Question: Our 5-year-old chocolate lab treats the swimming pool like it is hers. She wanders into it whenever she feels like it, especially after running hard or playing ball. How can we teach her the pool has a boundary and she needs to wait to be invited to go in? — Drew
Answer: Labrador Retrievers, as well as many other breeds of dogs, love to swim. It is the perfect way to relax and cool off, and it is a great way for them to exercise and entertain themselves.
Swimming is a non-weight bearing activity that helps condition muscles and joints and can help dogs with arthritis.
I recommend dogs always be supervised when in the pool. Dogs who have never been swimming should be fitted with a doggie life jacket for the first few times in the pool. Not every dog is a good swimmer. Unfortunately, every year many dogs drown in backyard pools. It is not uncommon for a dog to fall in the pool. They often try to turn around and get out at the same place where they fell in. Many dogs cannot climb out over the tile edge. They eventually get exhausted and drown. Always teach your dog where the steps are and how to get out.
Make sure to dry your dog?s ears after swimming and apply a good ear cleaner to help prevent ear infections. Occasionally, dogs may need to be restricted from swimming daily if they have skin or ear infections that need to stay dry to heal. The easiest way to accomplish this is by placing a pool fence around the pool and not allowing your dog access to this area.
You may need to leash walk your dog if the only fenced yard that you have is around the pool. If you want to try to train your dog to stay out of the pool, it will take a lot of patience and practice.
In a good basic obedience class, your dog can learn commands to sit, stay, come, leave it, off, and others. These commands will help you to direct your dog to stay out of the pool. Your obedience class trainer can help you with specifics. Clicker training can also aid you in accomplishing this.
Dr. Baker
Baker Veterinary Clinic
1801 S. Congress Ave.
West Palm Beach, FL 33406
Read more articles by Dr. Baker | Ask her a question
Source: http://blogs.palmbeachpost.com/pawshere/2011/03/14/lab-always-jumps-in-pool-needs-boundary-training/
No comments:
Post a Comment