Do you have a swimming dog? Is it hard to keep your dog out of the water when the sounds of splashing beckon?
For some breeds, "swimming and dogs" go together like "peanut butter and jelly."
This is the section of our website that is devoted to celebrating the "swimming dog." We have two spaniels, one who is obsessed with swimming, diving and retrieving objects from our pool, and the other who likes to take a quick dip now and again, but is more interested in watching our Springer Spaniel swim.
This is Sofie- our "celebrity" Springer! Her stock photos have been used in many books and magazines!
Swimming and Dogs -Precautions
There are certain precautions that we have taken, having a dog that loves to swim so much. First, there are times that we don't want to have her in the pool. She tracks in water and drinks large quantities of pool water when swimming, so if she swims for a long time, it can cause her to become incontinent later that day. In order to monitor time spent in the pool, we have installed a gate at the top of our stairs down to the pool and only let her swim when we can control the length of time she swims. We also play with her and let her retrieve things for us, because she doesn't drink as much water when she is holding a toy in her mouth. (Plus, she has so much darn fun retrieving toys!)
If you are swimming with your dog, be aware of where they are swimming if you swim underwater. Dogs instinctively paddle, regardless of where their people are, and you can easily get scratched by their paddling paws (which we often "lovingly" refer to as the "Paws of Death!"
Lastly, we have to watch her ears to protect them from infections. She dives a lot to retrieve toys, and is more prone to ear infections when her ear canal stays moist. Her long ears also prevent good airflow, so we have to ensure that the inside of her ears are well-dried after a swim.
Mostly though, it is great fun to watch a swimming dog. Our friends seem to be quite amused by her, and people always comment on her joyful attitude when we take her to the dog beach near our home.
Some of the best water dog supplies can be found in your local pet supply store. Sporting good outlets also have floating training bags or floats that are used to train hunting dogs to retrieve water fowl. Your swimming dog will have great fun with these toys and training tools. Some have ropes on them for pulling as well Basically, any floating toy or disc will make great dog toys. Water dogs just wanna have fun!
Below, I have a video that I just made that I hope you will enjoy! Sofie is swimming to "The Swimming Song" by Loudon Wainwright III.
The Swimming Song
In this video, meet Sofie - our swimming dog! She's a swimming and diving English Springer Spaniel, the Esther Williams of dog world. Grab your swim cap and nose plugs and jump on in! The water is great.
