Why can't my stupid dog swim?

[ummmm]

If he gets the chance he'll run and jump in the lake, then he panics and can't gey out. Today he had to be rescued by the fire brigade. Lucky for me I wasn't with him. But I thought dogs could swim. Or is he just stupid?

[wolf63]

you mention that he is a "he" - so yes, he is probably stupid!

One of my dogs was terrified of water, the little waves at the side of the boating pond freaked him out. Maybe your dog has just had a bad experience.

I am surprised that the fire brigade came to rescue a dog stuck in a lake, they will be telling jokes about that rescue for months to come.

[kipchik]

My old rottie hated the water,hated it!!

[Nick.Detroit]

Maybe if he wasn't chained to the doghouse, he'd float?

[Nick.Detroit]

I used to breed Rotties ...

mine loved the water ...the dirtier the better

[kipchik]

No,we took ours in once,you've never seen a dog move so fast in the water,after that couldn't get her near it

[ummmm]

But why does he keep jumping in?? He done it last week as well and a poor man fishing in the lake had to take off his clothes and get in to get him out.

[kipchik]

Hahaha,sorry,perhaps he likes the attention when he's rescued!

[shaneystar2]

So you let your dog jump in the lake on his own ?
You weren't with him ?
A man has to remove his clothes to rescue him ?

Do you think we all came up the Thames in a bucket ?

[ummmm]

He was with someone else. Because the poor fools knocked on my door and asked could they take the dog out (relations) You'd think they would have learned from the first time. Maybe It's not the dog thats stupid, It's the dog walkers!

[shaneystar2]

Well they should keep him on a lead !
He must like the water and no doubt if he keeps going in he will swim eventually.
Mine had never been near water until we moved to the coast and he took one look at the sea and charged in and started to swim in the direction of Holland ! He would not come out until we walked off and then he came back pronto.Now he loves it and I take on the beach a couple of times a week for his dip.

[Lonnie]

I'm not a dog owner, but surely, dogs, like us, have their own likes, dislikes and phobia's, I think your being a bit unfair by calling it stupid, it obviously likes water, just can't swim, how about giving it lessons?.

[maggie01]

Get a life jacket for him and keep him on a long rope. The jackets are brilliant.

[saxy_jag]

Greyhounds genuinely can't swim well, because they have so little body fat to keep them afloat. It's why so many cruel b*****ds drown them when they can't race anymore.

[wolf63]

I was bored and browsing through old questions that I had subscribed to . The answers to this one had me laughing so hard my bottle of cola fell off the desk.

'Many years ago' we had a cross bullmastiff/GSD who loved water. He was a big dog, looked friendly and was just a soft lump. One day he took off and leapt into the river Tay and decided to chase some young ducks. Mummy duck was dive bombing him and screaming at him. He was half way across the river and everybody was just looking and pointing. I was only about 17. I hid the lead and walked off.

A few minutes later he came running out, excited and wanting to tell me what he had been doing, rubbing his coat all over my legs to dry off. I just wanted to run away.

It was a funny story to relate - but not at the time. It was nearly as bad as the time he felled a jogger, chased a moped up a hill, broke into a house and ate a man's breakfast.

He used to sit and wait at our gate for a man to pass. The guy bred Afghans and walked about 6 at a time. Hutch (our hound) used to wait behind the hedge. As the man passed Hutch boofed (he had a really deep boof) and the Afghans all scattered, all their leads twisting - it was complete bedlam. Hutch just sat and watched it all, smiling and enjoying life in general. The man didn't like Hutch.

These days he would have an ASBO against him - at the beginning of the 80s he was just good fun - acted like and looked like Scooby Doo.

No matter how many companion animals one has for some reason the first one is so special.

Susan - Wolf63