Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Dogs on ice

My 8 month old English Shepherd pup has started to follow the cats onto the ice. It seems the cats start walking on the ice when it is 1/4 inch thick. I've heard stories of folks losing their dogs through the ice. I can't watch her 24/7 but I'm worried she'll bust through and not be able to get out of the hole when no one is around. Any suggestions how I might minimize the risk? Do dogs have a natural instinct to stay away from the thin ice?

I dunno, but maybe this is just so stupidly obvious you haven't considered it yet - a tie out or a kennel? It sounds like your pooch generally runs loose, so I guess there's always a risk and, believe me, I fully appreciate the concern for her. It just seems that if this is a serious enough concern, one of those two options, or heck, even keeping her in the garage, would be a suitable alternative during the day to potential drowning.

I (and I bet many others) share in Schroeder's concern. Although I don't have a mutt myself, my neighbor's dogs go out there. It creeps me every time, and every time I mumble under my breath that if they go thru, I ain't gonna be able to help, and every time, my immediate second thought is what am I gonna use and how can I do it.

Totally agree, and that's why it seems like the solution is pretty obvious/easy in light of what you stand to lose if your beloved dog breaks through the ice and can't escape. Of course, my two dogs are house dogs and we don't actually live at the farm so there's not much risk them!

IF you don't want the dog going in the pond in the Summer, either, the two word answer is "shocker collar."

No! Especially if they are chasing a cat! There are dog rescues on the ice in the news every winter.

I have the same problem, but my danger is a busy highway in front of the property. My present dog stays on the lease and when she goes outside I am with her with a flex leash. It's good for me too as it gives me exercise three to four times a day and I can keep an eye on things around the property.

When I first got the dog I have now, she popped out the door on me and took off like a bat out of hell. At one point a car missed her by what looked like less than a foot on the highway, as she just stood there not aware of the danger. I can tell you my heart skipped a beat. The person in the car was on a cell phone oblivious to her surroundings and never saw the dog.

At some point my dog will come to me every time and stay right with me as my last dog would. I even took a tumble on the pond bank with my last dog and she came running God bless her! But all bets are off when it comes to seeing cats, other dogs, deer, etc. It's just too much of a temptation for them to investigate and it only takes one time...

I almost lost my 2 Springer Spaniels 2 years ago because they ran out on the ice, jumped in where the aerator had the pond open to chase some geese. They got so cold they couldn't get out on their own. Luckily I was able to just barely break the ice with an extension ladder so they could swim within arm's reach and I yanked them out of the pond. Another few minutes and they would have been gone.

So, NO, the dogs don't know whether the ice is safe or not. I hate to sound cruel, but if it's your dog, and they have free run of the place, spend some $$ on a shock collar, put it on 'em. Spend some time with them outside, with the collar turned up all the way. If they venture out on the ice, hold the button down until they are off of the ice. A few times of getting burned should teach them that they aren't supposed to be out there unless you let them. Getting zapped, even tho painful is a whole lot better than drowning.

I concur with the shocker collar. A little bit of training will go a long way. A life vest for dogs is a possibility, but they will still freeze to death. We have the invisible fence (and a separate shocker collar) and they are extremely effective.

If my dog goes in it's my fault & I may jepordise my life trying to save her. So, I train her to mind & therefore have no worries. Someone els's dog is another matter.
If you're truly concerned, spend the time in training.

I placed my aeration at the end of my dock last winter and I would walk down the dock to check on it. It had about 30foot radius of open water with the end of the dock in the middle. My dog allways followed me down there and this one time she walked out on the ice right up to the open water and fell through. She turned back and tried to climb out where she fell in but there was no way she could get out. I was calling repeatedly to get her to swim to the dock but she wouldn't. I was just about to jump in and get her when she turned and swam over and I pulled her out. In about 5 minutes of struggle they are ready to tap out.

My dog busted through the ice Saturday at my dad's house... Fortunately I was outside when it happened and darn near froze to death getting her out but was able to. Not a fun experience! She saw something and just had to go out after it. Perhaps the fact that she was breaking through ice to duck hunt the day before didn't help the cause?

It's hard to stifle the prey drive in hunting breeds, and depending on the individual, it's really , really hard, if not durn near impossible. That's why sometimes the electric "wireless" fence won't work on dogs that have a high prey drive, nor will they work on any dogs other than yours.

