Hi to all. This is our first newfie and we wanted to join a group that we can reach out to when we have questions and to share our love of the breed. We ended up with Bo, our 19 month old newfoundland, because our 13 year old golden retriever/newfoundland mix (Jake) passed away. We loved him so much that we searched for another mix, but after researching the newfoundland, we came to the conclusion that the characteristics that we loved the best were all newfie. Enter Bo! He is everything we hoped for and more.
The only question we really have at this time is, "Does anyone else own a newf that is afraid of swimming"? We introduced him to the water last summer, but he was only seven months old and didn't really love it so we didn't push it. He would wade in and dunk his head under, but if his feet went out from under him, he would panic and head to shore with big choppy panicked swim strokes. This summer we introduced him again at the dog park and he would wade to his chest and turn around and walk out. He did get pushed in off the crowded dock at the dog park and went under, but came up swimming and swam straight to the ramp and walked out. I even bought him a life jacket thinking it would give him some confidence and a feeling of security, but he is just not having it. Went to the lake with the family to swim this past weekend and the kids thought if they acted like they needed help his instincts would kick in and he would swim to save them. NOPE! He looked concerned and then headed up the bank to the car!
Does anyone with more experience than us have any suggestions or input?????
The only question we really have at this time is, "Does anyone else own a newf that is afraid of swimming"? We introduced him to the water last summer, but he was only seven months old and didn't really love it so we didn't push it. He would wade in and dunk his head under, but if his feet went out from under him, he would panic and head to shore with big choppy panicked swim strokes. This summer we introduced him again at the dog park and he would wade to his chest and turn around and walk out. He did get pushed in off the crowded dock at the dog park and went under, but came up swimming and swam straight to the ramp and walked out. I even bought him a life jacket thinking it would give him some confidence and a feeling of security, but he is just not having it. Went to the lake with the family to swim this past weekend and the kids thought if they acted like they needed help his instincts would kick in and he would swim to save them. NOPE! He looked concerned and then headed up the bank to the car!
Does anyone with more experience than us have any suggestions or input?????
