Also known as teaching a dog not to drown, as I'm sure that's what was going through Tofu's mind when we took this picture.
Why are they trying to drown me?This summer has been possibly the wettest and dreariest one since my husband and I moved to the East Coast but on one of the few sunny weekends we had free, we found ourselves at a friend's cottage. Since it was so hot and I was in the water anyway, we thought it would be a great opportunity to teach Tofu to swim. He clearly thought otherwise.
We haven't been back to the water since but I hope the next time he has more fun. Sometimes I think he's more cat than dog as he appears to have an aversion for the wet stuff.
How does your dog react to water? Love, hate, or love-hate relationship?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Friends
Posts
17 comments:
Calvin willing walked chest deep into a lake ONCE and that was with a treat bribe. I don't expect it'll ever happen again.
On the other hand, seeing his brother in the water made Theo jump off a rock into a section well over his head. Luckily, he was a fast learner.
My puppies have a baby pool in my yard. Winston will just stand in it if you put him in it. Edie will run and jump in and play. She LOVES it. Next summer, I plan on taking her to the dog beach.
Olivia loves to go swimming, but try to force her into the bathtub and that is clearly different thing.
Boxers are the clumsiest looking swimmers and I'm not sure if any of them actually like it. Case in point;
http://www.new.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=721071&id=501903946
She doesn't look too happy does she?
Radish loves playing with a sprinkler, and seems okay with baths. Adley will generally avoid water. If a sprinkler is going off while on a walk, he will try to pull to completely skirt the area.
Ben: I'm hoping Theo's "sense of adventure" (not lack of self-preservation) will rub off a little on Tofu. The only other dog he's seen swimming was rather manic about it.
Jaime: Winston sounds like Tofu during bath time. He stands there and allows us to wash him down, all the while looking up with big, sad eyes. I'm pretty sure he only endures it because I put two of his biscuits to the side for him to look at (and forward to) while we're rinsing him off.
Dutchess: I don't understand why different forms of "wet" generate such varied responses.
Rachel: I wish I had a video of Tofu to share. He really looked like he was trying to not drown as he swam between the two of us. And whenever we held him for a break he just looked up at us as if to say, "What the hell?!"
thespottedottoman.com: Tofu's fine with mist and light rain, but a sprinkler is to be avoided. I don't understand it.
I've got one of each, one loves water and the other hates it. The hater even gets nervous when the water bowl is getting refilled lest any splash on him. Strangely the same dog loves ice.
Shasta (corgie shepherd mix) absolutley dispises water. We once took her to the lake when she was a baby and she ran and ran and ran right into the lake. It was more like a belly flop into the lake. I'm thinking she thought she could walk on it. That was all it took for H2O not being a hit with her.
Rodney LOATHES water (besides drinking of course). Showers are ok sometimes, but God forbid if he has to be in any standing water. Yuck!
vanessa: Tofu thinks ice cubes are the best treat on a hot summer day.
Brazen: Poor Shasta. We had a similar experience with Tofu and mud. Although, I think it's OK if he doesn't love diving headlong into mud.
Tanis: Rodney sounds like Tofu. There's something about being drenched completely that he clearly doesn't enjoy.
hatin' the water. The pug won't even walk through a puddle! The Frenchie won't get in the pool but will take a bath with ease and pounce right through the puddles.
insanely cute photo!
Meagan: Thanks! I thought he looked pretty cute with those saucer-sized eyes and am glad we were able to capture the moment.
awww. i love that picture of tofu.
ours have not been near water, only bath time water which they are fine with. I'm curious as to how they'd react if we took them to the beach. I think savvy would be scared out of her mind but not sure what Macho would do.
Tiffany: Honestly, it was pretty cute watching him paddle around. We lured him into the water with treats first to get him comfortable but I think he was happier on dry land.
Cozmo is our 18 mo. old Doxie and we take him to some incredible off-leash dog parks. One has several lakes and little doggie beaches. He just doesn't know what to make of the water. He is scared. We usually go with family and they have 2 lab/retriever mixes and THEY LOVE THE WATER, just running, diving for toys, and splashing about; Cozmo just stands on the beach on high alert. I never force him to go in. I don't want to traumatize him and make him more afraid. If he's going to go in, I want him to do it on his own, because he likes it. I was surprised last time I went with my daughter and son. This time, my daughter took off her shoes and waded in a bit, Cozmo followed her and felt safe. He really does think he's human. He wont follow any old pack evidently, it has to be our family pack :)
Simon used to absolutely HATE swimming, but we just kept coaxing him into it :) He loves to retrieve, so we would throw a small toy a little ways into the water, with someone to meet him and praise him before he swam back to shore. It took a summer or so, but now he loves swimming and expects us every time to throw something in the water for him to retrieve (he looks like a swimming muskrat, it's hilarious :P).
But he's developed a different anxiety with water when one of his family members swims out without him. He cries like craaazy and has to go out and "rescue" that person ---that is, swim out to them, get picked up, realize they are not dying and swim back to shore to cry some more. He's never left alone on the beach, but still gets so anxious about any of us swimming without him. It's distressing to see him like that, so he doesn't come to the beach when we swim very much. He also has an aversion to puddles....I guess all of him has to be wet or no dice :p
javaqueen: Cozmo sounds like quite the little protector. Tofu doesn't seem to notice the water until we actually put him in it, then he looks like he doesn't understand why he's suddenly feeling all soggy.
Amy: I hope that with patience and practice Tofu will enjoy the water some day. I realize he'll never swim like a retriever due to the short legs and probable impact on his endurance at the form of exercise but still...they look adorable swimming and it would be nice if he could enjoy the water with us.
Post a Comment