Wary Water Dogs

We recently put up a soft-sided above-ground pool and all got in for the first time this weekend.

We’ve had Chip since he was a puppy and know that he’s never swam before, so we carefully brought him in with us and let him paddle around for a minute. Though he’s not able to tell us what he thought of the experience, he was licking and wagging his tail when we held him, so I’d guess he didn’t mind too much! He also seemed to like following my husband around and swimming to him.

Honey, on the other hand, had a brief paddle before clinging to my husband before he lifted her back out to me. She’s never been crazy about getting wet — though she’ll put up with baths she hates going out when it’s raining, and avoids the yard altogether when we’re watering plants.

She doesn’t like the sound of water either — whether in a spray bottle or running from the kitchen faucet. We don’t know much about her history up until the time we got her so we don’t know what might have happened to her to make her so wary of water.

Since it’s an above-ground pool with a removable ladder, there’s no chance she’ll get into the pool by accident, otherwise we’d bring her in so we could teach her how to get herself out (swim to the steps). So my first instinct, since she gives no signs of enjoying it, is to not going to bring her into the pool anymore. But I wonder if bringing her in with us and helping her feel safe and secure might help her get over whatever issue she has with it. What do you think?

[image: flickr]