[Captainbrice]

Mine does not.

He does mind the water as long as he can touch the bottom, but won't really go out in anything deep unless he has his life jacket on.

I was wondering if this is typical with V's.

Captain (My Vizsla) was not rasied around water but I have always thought that if he was he would probably dive right in every time he saw it.

 

[doglover]

This is really Clydes first summer but so far he is doing the same thing, going out as far as he can touch and then back again. I was thinking of getting him a life jacket, but my husband would probably kill me. Going to the lake this weekend, hoping he will be a swimmer by Monday.

 

[Big Rick]

We took Dexter over to our daughter's house right after they had their pool installed. He jumped in and swam all around. Our daughter taught him to swim to the steps but he didn't want to get out. Haven't had him to a lake yet but we plan to sometime soon.

 

[Crazy Kian]

Yes, Kian loves the water. He's not the most gracefull but I am sure he just needs practice. ;D

 

[Tali]

Where did you buy the life jacket ?

 

[Costas Mum]

Hi

I am new to this forum. I have a five month old male Costa.

I thought this would be a good topic to start with as our boy is like a water rat. We can't keep him out of the water.

I have attached some photos i took today, i hope they work.

edited to add youtube video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8s3MFbvwuQ

 

[scooby]

Scooby loves the water especially the sea he thinks the waves are just there for him to jump over.

 

[Islander]

Since we live on a small island on the Gulf of Mexico our girl thinks she is the mermaid of the island. She loves to swim .... when we walk across the street and hit the beach trying to get her to wait to hit the water is a momumental task.... I do however, make her sit and wait before I tell her OK LET'S GO... and she hits the water with gusto. She loves to jump the waves and heads out a ways and then usually heads south parallel with the shore - Heading toward the Outrigger Resort and their Tiki Bar probably! HA On our beach you have to have dogs on a 6' lead but when I have her in the Gulf I have a 20' lead on her so she can swim farther and I have more time to keep up with her... however, if we go just down the island a ways there is an area called DOG BEACH where the dogs are allowed to run loose and boy does she have a blast there. She runs and jumps and swims like a fish, literally swimming with the dolphins just a few feet from her. She will find a dog that she likes and buddy up with them and romp and have a great time. A couple weeks ago we actually arrived to find a gentleman there with two V's that he had flown in from Hungry!

The second day we had Ziva home when she was 8 weeks old we took her across the street to the beach and sat her down at the waters edge to let her take a look, wasn't going to hurry her, however long it took was fine, well it didn't take long as in she went head first into a wave and she's never looked back since then. I wanted a dog that would love the beach and water with me and I certainly got it!

 

[LynnieB]

Archie is 5 months old & at first wouldnt even put his paw in the sea but now he goes for swims out of his depth -but I keep an eye on him. He loves it. This is in the North Sea in England !!

 

[Pineapple Princess]

I bought Hobie a baby pool today and filled it about 5" deep. I gave her a treat every time she stepped in (or rather, every time I gently placed her in the pool). She is not the biggest fan yet. :-\

 

[madaboutvizslas]

**** V can swim fatser than I can. I have the claw marks up my back to prove it!

She was a bit hesitant at first but once they work it out...

 

[sarahaf]

I've been curious to see how Rosie would take to water since we got her but haven't yet gotten around to getting a wading pool for her. She does love to get muddy in very shallow water in the (New England) marshland where we go walking.

 

[Reggie21]

My vizsla is 7 months old and we just took him to the lake for the first time this weekend. He used to paw the water and make sure he could touch the bottom before he would venture out into the water, but this weekend we threw a couple sticks out and he would dive in after them. He splashes so much when he swims he looks like he's drowning but he has a blast! Later in the day I caught him just diving in the water after nothing and just splashing around, they sure are funny dogs!

 

[barrel browner]

It took a while but Purdey loves a paddle but not all that confident when nothing underneath her - she does a 360 back to us... very funny to watch.......just when you think she has it she's right back to us!! one day maybe she will just take off, I hope so as she loves rivers etc just not the sea.
BB

 

[sarahaf]

He splashes so much when he swims he looks like he's drowning but he has a blast! Later in the day I caught him just diving in the water after nothing and just splashing around, they sure are funny dogs!

You just reminded me of this video--we watched a lot of vizsla videos when researching the breed before we got Rosie. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ov-BWkjj0SE

I agree, they really are funny dogs. We broke up laughing so many times when watching people's videos of their vizslas--and now we break up laughing watching our own.

 

[annette]

Sam love the water and will happily swim but he does try to drink the water !!

 

[Bellababy]

Bella loves to swim and she is very attracted to water. So much so she tries to jump in the bath with me!
As we live in Cumbria she gets to swim in some of the best lakes in the world (the Lake District) she was in Crummock water last Thursday, and watching my beautiful dog swimming in such beautiful surroundings was a joyous thing.

 

[Kailua]

Snickers will swim if he has to get to the other side and there are no other options. He's swims like he's pounding drums-not very graceful. Has a little worried look on his face, but I think we have to keep putting him in the water to get the proper strokes. Especially since we live on an island ;D

 

[Kelly]

We find it impossible to keep Cuba out of the water! He LOVES to swim and it seems very natural to him. He will go on swimming for hours (literally) if we don't catch him and force him to get out! He scared us one day when he was swimming in the bay and decided to follow a passing boat! We had to swim in (fully dressed) and get him back. Now he can only swim on a long-line lead when not in a pool so we can real him back in to the edge...

 

[sniper john]

My V is part Nutria Rat. It is hard sometimes to keep her out of the water when I don't want her to be there.
I treated it like other training, exposure to gunfire, boat motor sound, getting used to an unstable canoe and kayak etc. and gradually introduced it to her with lots of reward for doing so. The water training actually took a lot of repetive outings starting with running through water puddles and expanding from there, but it created a water monster in the end. Just be patient and persistant.

She is used as a water retriever in the winter. Plus goes on fishing and float trips in the summer.