Another Lab Question...

[Lefty]

I have a 5 month old choc lab and today was her first experience with water. I went to the local refuge and tried to throw stick into a very shallow pond, 1 foot deep maybe, and she would not go in past her knees. Is it possible that she can't swim or does she just need a little more time being exposed with the water. I am not training her for any kind of bird hunting, I give that up a few years ago when I bought my drift boat. She is my new fishing companion but I don't want her to get out of the drift boat mid drift and drown, but I dont want her jumping in every drop of water she sees. Any thoughts? Also any help on her first drift boat trip would be great...

[foxer]

I finally had to get in the water with mine when she was a puppy. It was during the summer and i just kept walking backwards in the water. Se finally figured it out.Take it slowly and try not to scare her.

[Snubber]

Lefty,
Your dog is fine, but more importantly, remember when you or your kids (if you have any) were learning to swim? There is a comfort factor which you need to address and due such by wading out with your dog, much like a parent would do with a child.
Your dog will learn to swim, but take it slowly and "DO NOT" throw them in or make them take the plunge. Each dog is different and a bad experience can be remembered by your companion.
Pick up Wolters book, "Water Dog" or "game Dog" and this book provides alot of insight into dog training.
He addresses the topic you have described and should be helpful to you, even if you do not plan on hunting the dog.
I have had many a lab, black, choc, yellow, etc. and to see them learn, grow and become one of the family is a great experience.
Some of my fondest memories are boating and bank fishing with my labs. they don't complain, are never late, ready to leave a hole when you are and more often than not are not too picky about the lunch I bring along!
Good luck and you'll have a great partner.
By the way. What's the dog's name?

[Lefty]

Her name is Tsavo...after a small town in Africa...kinda weird I know but I don't know too many other dogs with a name like Tsavo...thanks for your advice

[suckerfish]

Just grab the pup by the scruff and throw it into deep water. Labs are natural swimmers, they just need a little encouragment.

suckerfish

[crabbait]

Follow Suckerfish's advice and you risk a dog that will not go near the water.

Take it slow, preferably in warm water, go in yourself and have a wonderful time with a retreiver dummy (NO STICKS).

I had to help save a dog that an owner threw a stick for. When bringing it back, stuck out of the front of its mouth like a cigarette, the dog stumbled and jammed the sharp end of the stick into the soft tissue at the back of its throat.

Bleeding was immediate and profuse. We did not know how to stop it (direct pressure to the back of the throat?). Had to rush the dog to the vet. No problem. Several hundred dollars later the dog was fine.

[kenai]

How do you fellas handle the potential for Salmon poisoning while having the dog in the boat with you? I'm picking up a chesapeake in a couple of weeks for my new boat buddy and thats been bothering me. My boat looks like a Charles Manson site when I'm silver fishing. Double's etc.

[Chromaflage]

Originally posted by suckerfish:
Just grab the pup by the scruff and throw it into deep water. Labs are natural swimmers, they just need a little encouragment.

suckerfish

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helv">I did that with my first yellow lab - actually she fell in off the bow of the boat as a pup - ruined for life. She's 13 now and has flat out refused to go in the water since the incident. Bathing her is almost impossible and ends up being a huge wrestling match.

ORS

[Chromaflage]

Lefty - you might have to get in the water with the dog and get it to play with you. After the lesson I learned with my yellow lab (see above), I tried something different. With my black lab, for her first water trip, we went to a lake. I started throwing a dummy parallel to shore without it going into the water. I gradually threw closer to the water, into very shallow water, then gradually farther toward deeper water until she figured out that she will have to swim to get it. Since then, I have not been able to keep her out of the water when we're near any. :grin:

ORS

[Mello-Yello]

Fact, your dog was born knowing how to swim. Yep, some dogs take right to it and others are cautious. Cautious isn't necessarily a bad thing, she just needs to learn that it's a good thing.

My advice would be to start her around simple little mud puddles. No more than knee deep on the dog. Most important thing is, keep it fun. One of the tribulations of having a learning pup this time of year is the weather's cold and the water's cold (and often muddy). If it isn't fun, the dog's not going to want to do it.

Once you're ready to start her going deeper, take her somewhere with a VERY gradual slope. Put on your waders and get out there with her. Keep it shallow at first and again, keep it fun. Lot's of playful gestures go a long ways. If you're not uptight, she'll play off of that.

As for worrying about her jumping out of your boat, that's a discipline thing...has nothing to do with her swimability (new word me thinks)....

If you want her boat-worthy from the start, I'd suggest the two of you go out and climb in the boat right now. Show her where you want her to sit. Go through the motions. Do some mock rowing, move around the boat a little, making her stay in her place. Put her through the process a few times and she'll know what to expect. I guarantee it'll make the first trip a lot funner for you...and for her.

Salmon poisoning...turn me in to PETA if ya want, but it's always been my practice to NOT keep my dog away from salmon once they're 6 mos. old or so. If my dog is going to get into salmon blood, I want to know about it when it happens. After 4-6 days she'll start showing symptoms of salmon poisoning. Take her to the vet, get her meds and she should weather the storm pretty well. Odds are, you'll never have to deal with it again as she'll be virtually salmon-proof.

