The Little Bear Dog Blog

It's a big step for a Little Bear

Little Bear, as I’ve probably mentioned before, swims like a brick. So much for this ‘all dogs can swim’ theory. Mine splashes, panics and then sinks. Had he been the type to learn his lesson and avoid water like the plague, that may have been an end to the matter, but he’s absolutely fascinated by the stuff.

Apparently forgetting the times I’ve had to lay on pond banks to haul him out by his harness, one whiff of a pond, stream or river and he’s running with gleeful abandon towards it.

So there was really only one thing for it. Swimming lessons.

I felt like a bit of an idiot making the appointment , despite assurances that a lot of their clients attend for the exact same reason and an even bigger idiot when our vet, on receipt of a consent form to sign, called me to ask why on earth a fit, healthy young dog was going for ‘hydrotherapy’.  Obviously amused, she signed on the dotted line, but I have been teased by friends asking if he’s going to get pony riding lessons next and do drama club at weekends.

At his first lesson, he had to be carried into the pool shaking like a leaf in a hurricane and clinging for all he was worth to the hydrotherapist. The patience of a saint, she held him, massaged him, coaxed and cajoled him until he took a few frantic doggie paddles in my direction.

This week, at his third session, he was brave enough to walk up the ramp by himself and spent 20 minutes playing ball at the poolside, even bending down to try to retrieve it out of the water. He still needed a carry-in but swam a whole length without being held. A far cry from the frantic, wide-eyed splashings of lesson one.

Although my initial motivation was to keep him safe from drowning, what I’m seeing from the poolside is a little dog learning to face his fears and work through them.  I’m not sure Little Bear will ever be a super confident dog, but I’m starting to see the beginnings of a familiar look on his face at these sessions. It’s the ‘Little Bear smug’ look, reserved for the times when he’s downright delighted with himself. It’s a permanent fixture at an agility one to one and who knows, it may take root in the pool too with time.

If it does, then we can tick yet another fear off the list. And what the heck, maybe then I’ll buy him some pony riding lessons too 😉