With a few more weeks left in the summer, now is the prime time to teach your dog how to swim. Believe it or not, while so many dogs love the water, there may be quite a few who have a fear of actually submerging their body into a large area of water, whether it is the pool, a lake or the beach. Ideally, if you are going to teach your dog to swim, do so in a place that you can control, like your back yard pool for example. You don't want your sweet furry friend to float away in the current, after all! When it comes to the heat of the summer months, if you think you are "hot," just try to understand what your animals are experiencing, with fur coats covering their entire bodies! For this reason, allowing your dogs into the pool during these hot days, it will allow them the chance to cool down at their core, and enjoy some fun family time with you and your children.

While you may think that it is natural for all dogs to swim, this is simply not the case, especially if you wait until they are older before allowing them to get wet in a larger body of water. For this reason, considering a few simple steps for teaching your pet how to swim may prove themselves useful for you and your family during this time. First things first for training your pet to swim, and that is safety! Just as you want to protect your children when teaching them to swim, you want to make sure you are careful as you do the same for your animal, because some will simply sink to the bottom of your pool if you are not careful, like a bulldog for example. Be sure to contact your local veterinarian to discuss swimming for your specific type of animal, and consider purchasing a floatation device for your animal at least to use during their beginning stages of swimming.

Another important factor to take into account is to train your animal to swim in a quiet area so that they can fully concentrate on what they are learning. This would not be a good time to have all of your young children in the pool for example, or even to do the training at a busy lake or beach. Especially on the first day, a make sure that you have your dog on a leash so that you can keep control over them even when they are swimming, it is also to keep them close to you in the water. Another safety fact to heed is that you never want to leave you r dog in the water alone, ever! This can be very dangerous, especially if they have no idea how to control their bodies in the water. Being aloe during training can be a very frightening experience and can scar them to the point of fearing the water for the rest of their life.

If you find that your pet is hesitant to enter the water, consider using one of their favorite toys to lure them into the water. Sometimes all it takes is that initial push and then they will learn that they love the refreshing feeling of the water. As with training your animal for obedience, you will want to train them to swim with affirming tones. Never yell or get angry, they will feed off of this and likely hate the water. Be patient and love on them as you slowly begin the process of swimming with your pet.

For more information, please use our website to find a local vet near you!