water training

edited June 2014 in Behavior & Training
I have never owned a Kai but am more and more hooked. I was wondering if Kais have a natural swimming ability. my folks have 40 acres and 1 extremely large pond and 1 smaller pond. I go up and visit quite often. My newfie had natural swimming ability but they are known for water rescue. Where I live im surrounded by small lakes and streams where I kayak and swim. I was hoping to hear about people bringing their pups on the water trips, I mean I have seen people who brought there labs and other dogs right on their kayak.

Comments

  • I was worried about that too, but I took Hanzo when he was around 7 months to a dog park on a lake and he saw the other dogs running into the water and followed them in after a bit of trepidation. He didn't fully submerge that day, but soon after at another location, he dove right into the river, swam out into the middle and back, coming back onto shore 25 feet downstream. My wife almost had a heart attack, asking me if I was going to go in after him if he couldn't get back to shore. I said I would, but he did fine so it wasn't necessary.

    I've gone a few more times and sometimes he'll go in and sometimes he won't. He definitely doesn't immediately jump in at every chance like labs usually do, but when he's hot enough or in the mood to chase sticks or there are other dogs doing it, he's game. I haven't yet had a chance to hang out with him where I can go into the water, so I'm interested to see how likely he is to follow me out there and hang out on a raft or similar.
  • Yucca likes the water as well but she wont touch the ocean. She doesn't like moving water. Even if I am filling up a kiddy pool, she won't go in til the water stops moving.
  • Our dog park has a large pond and the first time I took Shelby, I thought she would be scared. I turned my head to check on my other dog and I heard a great big splash... apparently Shelby dove right in and paddled herself all over the pond. Now I have trouble keeping her out of it!! :)
  • My girls love the water. They go in after geese all the time. Kazue even tries to cath fish and frogs.
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