Water Dog Training: Introducing Max To The Water

Although most adult dogs love the water, puppies are a different story. You cannot just throw poor little Max into the water and hope that his natural swimmer instincts would kick in before he starts drowning. Besides, introducing your dog abruptly to the water will leave a bad impression on him so be careful. You need to introduce your little puppy to the water gently. Always remember that water dog training is a very important task. If you want your dog to enjoy the water later on, you need to do things slowly and gently.

The Right Timing

Water dog training should be done at the right time and at the right place. Little Max need to be a t least seven to eight weeks old before you attempt to introduce him to the water. Even Labrador retrievers who love to swim should not be forced to go into the water before they reach this age. Note that very young puppies stick do not have properly developed limbs and muscles so you might cause injuries if you try to introduce them to water dog training at a very young age.

Another thing that you should remember about introducing your puppy to water dog training is the climate of the place where you live. If you live in a tropical place, you can introduce your puppy to water dog training anytime. Tropical weather is usually very friendly and mild so you need not worry about exposing your dog to extreme weather conditions. However, if you live in countries where seasons change four times a year, you better be careful about introducing your puppy to water dog training during the winter or fall. Preferably, you should wait until the summertime before you introduce your dog to water dog training. Yes, your dog will probably be more than seven or eight weeks old by this time but you do not have to worry about his age. Besides, older dogs are more with water.

Getting Into The Water

If you have an older dog who is already a good swimmer, take your older dog with you when introducing your puppy to water dog training. If you are doing water dog training on the river or the beach, allow your puppy to run around the banks for a while with the older dog. After a few minutes, slowly wade into the water and signal the older dog to follow you. In most cases, you puppy will just follow the older dog and you will not have much problem getting him into the water.