Thread: Water shy?

Hi guys
This is my little duck shooting pure bred pup stella. Shes six months now and starting to listen and obey me. However i cannot get her to go near water. She wont jump a stream with 2 inches of water in it and cant encourage her to get in the water even with me in it . Does this mean shes water shy or will she grow out of it. Cheers

You broke it. Did you try turning it off and on?

Might be the batteries come to think of it. I take them out at night

If she is keen on retrieving, try throwing the dummy in the pond and see what happens

Mine was water shy until ten months. Don't push it yet

Mine was water shy until ten months. Don't push it yet

Stick with the shallows so pups feet still on the bottom, when the water is warmer in a couple months you can wade across narrow stretches, and you could even have the pup on leash with your hand under tummy if necessary but whatever you do don't make it a bad experience. If she is keen retriever you can work that into her water confidence building too as said above. She'll come right.

wait for it to warm up a bit and get in ya self.
sort the land retrieve out first regardless, water is added to the mix after they have the dry stuff sorted.

As Kawhia writes, wait until it gets a bit warmer, if it will ever! I do water orientation with the puppies when they are eight weeks old starting off in a child's plastic paddling pool, then out in the field...never allowing them to become chilled...nothing puts a dog off water more than cold water, just as it does us...



Same dog...

She is a nice looking dog possummatti. Like others have said take it slowly she should come right when the heat arrives.

Don't make the mistake I made took my young pup out and sat him at the edge of the pond walked round the corner then called him and he went straight in taking the shortest route.Took him a wee while to come right.

Cheers guys
Shes my pride and joy at the moment so wanted to make sure im not doing something wrong. Shes keen at fetching for about 5 minutes then gets boored. Ive tried trowing her toy in the water but she just stares at it as if saying " like f*** u can get that"

There's no genetic predisposition for water shyness so it isn't inherent. If she is water shy (Which I highly doubt) it will have been caused by a traumatic event which you will be aware of. It sounds like she's a typical happy puppy at six months lacking a bit of confidence which she will gain as she gets older. As the others have suggested wait till it warms up a bit and in introduce her deliberately and without pressure to water. the very best way is with another dog or dogs which are water confident. Start with things as simple as water logged paddocks/swampy ground where she can splash around with the other dogs and slowly lead her to deeper spots where she will follow the other dogs and swim. She'll get it no worries but don;t even worry about it yet.

And five minutes is way too long to be doing retrieves with any dog. Do one or two well and stop. It'll build her desire for more. Bore her with it and she'll prioritize other things.

Originally Posted by Ruff

There's no genetic predisposition for water shyness so it isn't inherent. If she is water shy (Which I highly doubt) it will have been caused by a traumatic event which you will be aware of. It sounds like she's a typical happy puppy at six months lacking a bit of confidence which she will gain as she gets older. As the others have suggested wait till it warms up a bit and in introduce her deliberately and without pressure to water. the very best way is with another dog or dogs which are water confident. Start with things as simple as water logged paddocks/swampy ground where she can splash around with the other dogs and slowly lead her to deeper spots where she will follow the other dogs and swim. She'll get it no worries but don;t even worry about it yet.

And five minutes is way too long to be doing retrieves with any dog. Do one or two well and stop. It'll build her desire for more. Bore her with it and she'll prioritize other things.

Thanks Ruff
Champion answer exactly what i was looking for. My family only has one other dog but shes blind , old and deaf so probably not the best leader for Stella to follow. I will do as you say and wait till its warmer and try to associate the water with fun and games. Cheers much appreciated.

iv got a heading dog and he never wonted to go near the water but after around 10 mths he started to go (balls deep) and would only in to the water if his feet didn't leave the bottem, now for some reason he loves the water hot or cold, I didn't force him as heading dogs don't really seem to like water and he was only ever planed to be a deer/goat dog, but over time it was just like a switch going off in his head.

She surprised me a bit yesterday by randomly running into the river to have a splash around. Then consistently fetching in the water as long as her feet were on the ground. Still improvement