming which is better.

He is quite low in the water and this is because Becks tells me that he is hardly using his back legs. She tell me that once he gets more confident he will drive forward with his hind legs and that will make him higher in the water. Here he is getting a dokken that is already floating in the water so a bit trickier.

 
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