Young dog crossing water

[ekirkland]

I have a 16 month old BMC that has found muiltple hogs for me. Only problem is that she will not cross a creek. Any one else have this problem. If so what do I do to get her to cross one? Hopefully it just comes with age.

[Mike]

I've had few like that... they always got over it with age. Some of them would cross after a hog with no problem... but getting them back across was hell haha.

[Alapahablueblood]

I agree with Mike it'll come with age when I was a boy my grandfather had a pup like that he gave him the old boot to rear in a creek and said ahh he'll figure it out and at first it didn't look pretty but after that it was all down hill lol


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[Black Streak]

Play and enjoy the water with your dog.   Expecially when they are young.    Don't scare them or make it a dramatic experience for them.   The idea is to get them to enjoy the water.   The more comfortable they are with it the more relaxed they are with it.    The more relaxed they are in water the better they will swim.   A panicked dog will often bring its feet all the way out of the water and not be as effective with its efforts to swim. If they don't swim well, and are frightened in their efforts of flailing about, they will associate the water with bad experience and be apprehensive about it next time.      You can boot the dog in, throw it in, etc but you have just give the dog a tramatic experience associated with the water.     You can make it an enjoyable experience or a tramatic one or do nothing.     To just wish certain skills upon a dog that they don't take to naturally from birth yeilds little results.   

[ekirkland]

Thanks fellas. It's just frustrating because we know what she's capable of. She a damn good dog and has found us many hogs. But if you go anywhere with a creek through it. Might as well not even put her down.

[jassenswisher1974]

I start letting mine  swim a little when they are about 6 months. I'll coon hunt mine first before I hog hunt them so when it's hot I take em to water to cool down. When they are older and running game they cross water pretty good. Just my experience. Good luck


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[Goose87]

I had one about 13 years ago that was like that, was everything you could ask for out of a dog but scared to death of water, she would sit there and bay where the hog swam the creek, after about 4 or 5 times if doing that I got aggravated with her and kicked her in the rear shoving her into the creek, she swam to the other side picked the track up and went and bayed the hog, after that day I would swear she was part lab, she would get in my pond and swim for hours on end behind my ducks trying to catch them and was always about 5 feet behind them, at times I would have to go in after her so wouldn't wear her self down, if you have access to a pond have some one hold
The dog on one side and attach a rope to it, you go to the other side and starting coaxing the dog to you and start gently pulling them into the water with the rope ran across the pond, talk kindly and encouraging to the dog as it's swimming, dogs react more so to the tone of our voices than the actual words, keep working them like this and most eventually come out of it, I used to have a hog pen on the other side of my pond and as soon as they swam across they could see and smell the hogs and it was always game on, now a days I take my young dogs as pups walking through the woods and creek bottoms when I'm out scouting and looking in my lease and make it a point to cross water that will require them to swim...


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