Crabbait makes a great point about the stick. Unfortunately, you're not likely to have a dummy with you every time you're around the water and she wants to play. Here's a little trick I used on my first lab. (albeit, this isn't necessarily a good idea if you want a bullet-proof trials dog)
If you're going to play fetch in the water with a stick...find a big one. I mean a really, really big stick. Your dog will soon find that the only way he/she can lug it out of the water is by grabbing it in the center. If she grabs an end, she'll never get it out of the water. Try it!

that's my $0.75 worth...

M-Y

[Tilla]

Don't throw her in.
Don't throw her sticks, it's like running with a knife.

Not the best time of year for getting a dog use to the water. Use peer pressure....you go first...seriously or have other dogs show her how it's done...it'll happen. But do not force the dog to do this.
The basic formula is:
Lab + water = wet dog

[Chromaflage]

I agree with no sticks....I have never thrown anything that I really didn't want my dog to 'triev....I don't want to send my dog on a line for a bird and have her bring back firewood. I never let anyone, not even my kids, throw anything for my dogs except dummies and bumpers.

Salmon poisoning? someone please explain. That's a new one on me. [img]graemlins/dork.gif[/img]

Another .02

ORS

[ 12-18-2003, 07:06 PM: Message edited by: OregonRedside ]

[Lefty]

OregonRedSide,
This should help. from this website http://www.showdog-magazine.com/salmon.htm


Every year, thousands of dogs get sick from something called "salmon poisoning disease." Salmon isn't the only deadly carrier. Other species such as trout and steelhead can be equally deadly to your pet. Your pet can get the disease by eating any part of a raw, cold smoked or kippered fish that is infected. Every fish isn't infected but many are; the infection stems from the parasite that infects the fish that live in streams or rivers along the coast of northern California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Alaska.

Recognize These Symptoms Of Salmon Poisoning:


Signs of salmon poisoning are similar to those your dog would show for distemper. It's important to know that these symptoms don't start to appear until several days or a week after a dog eats infected fish. The dog doesn't have to eat much, since a drop of blood can contain thousands of disease-carrying organisms.

The symptoms begin to appear with a slight rise in body temperature. Then there will be a loss of appetite, listlessness, and a fever which will often rise to a level between 104 to 107 degrees F. This alone can cause a rapid death. By the fourth or fifth day, if the pet is still alive, the temperature will usually decrease. At the same time, vomiting will become persistent, rapid weight loss will occur, and the dog's eyes will appear sunken.

By the fifth to seventh day, diarrhea will start. Within a day or two, the diarrhea may become bloody.

Finally, the dog's body temperature will fall to subnormal. If left untreated, most dogs will die within 14 days after the first signs of the disease appear. Death usually results from dehydration and blood loss; very few untreated animals survive.

If your dog becomes ill with salmon poisoning, it's vital to bring it to your vet for treatment as soon as possible. As this disease progresses, it becomes harder and more expensive for us to treat - a situation that obviously decreases your pet's chances of survival.

[Chromaflage]

Thanks Lefty! I don't know why I haven't heard of this.... Wonder if it's the same for sturgeon as well.

ORS

[FishinTechnician]

Lots of good advice here. One other trick is to put on a pair of boots and walk in the shallows coaxing the pup to follow you. Make it fun and praise the pup for coming to you in the water. Gradually, increase the depth until he's swimming short distances. Don't start the retrieving thing until you have him doing it on dry land. You might as well wait until the water gets a little warmer.

One story from an experience I had with a young pup years ago. I was out of town and my wife decided she was going to take her out and expose her to water for the first time. Brit took to the water like a old pro and was retrieving well until she went off a dropoff and totally submerged. That was the end of her going into the water on her own.

I called several trainers and got some advice one of which was to tie her to a rope and tow her off the bank with a rowboat. Can you believe it!! I thought that was a little extreme. Well, I finally took her down to the river and picked her up and waded out and gently lowered her into the water and pointed her in the direction of the beach a few feet away. After doing that a few times I started putting a dummy in front of her and she would pick it up on the way in. In less than an hour she was enthusiastically entering the water again on her own. Later, if you didn't watch her she would jump off any high bank, whether it was safe to do so or not. She had some of best water entries of any dog I ever owned.

[crabbait]

I buy bumpers in bulk. They are under the seats in the boats, under the rear truck seat, everywhere. You cna get them pretty cheap by the dozen and they last forever as long as you don't let the dog play alone with one (big no-no, bumpers are for retrieving, not for play and they quickly chew the ends off).

If you are going to have dogs around salmon, ask your vet for a prescription for Tetracycline and keep it on hand. At the first sign of salmon poisoning start the dog on the meds (symptoms - lethargy, not eating followed by vomiting). get on it quick and you will have no problems. Wait until the dog is really sick and you can expect it to spend several days at the vets getting rehydrated ($$$).

[suckerfish]

Okay, I was just doing a little trolling. I am really surprised I didn't even get a drive by.

Great advise given on the subject I would defenently not train with sticks. Dogs are creatures of habit, if finding sticks as a pup was exceptable, then the dog will just pick up a stick and bring it back to please you when they can't find the bird. Train your pup with bumpers only. After your getting the desirable responce from the pup switch to birds. It will be easier on the pup to learn without the "in-nate" desire to eat and fight for the bird.
I would also wait to do any water training and/or exposier until the water temp gets close to 60 degrees.

suckerfish