All Things Dog Blog

Drown-Proofing Your Dog on Blog the Change Day

Posted: 14 Apr 2011 09:01 PM PDT

by Carrie Boyko, CEB

Can You Swim?

This past week I had a canine visitor. An adorable, calm, friendly, albeit big and stocky, Pit Bull, wandered up while I was outside with Tanner and Oliver. He wore a beautiful leather collar that spoke volumes of the fact that he had a home. But there was no tag to indicate where that home might be. Little did we know that he was about to become the topic of our Blog the Change post today.

Our new friend hung out on our cul-de-sac throughout the day, wandering in and out of my screened porch while the door was propped open for easy in and outs to do yard work and such. Tanner and Oliver greeted him nicely and they had a non-eventful afternoon... until....

Later, while Tanner was on the porch enjoying some fresh air after dinner, he came running inside with great anxiety evident in his body language. He seemed to want to show me something. It was a Lassie moment. You know:

"What's that girl? The barn's on fire?"

I followed Tanner to the porch only to find our earlier visitor struggling in the pool. He clearly was not a swimmer, even though he apparently lives nearby in this densely waterway-rich area of Central Florida that we call home. I managed to salvage his roughly 60 pound brawn by grabbing that beautiful leather collar and guiding him to the steps where I lifted him, with the help of the water, to the first step. Whew!

At this point the poor fella was spent. I don't know how long he was in the pool, but the evidence of his slip and fall was found at the screen door, which he pushed his way through in order to visit Tanner again--apparently. The fall had to be traumatic, as a chair and a flower pot went into the drink with him.

It took him a while to rest up under my Elm tree before he decided he was ready to head for home, wherever that is. I wanted to attach a note to his collar:

Needless to say, I would have felt horrible if I had found a drowned dog in my pool, despite the fact that he plunged through my screen door. I hope his owners would have too.

All dogs need some basic swimming experiences; most do actually. Having some water stamina and the understanding to look for steps in a pool seems critical to those that have water nearby in any form. Even our sea-walls along the lake prevent exit unless you can find a ladder or steps to the surface. This is definitely a learned skill.

My Papillon, Oliver, is no Olympian. He'd probably prefer NOT to swim at all. But with a pool and a lake in his back yard, I have not given him a chance to get his way. As soon as he was old enough and it was warm, we taught him to swim, and to know where the steps were in the pool.

With some regularity, I place him in the pool at different locations along the edge and tell him to swim to the steps. He always knows which way to go, and can even do a 180 degree turn to head in the right direction. Yay Oliver! At 10 lbs., he could easily be knocked into the pool when he and Tanner play on the pool deck, so drown proofing Oliver seemed a necessity.

I've linked to my post on teaching Oliver to swim, as well as one about helping him learn to find the steps. These outline my easy-does-it approach for anxious dogs who are not eager to be amphibious. Yet you could take this approach with a young lab as well. Who doesn't like to be taught a scary skill with patience and gentleness?

This drown-proofing cause is near and dear to my heart here in Central Florida, where lakes are everywhere and swimming pools...ditto. Whether your area has lakes, rivers, retention ponds, or the ocean, your dog should have some basic swimming skills, and be exercised enough to maintain treading water for several minutes until he is able to find a shallow area, steps, or another way out of the wet stuff. Please don't wait till it's too late!

Before I close, let me mention that even Oliver had some thoughts on this topic. He's shared them at "Water Safety for Us Pups" at 5 Minutes for Fido. There's a video there of a dog saving another dog from a swimming pool. Lucky dog. Hopefully it won't be yours.

It's Dog Lover Prize Time Again:

Posted: 14 Apr 2011 08:45 PM PDT

by Carrie Boyko, CEB

Today's post is a twofer. You get the winner's name for the above prize, and the announcement for next week's giveaway all in one post. I'm overstocked and must make room for new products coming in, so next week's giveaway will help me clear out the warehouse (aka my kid's bedroom!).

Check out these 4 super fantastic prizes:

Two winners--owners of toy-sized dogs--will get a 24-pack of assorted Cesar Cuisine gourmet dinners
One winner--also an owner of a toy-sized dog--will snag a 22-pack (yeah; I know it sounds weird, but read on)
Finally, I can't leave out my big dog buddies. After all, the gator in the warehouse (you know this is Florida, right?) was probably responsible for the missing cans in the carton of food that is prize #2! So, I guess it's time to get rid of this big boy. One lucky owner of a medium to large-sized dog will take home the Plush Puppies Large Gator toy made by Kyjen. This toy features a whopping 16 squeakers inside. Disclaimer: I do not supply earplugs or take responsibility for any hearing loss. Supervise your dog carefully while he plays with squeaker toys, and wear earplugs for your own protection.

To enter, you can comment here, on my Facebook page, or through a @Tweet. Don't forget to "Like" us on FB so you won't miss any big prize news, and follow us at Twitter too. To win, you MUST tell me about your dog--big or small? Large and Medium-sized dogs will go into the drawing for the gator toy. Toy-sized dogs get an entry for the Cesar Cuisine. After all, this gator is about 2 feet long--bigger than your average dog toy, by far. Do you want to see this fella?

The winner of this week's Dog Lover's Giftpack is "Cstironkat". I have no clue how to pronounce that, but fortunately he/she left contact information so I can get in touch. Congratulations!

And as always, don't forget to visit 5 Minutes for Fido, where Tanner and Oliver spout off their opinions and generally offer up silliness. What do you think they're up to today?