We’ve been reading all the wonderful posts about the benefit of water therapy, so when a friend of ours invited us to her house to swim with the dogs we were super excited. We pictured supporting Baby in the water and doing some stretching and dog paddling with her. We pictured Monkey Butt Giant Toby jumping in and loving it – he is largely (no pun intended) Newfie after all. Such a lovely, heartwarming picture.
Reality? Roger and I relaxed in the pool while Baby hid and took her medicinal nap in a shady corner by the house and Toby sniffed around and watched us from afar. Oh, well.
I don’t really care if they love to swim, but I did hope it would help strengthen Baby. She seems to be getting weaker in her remaining rear leg and we can’t afford physical therapy, acupuncture, etc.
My question for all of you. Should we just take her in the water regardless of her fear, or wait for her to warm up to the idea? I would love to know what you all would do.
Hugs and Slobbers
Judy and Baby
we only got gayle in the pool a couple of times…we put the float coat on, and lowered her down to the steps and then into the shallow end…she hung in the water like a floating statue…you’d think a lab would love the water, but she was too afraid to enjoy it… maybe if we’d stuck with it, but we didn’t push her… hopefully we can get the monkeydogs in this summer (sam has been in twice, both because he fell in…but we did see him swim and not sink, so there’s hope.
does baby have a float coat? with the handle on the top it helps ‘steer’ and gives some comfort for all…good luck, and take pictures!!!!!
charon & spirit gayle
That’s what we thought about MB Giant Toby. We were sure his Newfieness would get him in the water. We even faked drowning – no rescue dog here! If there’s any progress I will take pictures.
Daisy did not care for the water treadmill or water in general but we made her go in anyway. The float coat really helped keep her head above water…which allowed her to bark…..letting us know how displeased she was. We also bought a 12′ inflatable pool but that might be too shallow for your big Baby. We still take Samson in the big human pool. He use to swim in any pond we would come across but as he got older he did not want to go in anymore, so the pool works good and he also had a float coat. Hope to see pictures!
Thanks for responding. Yes, we do have a float coat for her. You know the old saying about giant dogs – someone asks ‘what is she doing?’ and the answer is ‘anything she wants’ : ) It would be a challenge to get her to swim if she doesn’t want to.
Judy,
I made my Great Pyrenees swim once and I regret it. She was scared and I shouldn’t have pushed her. I’d just wait to see when Baby gets interested in the water. It might not be her thing.
Just a thought.
Becky, Spirit Emma’s mom (and Sparky’s mom)
I’m leaning that way. Was your Pyr with you when you first got Sparky? That would be a great picture!