# Ruby sucks at swimming



## RubyRoo (Feb 1, 2011)

I am so jealous of everyone's V that swims so beautifully...not mine. Ruby splashes so much with her panic doggie paddle. We tried to get her to use her back legs by holding her up and nothing.

Is this something she will get better at? We have another attempt to swim coming up this weekend.

Here is our crazy lady swimming 

http://youtu.be/bRzxJylEaYs


----------



## OttosMama (Oct 27, 2011)

She's adorable!! Love her! I think she will get it in no time.. Otto did the same thing for his first few tries. Then something clicked and he stopped the splashing. I think it's good that she has other dogs that are swimming with her. Luckily, she is not afraid of the water, so just mor exposure I would say.

Otto tried to climb on my dad's dog's back as well!! haha


----------



## luv2laugh (Oct 6, 2011)

oooh, she is adorable and she's not scared!! 

Oso splashed around for quite a bit, I would say it was his 10th or 11th time in the water before he started swimming with his back legs.


----------



## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Just keep taking her and don't put pressure on her to swim. She will get it down. Some people help them by placing a hand underneath them to help get a level swim. I don't. I just give them plenty of water time to learn on their own.


----------



## Suliko (Sep 17, 2011)

Ruby is doing great!! She is so adorable!  Sophie didn't fully submerge herself in the water until she was almost 1 year old. Pacsirta wasn't too crazy about swimming the first few times I took her to the pond. Just keep taking her to swim as often as you can, and I have no doubt she'll be a great swimmer!


----------



## threefsh (Apr 25, 2011)

Awwww... Ruby is so cute! Riley does the exact same thing when she swims. I think she just needs more practice.


----------



## RubyRoo (Feb 1, 2011)

Thanks all. This is only Ruby's 3rd or 4th time swimming at 17 months old. So sad we live in Florida and never get her out in the water. There are only a few dog beaches and not that great. We don't have a pool or access to one to get her in more.

We are going to a V meet up this coming weekend where they have a pond at the hunt club. I'm sure she will be doing her panic paddle with all of the other Vs and lots of videos to come.
I also signed her up for a locate and point clinic to see how she does. She did one at 6 months and didn't have much interest. Maybe now she is older she will. As long as she is having fun, that is all that matters.


----------



## Looney (Sep 28, 2011)

Laszlo didn't dig the pool on either of the 3 times we were in.
He didn't dig the beach with the other dogs.
We took him out on a friends boat so i was waiting for the worse since the water wasn't happening yet. He loved the boat! Sat on my lap and let the ears and lips flap flap flap!!
So we get to the beach, anchor up we all hop in the water (bout thigh high) and i turn to DRAG him into the water and there he is up on the boat ledge climbing down to the stair then PLOP into the water paddle paddle paddle till his feet hit the ground and he just ran to the beach up and down up and down. Swam out to the boat, jumped in again...i was soooo happy and sooo proud of him. i thought i'd have ruined him like with the dog park incident but i didn't !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
He swam just like a big red fish.


----------



## hotmischief (Mar 11, 2012)

Well I think Ruby did just fine and your being very rude about her swimming skills.....it would put me off going in again   

Actually if you watch her carefully it is only when she has her back feet on the bottom that she is splashing, when she is in deeper water she swims great. The other dogs will certainly give her confidence. Well done Ruby ;D ;D ;D


----------



## Looney (Sep 28, 2011)

wished i would have had a water proof video or something i was so proud i was almost tearing up! i swear i thought i ruined him on water.....


----------



## Kobi (Oct 26, 2010)

She will get it, she just needs more practice. The few puppies I have watched learn start out that way and get better. Kobi was a total goof when he started but now he's a pretty quick swimmer. Yesterday he tried to chase down the jet ski.


----------



## mswhipple (Mar 7, 2011)

I think she does a fine job... Adorable, really! ;D Loved that little video.


