Saturday, June 26, 2010

A trip to the lake.

Today I took Jenny to the local lake to see if she liked the water. I figure if I couldn't get her in then the possibility for ever considering an appearance at a Dock Dog event is unlikely. I didn't need to worry. The treats did the trick to get her in. The water was pretty nice so I'm sure that helped as well. We used the public boat ramp because it gets deep quickly and has good traction.

She swam a little bit and we quit there. The next step is to get her a life jacket. Pugs, and other top heavy muscled dogs, aren't really built for swimming more than a few strokes while supervised.

The next step is to get her fetching her water toy in the water. We'll practice that on land a bunch first. She already likes it. My son came with us and caught her swim on video for me.

Now I'm not really training for Dock Dogs. It's just a lark. And a reason to have some fun at the lake. I'm sure with a motivated pug it can be done. I'm just not sure Jenny is that pug. But we'll have some fun trying.

2 comments:

Jen said...

looks like a fun day at the lake!

my shiba inu surprised me by taking to water super fast though they won't swim.

and our beagle/bichon won't go past dipping his front paws!

Sharon said...

Schooner our Vizsla loves the water too! Schooner also has a life jacket for the lake and our pool. Schooner is 9 months old. We have been in training since he was 10 weeks old. Schooner loves his agility classes. Schooner favorite treats are the Blue Dog Bakery Doggie Paws that is made with peanut butter & molasses. It was the only treat that worked for his training. Schooner loves getting treats. If you are interested in trying one of 6 kinds of Blue Dog Bakery products you can purchase the treats at Petsmart or on Blue Dog Bakery website. Enjoy your summer at the lake.