Water Corgis!
Does your Corgi love the water?
Jack has always loved the water. He is thrilled to splash into any stream or puddle he can find. However, he won't go in past here:
He knows how to swim but is reluctant to do so. Our own mistake, because despite the fact that we socialized him to all manner of things, we never took him somewhere where we could wade in the water with him and encourage him to swim. Admittedly, such places are hard to find around here!
Madison, our new addition, is like a shark. She loves the water. She will swim for hours if you let her.
Well, we finally found a spot where (at least off-season when the beach is closed to swimmers) we can have a nice sandy spot to wade in and get Jack swimming, and Maddie can go at it to her hearts content.
When we first arrived, Jack went snooping and Maddie (as is now typical) came bouncing over to see what he's up to.
We were only there a short time when a trainer we know showed up with her Golden and Cocker, William and Jesse. Madison initially spent most of her time swimming around after everyone, barking her fool head off.
Jack wandered around on the shore while the other three enjoyed the water.
Finally, after watching William the Golden Retriever for some time, Madison got the idea that if she actually brought back a toy instead of just barking at it, someone would throw it back in for her. However, her Corgi herding instincts were still overriding her retrieving skills, and on her first couple attempts she would bring the toy out and run with it all the way to the top of the slope, to save it from drowning, I suppose!
It took her a few times, but she ultimately decided that it did not need saving and she would bring it back to us after all. Here she is, bringing in a toy.
And Jack? Well, after my husband failed to convince him to swim, I finally braved the chilly water myself and rolled up my jeans and went on in. I put a leash on him so he would feel more secure, and after much encouragement I was able to get him swimming. After two efforts with the leash, I got him to follow me in without the leash on the third attempt. No pictures (since I was in the water) but my husband captured that, along with the rest of the fun, on video. So if you have about 6 minutes and want to watch dogs having a blast on a chilly September day, here's the clip!
The woman with the white t-shirt who tried to carry Jack into the water about halfway through was there with the above mentioned trainer we know. Poor Jack will tolerate just about anything; he hates being carried, though.
And Jack wants you to know he was feeling a little fat that day! It was the day after he ate that Boston Creme doughnut I mentioned in another thread!
Jack has always loved the water. He is thrilled to splash into any stream or puddle he can find. However, he won't go in past here:
He knows how to swim but is reluctant to do so. Our own mistake, because despite the fact that we socialized him to all manner of things, we never took him somewhere where we could wade in the water with him and encourage him to swim. Admittedly, such places are hard to find around here!
Madison, our new addition, is like a shark. She loves the water. She will swim for hours if you let her.
Well, we finally found a spot where (at least off-season when the beach is closed to swimmers) we can have a nice sandy spot to wade in and get Jack swimming, and Maddie can go at it to her hearts content.
When we first arrived, Jack went snooping and Maddie (as is now typical) came bouncing over to see what he's up to.
We were only there a short time when a trainer we know showed up with her Golden and Cocker, William and Jesse. Madison initially spent most of her time swimming around after everyone, barking her fool head off.
Jack wandered around on the shore while the other three enjoyed the water.
Finally, after watching William the Golden Retriever for some time, Madison got the idea that if she actually brought back a toy instead of just barking at it, someone would throw it back in for her. However, her Corgi herding instincts were still overriding her retrieving skills, and on her first couple attempts she would bring the toy out and run with it all the way to the top of the slope, to save it from drowning, I suppose!
It took her a few times, but she ultimately decided that it did not need saving and she would bring it back to us after all. Here she is, bringing in a toy.
And Jack? Well, after my husband failed to convince him to swim, I finally braved the chilly water myself and rolled up my jeans and went on in. I put a leash on him so he would feel more secure, and after much encouragement I was able to get him swimming. After two efforts with the leash, I got him to follow me in without the leash on the third attempt. No pictures (since I was in the water) but my husband captured that, along with the rest of the fun, on video. So if you have about 6 minutes and want to watch dogs having a blast on a chilly September day, here's the clip!
The woman with the white t-shirt who tried to carry Jack into the water about halfway through was there with the above mentioned trainer we know. Poor Jack will tolerate just about anything; he hates being carried, though.
And Jack wants you to know he was feeling a little fat that day! It was the day after he ate that Boston Creme doughnut I mentioned in another thread!
Comment
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Comment by Brewer AND Lilly! on September 29, 2009 at 5:26pm
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Great, yeah I didnt think about how cold the water would be getting right now and I cant expect him to want to go in if I dont want to!! we might just hold off til next spring for swimming lessons!!! Thanks for the help! I cant wait til he comes home...
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Comment by Beth on September 28, 2009 at 6:23pm
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Ha! I love the image of Ethel looking for rapids to body surf in, though I'm sure it gives you heart palpitations.
Maddie takes great running leaps into the water, so by the time we left her entire head and everything was drenched to the skin. We'll have to get her some floating water toys, though I want cheap ones as she is not really reliable about bringing them back.
I was thinking of trying a life jacket for Jack too, if going in with him doesn't make him decide he likes swimming. It's so darned hot here in the summer that it's one of the only ways to exercise the dogs, and we have a creek near the house with some natural pools.
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Comment by Ein Danger on September 28, 2009 at 4:41pm
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oh what fun! we took ein to the beach during the summer and he just loved it. though he never really learned to swim. he refused to head for deeper waters (where his feet wouldn't meet the sand). he enjoyed attacking the waves and chasing me on the surf. i want to get him a life jacket to see if he'll go in deeper.
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Comment by Susan Stanton on September 28, 2009 at 2:50pm
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That's such a cute photo essay! My two are just the same -- Bertie, the older, once jumped in over his head, rolled on his back, and then around again -- so now he will only wade and swim under duress (for instance, if someone on the opposite shore is waving hot dogs, suddenly, he swims, no problem). Ethel, his neice and sidekick, who does EVERYTHING Bertie does, loves to swim laps, so I refer to her as my little submarine (the snout being the periscope). She actually got caught in the current once and started heading out to sea, but I jumped in and grabbed her -- she seemed to think it was like a ride at 6 Flags, and now searches for white water rapids she can body surf.
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Comment by Sam Tsang on September 28, 2009 at 1:48pm
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awesome :)
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Comment by Craig H on September 28, 2009 at 1:10pm
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I can't keep Boomer out of the water. Boomer thinks he's a Lab. I can take him to the waterfront area at the local park and he'll swim for the better part of an hour, just tooling back and forth, retrieving toys I throw in the water (not balls, as he tends to suck down half the lake trying to bring one back to the shore) and taking other dogs' toys because everyone else's toys are always cooler than your own.
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Comment by Amanda & Tuck on September 28, 2009 at 11:45am
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Thanks for sharing Beth! This was really sweet. I haven't tested Tucker's swimming abilities yet!
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Comment by Judi, Dawn, Soffie & Griffyn on September 28, 2009 at 10:19am
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Fantastic post Beth! Thank you for sharing!
Soffie loves to swim! And Griffyn will paddle around. He likes it better if she's in there with him. But this summer, because of her injury, we had to keep Soff on leash at the lake.... sigh
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Comment by DR, Nala & Simon on September 28, 2009 at 9:18am
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How fun. I wish there was a nice place like that nearby.
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Comment by Bev Levy on September 28, 2009 at 7:25am
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Hey Brewer's dad, it also helps if you have another dog around that likes the water when you first give it a try. The waves may seem scary at first but if they see another dog go in usually they will too.
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