HOW TO TRAIN A DOG ABOUT WATER
There are many breeds of dogs that seem to have a natural love of water. The Alaskan Malamute for the most part by and large is not one of these breeds. However, most any dog can be taught to not fear water if you approach training in a positive way and you remember one very important factor. That is to never cause fear for any reason in the dog because if there is fear, the chances are that the dog will never want to participate in anything related to water again.
That said, there are some simple and easy techniques for starting a dog out from puppyhood on up to sensitize them to playing in water and enjoying it.
HOW TO TRAIN A DOG TO ENJOY WATER
I have successfully trained 2 malamute puppies to enjoy water in our backyard. While this may not seem like a monumental task, it actually is very beneficial to them in the blazing hot days of summer. With a little patience and a lot of encouragement, they have a great way to cool themselves off.
What you’ll need to do:
- Purchase a wading pool appropriate to your dog’s size – the pool pictured is about a medium sized kiddy pool
- Make sure the pool is hard plastic to avoid punctures by the dog’s nails
- Fill at first with a small amount of water – as the dog becomes more confident, add a higher level of water
- Find some of your puppy’s or dog’s toys that are true “favorites”
- Toss 1 or more toys into the middle of the pool with your dog watching and then sit back, grab your camera and wait
Some things you’ll never want to do:
- Don’t force a puppy or a dog to go into the pool (or any water source) against his will
- Don’t splash a dog with water or squirt with hoses, etc until you are certain the dog has no fear of water
- Don’t ever use the “sink or swim” rationale on a dog as it can instill a permanent fear of water in the dog
TRAINING AN ALASKAN MALAMUTE HOW TO SWIM
I happen to have 3 distinctly different Alaskan malamutes. My older rescued malamute will patiently “allow” you to walk into a river or beach area to get her wet to cool off but she by no means “enjoys” water. She would never be the sort of dog under any circumstances to jump into a pool of water!
My 2-year-old Alaskan Malamute will venture into the pool. While he was more trusting when he was a pup, he had a frightening experience while we were trying to teach him to swim in a lake. He will go into the pool as he can see the bottom but he quickly jumps in and jumps right back out. We are still working on trying to undo his fear of water by reintroducing him to actually swimming but at his own discretion.
My 5-month-old puppy on the other hand is crazy for water. She went voluntarily into the river and swam a few strokes and since setting up the pool for summertime, she is in the pool more than she is out of the pool.
This illustrates the difference even within a breed on how they adapt (or don’t) to water. As you can see in the third picture, my puppy has absolutely no fear of jumping in and enjoying herself!
HOW TO TRAIN DOGS ABOUT WATER AND SWIMMING
In summary, teaching a dog to swim or about water in general requires consistency and it also requires patience. Realizing that it can be a traumatic event rather than a positive should put things into perspective. Much as children learn positive experiences and negative experiences, a puppy or a grown dog will remember pleasant feelings or bad feelings associated with any activity. Make sure that you keep it positive and your dog will most likely turn out to be a water lover.
If, as in our case, your dog has a negative experience, take the time to try and overcome it with positive training. Letting the puppy or dog absorb the properties of water is the best way to cure a bad experience and get him or her back “in the swim of things” so to speak. We’ve got a ways to go but as the picture depicts, our 2-year-old malamute is hopefully on his way to positive water experiences again in the future!
See this article for more tips on how to teach a dog to swim.
Read this article on keeping your dog safe when the weather is warm.