Go swim with your dog

For many years leading up to COVID-19, I taught swim sessions for dogs that didn’t know how to swim and also provided fun venues for dogs that loved to get wet. During and after COVID-19, I abandoned the organized sessions, but I still encourage dog owners here in the Lowcountry to get wet with their pets.

Why even have your dog do this? There is a misconception about dogs and swimming.

While theoretically all dogs have the ability to swim, that does not mean all dogs actually like swimming or even know how to keep themselves safe in and around water. The sad fact is that every summer dogs drown in pools in our area. And they are not just small, nonswimming breeds. They can be any breed and any size.

If your dog may at any time be exposed to pools on your property or elsewhere, it is critically important that the dog have a swim lesson. The lesson may not just determine whether your dog actually swims and whether it enjoys it, but, most importantly, whether it can get out of a pool safely if it accidentally finds itself in one.

I am still teaching pool safety lessons, and if you want to participate with your dog to teach it to exit a pool via steps and not exhaust itself trying to pull itself out over the side onto a deck, contact me directly for more information. The session is free.

Not all dogs can swim or float properly in the water. Some look like the Titanic, with their rear underwater and their heads barely above the surface. For those dogs, I recommend a dog life jacket to make them more confident and teach them to use their back legs. Confidence can give them the freedom to discover whether they actually like to swim.

Some dogs will swim for the sheer pleasure of it. Others will want to tackle other dogs in the water. Still others will want to fetch toys. My breed, the Newfoundland, loves to rescue people in the water and doesn’t believe it is safe for humans to be there. This can make pleasure swimming difficult for the owner because they can get clawed in the saving process. We can actually refine their skills to turn them, and other breeds, into lifesaving water rescue dogs.

Swimming for fun in the Lowcountry means going to the beach or river, definitely not ponds or lagoons because of alligators. But if you have the opportunity to go to a lake, bring your dog and a bunch of floating toys. For the beach and other venues, a 50-foot waterproof training lead is suggested and is available on Amazon at a reasonable price.

So this summer, get wet with your pet for the joy of it and for safety.

Abby Bird is the owner of Alphadog Training Academy. AlphadogTrainingAcademy@gmail.com