Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Pond Boss Dog in the pond...

I've been enjoying the threads about experiences with various types of dogs.

I grew up with adult collies (rescued as adults) and learned about their temperments, strengths and weakness as I grew up. They were great with us as kids, good watch dogs, a little hyper at times but were good dogs.

We promised our kids that someday, SOMEDAY, maybe, when we moved and had some room, and when the kids were older, and when they would be able to help with the responsibility of taking care of the dog etc etc we would MAYBE get them one.

Well, we have some room now, and when we visited my wife's sister in WI we saw they had a black lab, Australian shepherd mix which seemed to have a great mix of being not too big, not too small, good with kids, pretty easy to train and fairly obedient, and was turning out to be a good dog for them.

My wife mentioned on the way home that someday if we got a dog she wouldn't mind one like that. A few months later the same lab and australian shepherd from down the road 'found each other' again and puppies were born. My sister in law picked out a cute puppy and when the puppy was weaned, one day delivered it to our house.

Needless to say, we are not good at the puppy stage and we have had to learn a lot! This isn't a forum about raising puppies, but I'm sure I could spend weeks asking questions and learning tons from the experienced dog owners and lovers on this forum.

I'll start by saying I'm very jealous that many of you have a very close relationship with your dogs (someone was taking a dog for a walk at 3 in the morning! Wow!) It sounds like many people have trained their dogs to help scare away predators, to help protect their ponds from geese, GBH etc, what a luxury!

We are struggling with the potty training (he won't pee in his crate and we bring him faithfully 3-4 times a day to the same spot on the edge of the yard to pee, but he still just looks at us in the middle of the afternoon, finds a grassy spot closer to where he happens to be and pees or poops in the yard.. he seems to fully know what he is doing because if I catch him and say something he looks like a naughty boy and tries to hide his head in his paws...

He also behaves around my oldest son, my wife and I (no nipping or biting clothes or shoes) but with the little kids he grabs their swim suit or bottom of their skirt and won't let go, or with my 3 yr old, she was initially afraid so would squeal when he headed towards her, and so he would just chase her around just to hear her squeal

When the kids play with him instantly he wants to take it to the growling and nipping stage and it is hard for them to dial it back, sometimes when they try to push away his nose (or others have said to loosely hold his mouth shut) he will spear them with his razor teeth. Always in play I think. If he does go at my hand or arm it is very gentle mouthing, never trying to hurt me.

We had to clear the garage of shoes and boots and he chews on anything he can get his teeth into. As a young puppy he was too tired to run far or run away, now he has more energy and as he gets taller and certainly run a lot faster!

He is now 3 months old and it is great to see his personality come out (like a teen ager he is starting to get an attitude, or try to push the limits) He also has just discovered his nose. He before had no interest in a jumping toad just in front of him or things moving around the pond. But now he cruises all over the yard and the woods, nose to the ground. Now a toad jumping 10 feet away will bring him racing over there and he enjoys trying to pounce on things.

At the pond edge he tries to pounce on the frogs before they jump in the water...which brings me to the point of the posting:

Whenever he gets hot he cruises to the pond, wades in and just sits half in and half out of the water or wades till the water is just over his back, swims a few feet and then heads out. It seems he enjoys being cool and doesn't really want to swim long distances. I expected as a part lab he would like the water. At first we tried to restrict going in the water as we didnt' want to deal with a constantly wet and dirty dog, but now we have given up.

Do others try to keep their dogs out of the pond? Is there a downside to the fish if the dog is swimming around? Can our dog catch something from the leeches, snails etc in there?

Should we encourage the 'lab side' of him by teaching him to fetch things, eventually teaching him to fetch in the water? I don't think he is a strong swimmer yet and am afraid if he goes too far out in the pond he might be too tired to swim back in, others say they won't drown, they swim too well by instinct.

I'll attach his pictures when we got him. He is quite a bit bigger now

Tips on the training side of things would be appreciated although most people say, be consistent, firm, and don't expect it to happen overnight.

I think in time he will be 'good around kids' although it may take some maturing on the dogs part. He doesn't seem to have a natural protection instinct, although I notice now that he tends to stand watch near the house and is much more aware of kids going by on bikes or other things that are new.

People who he has not seen before (family members, friends) have come by a lot and he has never barked or threatened, although don't ask me how this happened but my wife said the meter reader came by and he barked like mad. How does he know who to bark at? Otherwise he is usually silent, maybe a growl when he is playing. He is very hard to find when he wanders in the woods as he can be sitting right next to you but won't give away his presense and seems content to just sit there rather than come to you when you call. I'm working on using positive rewards to help make it easier for us to call him and then have him come running from wherever he is out exploring at the moment. Trying to keep from putting up a a massive underground fence system but may have to go to that down the road.

Thanks for your help!

I can say that I've never tried to discourage my dogs from getting in the pond whenever they want. BUT all my dogs are outside dogs...I'm sure I'd feel differently if I had to bathe them every time they romped through the mud and muck.

The new mutt we adopted a month ago or so does the same 'pouncing' action trying to catch the frogs...it's really fun to watch.

Just another facet of pond ownership that makes it worthwhile IMHO.

Yes, I should have added that this is a strictly outside only dog so that helps, but when it is warm he likes to lay on the cement steps in the garage or up against the cement poured wall to stay cool and that area tends to need a good scrub from time to time.