My Springers were able to climb up out of the ice if they weren't too cold, as in one retrieve of a dead duck. If they had to spend any length of time in the water (i.e. 5 minutes) they would be too stiff to scramble out.

Even if an aerator is close enough to shore so the ice is melted to the bank, a dog might not realize it and continue to try and get out by climbing up on the ice and eventually drown.

I learned my lesson 2 years ago. I'll still let the one remaining Springer out without going out with him, but if he's not back at the door in less than 5 minutes I'm outside calling him. I think he's a bit wiser now, even when we go back by the pond he stays away from the ice. (Although occasionally I have to tell him NO!)

My dad has a neighbor who has a Chesapeake Bay Retriever. That dog is nuts! It breaks through the ice, swims around in the insanely cold water and doesn't seem fazed one bit. I thought labs were hardy when it came to cold water. They are wimps compared to Chessies!

My cousins put one of these on their dog when it was near water in the winter, or when they had it in a canoe with them. It makes the dog easy to spot in the fluorescent colors, and you can put on reflective tape to make the dog more visible. The insulation might also help them with the cold if they fell through. You could get a long pole with a hook on the end to loop into the handle and pull them out if they broke through the ice.

You could also consider getting a harness and a long leash, then just clipping the leash to the dog's harness when it is running free. If the dog broke through, you could probably get to the leash safely and use that to pull it out.

I have a neighbor, in town, with 7 kids and 2 dogs. One of the dogs, a big Shepard mix, climbed the fence every time the Kids left the yard. So, I went to Bowie and brought home my 12 volt electric fence gear. It only took once and the dog will now go to the fence but not touch it. I removed the wire after a week. Problem solved.

You might try putting some hot wire around the pond in the winter and removing it when it is safe for the dogs.

Guvnor Davidson, Certified Shock Therapist.

Has anyone had a dog that had a close call, and then it never went back on the ice?

I am anxious to try that with my Chessie. We adopted him from friends who didn't realize how big he was going to be and they ended up just keeping in a cage 90% of the time. Now, a few years later, we have gotten him under pretty good control and now that we have the farm, I'm anxious to get him swimming as he has never been in the water other than our kids' little plastic pool. He goes in right in the middle of them during the summer and just lays down. Of course, he's big enough that they pretty much have to get out because there's no more room! We'll see what he thinks of pond water once spring gets here and the ice comes off. My yellow lab that died about 4 years ago was a trooper in icy water, though. She couldn't get enough and it seemed to give her more life and energy than anything else, even when she was old and otherwise having a tough time getting around. A good douse in an icy creek and she was ready to run all the way home! Man, do I miss that dog!

schroeder

I think my dog has learned her lesson after falling through. She will not go near the open water around the aeration but she would still go out on thin ice in the fall I am sure.

Wow! I just posted in another thread about having to worry about that today.

Keep your dogs safe - I know y'all try.

My yellow lab ventured out to the center of pond yesterday. I was out walking around and noticed her out there. At first I had to laugh because she obvioiusly looked confused. She loves the water. While standing out in the center she heard a couple of ice crackinug noises and just froze where she was and sat down.
It took us 30 minutes of coaxing here with treats to get her to walk back in. I was ready to throw her a rope. She finally came towards the shore and broke through the ice just before she got to the shoreline. She shook off and pretended it didn't even happen. She thought about again today but didn't do it again.

Not ice related but my present dog fell off the pier before the ice formed and I yanked her back up with the lease. As it was quite cold I hurried her up to the house where I could dry her off. What was really hillarious was she kept looking back at the pond as if to say, "What happened just now?"

My big dog did a complete wipeout on the ice this weekend. He could not figure out why the harder he ran the less progress he made.

A sad related story: Woman dies trying to save her dogs yesterday...
http://www.star-telegram.com/804/story/1884305.html

Last winter I had a dead 30 ft tall tree hanging over the pond in such a way that I could only fell it towards the pond. I waited until the ice was 5 inches deep and dropped the tree. It went crashing through the ice like a knife through butter. My helper friend had his German Shepherd with him. Now this dog is his only child that he bought from Germany for $2700. While we were trying to wrestle the log from the icy water, the dog ventured too close and under he went. I got to him in maybe 20 seconds but I swear he was about ready to go under. I'm not a huge man so thank goodness for adrenaline. I grabbed him by the neck with both hands and pulled him to safety. I looked towards my friend who hadn't moved and he was white as a ghost. Fortunately we warmed up the dog quickly, and she is fine now.