----------



## RubyRoo (Feb 1, 2011)

hotmischief said:


> Well I think Ruby did just fine and your being very rude about her swimming skills.....it would put me off going in again
> 
> Actually if you watch her carefully it is only when she has her back feet on the bottom that she is splashing, when she is in deeper water she swims great. The other dogs will certainly give her confidence. Well done Ruby ;D ;D ;D


You are right...'sucks' is a strong word . She is ok at it. I felt so bad since she was the only dog at the beach rubbing her eyes constantly because she splashes so much salt water in her face.


----------



## jjohnson (Nov 9, 2011)

Hahah I could have mistaken Ruby for Gus...he swam for the first time this weekend and he looked exactly the same! We got some good laughs out of all his splashing around, but he was having a great time, and I think he got more exercise because he was exerting so much energy with his terrible swimming form  I noticed when he got in deeper water though and stopped trying to touch his back legs to the ground, he was a little smoother. I am hoping practice helps, although none of our labs ever needed practice....


----------



## redrover (Mar 17, 2011)

Haha, Jasper does the same thing. It's adorable and ridiculous at the same time.

I ran into a very nice man at the dog park very early on Monday morning. He's hunted his entire life, and has owned and hunted with many dogs--even Vizslas.

Anyway, he said that it can be hard for Vizslas and other similarly built dogs, as they have such little body fat, big chests, and skinny hips--their back ends just want to sink in the water. It takes them a while to figure out how to keep their back end up, and some never grow comfortable with it. 

Sometimes Jasper's keen on swimming, other times he wants nothing to do with it. He has no problem walking into lakes and rivers, but hates getting rained on or walking through puddles, even if they're not muddy or cold. His responses to water are fascinating!


----------



## Looney (Sep 28, 2011)

The water was sooo clear he could see his SHADOW on the bottom and was kinda pointing it down...it kept moving tho!!!
he would jump like a gazelle in and out of the water over and over while running in it was soooo cute!!!!


----------



## harrigab (Aug 21, 2011)

I think Ruby will have no probs, she's certainly confident enough in the water, more exposure will hone her co-ordination


----------



## mlenzen (Mar 2, 2011)

My Otto is a swimming fool. Its all I can do to get him out of the water. He almost 3 now but, he has been crazy about the water since he was a puppy. At the end of last summer I took him and his little half sister Sady (4 mos.) to the Chesapeake Bay for a day of swimming. Sady had never been swimming before but, it only took 5 minutes before she was swimming like a veteran following her brother wherever he went. It took me about 3 hours to get them both out of the water. Here are a couple pictures of that day.


----------



## Darcy1311 (May 27, 2012)

Hope this gets through, I bought a vid cam just for this forum.......
Darcy the fearless hunting dog at her very best....


----------



## hotmischief (Mar 11, 2012)

Hi Darcy,

Couldn't open the video file as I probably don't have the application that you used to load it.

Any chance you could put it on youtube - that is really easy??


----------



## Darcy1311 (May 27, 2012)

I will have a go ...but I am pretty useless at this sort of thing..


----------



## harrigab (Aug 21, 2011)

Darcy1311 said:


> Hope this gets through, I bought a vid cam just for this forum.......
> Darcy the fearless hunting dog at her very best....


love it, did Darcy decide to wait till it's older before retrieving it ;D


----------



## Darcy1311 (May 27, 2012)

She really is a little softy but she will retrieve carrion...the first moorhen dived under water just as I was figuring out how to work the camcorder...she must have been in the water for five minutes, and I got 11 seconds of footage....... no animals were hurt in the making of this epic movie...Ben Hur need not worry...


----------



## RubyRoo (Feb 1, 2011)

great video!


----------



## Darcy1311 (May 27, 2012)

RubyRoo said:


> great video!


 Thanks a lot RubyRoo....it's all a bit new to me....all this technology, and I thought looking after a Vizsla was complicated...


----------