I do agree that watching the dog wade in just to get a drink or wade in to enjoy cooling down is well worth the extra dirt in the garage and I often think how spoiled this dog is (and he doesn't even know it!) compared to most other black dogs that just suffer in the heat with no relief or water in sight!

Now to train him to sniff out and go after those moles or chipmunks!

He already is paying for himself in that we don't have deer around the garden anymore. The fence kept the deer out except the raspberry plants outside the garden ended up being eaten constantly, but not no more, they must smell the dog as he certainly doesn't chase them. One ran across the front yard in front of him and he didn't even notice the deer...

Cute little guy! We have a dachshund and we bring him to the pond and let him swim anytime he wants except when we want to fish. He starts wining, barking, and jumping in/out of the water when he sees the lure landing or fish being played. When fishing, he stays in his kennel.

The fish will scatter whenever he is around but it seems to have no long-term influence on their behavior.

good luck

I let my dogs swim when they want. Just part of having dogs.

The one thing that does scare me is dogs on thin ice.

I have beagles they swim all the time , once in a while a floppy eared dog will have some ear problems if they stay wet too much. It is usually an easy fix just some meds from the vet. I always trust a good dog if he doesn't like someone I don't trust them either.
Dogs are not free, mine dig giant holes, tear up bushes and trees I could go on and on.
They're worth it. the puppy stage is tuff but they make life better.

We have a golden doodle. Golden retriever cross with a standard poodle. She is a house dog and needs her hair cut every 6 weeks. As a puppy we hung a jingle bell at the door about 24"s from the floor. Ever time anyone went out the door we would ring the bell. It was not long before she learned that if she wanted out she had to ring the bell. No more scratched up doors.

Second tip I would give is good food. Really good food where you only need to feed two times a day and the movements then will be regular as well. When young stick to the routine an put your own self last to hang on to the routine. This will make training easier in the long run.

Lastly we take her down to the pond on her leash. This lets her know we're in charge and when down there she needs to listen to us.

Cheers Don.

Find a local obedience class if you can asap. Learn all you can. All the human family members have to be higher on the "pecking order" than she is. Dogs are pack animals and she's part of the family "pack".

There are some good books on teaching labs to hunt and retrieve. Not that you are going to be doing that, but part of that training is getting the dog to listen to you *the first time you tell it to do something*. You shouldn't have to tell it twice.

Also, see if you can find a book on training Australian Shepards to do what they are bred to do. That might give you more insight into the "herding" behavior that you are seeing with the little kids.

Mine is an inside dog, but she's in the pond pretty much every day that she's by it.

When I brought her home at 10 weeks.




When she was 11-12 weeks old I put the boat in the pond and rowed out to the middle to clean the diffuser, leaving her on shore. I no sooner get out there and hear splashing in the water. She jumped in and swam out to the boat, about 80'-100'.

So I grabbed her, lifted her in the boat and she stayed there with me while I cleaned the diffuser.

2 months later....



2 years later.......


She just turned 4 this June 20th. These last 2 are from this past winter.

Consistency is the key to training. Say what you mean very concisely, and once the dog knows what you are saying, make sure they obey the first time you (or any family member) says it, no matter if they are right next to you, or 100+ yds away.

Kate isn't the sharpest pencil in the box if you know what I mean. The last 3 Springers I had were smarter and knew probably double her vocabulary. They picked up on new things quicker too...

Once they know the command and listen to you when they are next to you, start on having them listen once they are futher away. That's where an electronic training collar is worth it's weight in gold. It's used to basically tap the dog on it's shoulder as if to say "hey, no matter if you are 100 yds away or right next to me, you still have to listen", not as a punishment if they don't listen. (different levels of stimulation) They are also VERY effective when snake breaking a dog. (teaching them not to go near a live snake) Then they are turned all the way up when the dog is put thru the snake breaking course. Better to be bit by the e-collar than a poisonous snake.

15 min max training session length. Always end it on a positive note. 4-6 five minute training sessions are better than one 1/2 hr training session.

Anyway, in no particular order she knows:
"hup" (sit your a.. down right now and don't move 'till I tell you to move)
*no*
here (it's easier to say that loudly than the word "come" same with hup vs. sit)
lay down
put your head down
inside
outside
upstairs
downstairs
kennel
back
over (combined with an arm motion either left or right)
out
stay
pick it up
hold it
give
watch me
up
down
*gently* (when you want to give her a treat)
O.K. (I'll make her hup/sit when I put her food down and she'll stay sitting until I tell her OK)
Kate (The command to retrieve something is her name, not fetch.)
leave it (when you don't want her to pick something up)
bone
ball
*whose there* will get her to bark
*quiet* will get her to shut up
heel

hup, here, are whistle commands also, and two sharp *toots* on the whistle means that she should reverse the direction she is running in, so she'll make a windshield wiper pattern going down a field.

hup, here, over, lay down, put your head down, stay, and *I want you over here, not over there" are hand signals too.

The more you teach them as pups, the more they learn and remember as adults. Socialization is a big thing, get the dog used to strange places, loud noises, etc. and you can take them anywhere and they won't cause problems. My first Springer, I could tell to "hup" and walk out of sight for 20-30 minutes and she'd still be there, not moving until I released her.

I'm working with kate on "hup" in the water when she's swimming. That will mean "stop, turn around and look at me for direction on which way to swim" so I can direct her to a duck or bird that fell in the water that she didn't see go down. She's pretty good at watching a bird go down and getting to the area where it was, then finding it with her nose without a lot of direction, most of the time no direction at all.