Water ... is it a Corgi thing?
I have a Corgi / Westie mix. I've had Westie's in the past, and they were quite fond of water. My new little mix HATES the water. Baths are an all out wrestling match. (And boy is she strong.) And she will have nothing to do with the pool. She did make it into the ocean once, but I think chasing the Pelicans made her forget she was actually in water. Rain coming down from the sky is OK. But the shower attachment and large bodies of water make her go crazy. So just wondering if this is a common Corgi quirk? She is a rescue, so if it is not a common Corgi thing, she may have had some bad experience with water in the past. Just wondering.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Gail and Ashton on
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Ashton loves the water. LOVES it. When he was really little he loved to splash his paws in his water dish. Running through the sprinklers, swimming in the lake, playing in his blue pool in the yard and once even jumping into my bubble bath (so much for a relaxing bath! lol)! Yeah, he loves the water. He even enjoys diving under the waves at the lake to collect "treasures" like lake weeds and driftwood. Ashton is my happy little swimmer and is probably not the typical corgi when it comes to water. :P
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Permalink Reply by Beth on
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Mine both love water, though neither is fond of baths. Jack only likes to go in up to his chest, but Maddie is like a fish. Our breeder uses baby pools for her summer puppies so they can play without getting too hot, so early exposure might be part of it, but I have to leash mine near water if I want them to stay dry. Jack went in once to a snow-melt stream on a 40 degree day.
Here's Maddie, swimming:
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Permalink Reply by Deborah Smith on
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Neither of mine want anything to do with water. Gwenny doesn't mind a bath or rain but won't go near the pool. Gandalf loves snow but hates water in any other form. He won't even go out in the rain except unless he's forced. Our dachsund-terrier mix LOVES the pool and doesn't care about getting wet otherwise (so long as it isn't cold). I guess this is a long winded way of telling you that you're not alone.
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Permalink Reply by Aglppy on
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I also have a wire hair fox terrier, who begs to get in the pool and swims for hours. The Corgi mix runs back and forth around the pool barking, as to warn him he is in the water. I can see that some Corgi's love the water, while others "not so much." I guess Roxy is with Gwenny and Gandalf when it comes to water :-)
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Permalink Reply by Geri & Sidney on
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Sidney is a Pembroke and he hates the water! He won't go out in the rain unless we make him (and then we have to stand out there with him). When we're hiking, if we have to cross a creek we have to carry him. At the beach, he'll venture towards the waves but run away from them. Baths are a battle. But he's a great dog!
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Oh, this is so Roxy. She is a great dog too. I can see she is in good company.
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I just wanted to throw something out there. My dad has trained various bird dogs for decades, including field trialing English Pointers. He's had several dogs of different breeds that spend at least some of their time doing water retrieves (his current one is a Chesapeake Bay Retriever that he takes goose and duck hunting).
Even dogs like labradors that are bred for generations to swim well are sometimes afraid of the water. He told me many, many years ago that just like absolutely everything else, if you want your dog to be a swimmer, you should start getting them in the water when they are puppies. If they need to hunt from a boat, they should be put in a boat on dry land as a puppy and learn to jump in and out of it.
Some will run right in (you should be ready to go in after them the first few times in case they get in trouble). Some are hesitant but can be coaxed in if you go with them. And some need to be carried in and shown they can swim. And again, this is even with those breeds that are developed to be swimmers.
If your puppy persists in hating the water after several introductions of this nature, then call it a lost cause and find other activities. But even among dogs bred to love swimming, they absolutely should be introduced to water as puppies and taken in if necessary. Once they are adults, you can still try but it's much less of a sure thing, like any other type of socialization.
As I said, both mine love water but the breeder has paddling pools for her pups while they are still there with the whole litter. They learn it's fun at the age when their behavior is still being shaped. It still doesn't make them like baths, but then I've met very few dogs who like baths. Mine are better in an open shower stall than an enclosed tub.
Corgis are excellent swimmers (I think it's the body shape). They keep their back straight and use all four legs fluidly; they don't "dog paddle" with front legs splashing and hind end lower than the chest, as some dogs who are poor swimmers do.
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Roxy is our rescue dog. They estimated her age to be around two. So we unfortunately did not have the opportunity to train her from a puppy. But perhaps a wading pool this summer will teach her to like water more, even at age two. And her Fox Terrier brother is a fish ... so the more she bonds with him, the more she may want to follow him into the water. Thanks fo rthe great info.
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Yes, start her with small fun things.
I had Jack in water but made the mistake of never having him swim, so he's my wader! This past autumn we were able to get him to a place with a gently sloping bottom and no waves. I went in and actually leashed him, then excitedly encouraged him in. I gave a couple gentle leash tugs to know I wanted him to come in with me (not hard enough to drag him, not even close!). I did that twice, and the third time he came in with no leash just with me clapping my hands and encouraging him. I only had him paddle a few short strokes before letting him return to land. I'm hoping as his confidence grows, he'll like swimming more.
Just make sure all her experiences are positive (no waves, no fast current, no sudden sinkholes in what she thinks is shallow water).
Good luck!
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Permalink Reply by Susan Stanton on
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Bertie loves water too -- he used to jump in any water he saw, until he jumped in a deep river and lost a little control (feet in air, head under, not happy) -- so now he is a confirmed wader, but he will swim under pressure (like, if you're on the opposite shore waving a hot dog). On the other hand, Ethel's goal in life is to go white water rafting without a raft, so I actually have to watch her closely when we are near fast-moving rivers. Both of them are wary of the Atlantic ocean but will chase birds through the froth and trickle of receding waves. But after a heavy rain, Ethel will rush to large puddles and try to lift her feet up and swim in them, she's so eager to get going!
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