swimming?

[lola B]

what age is it ok to start teaching a puppy to swim we we are looking at a puppy in 3 weeks and when we hopefully pick her up it will be just a few days until my birthday we are hoping to go down to the river for the day and if pos we hope to see how she takes to the water is it ok to take an 8 to 9 week old puppy into a little river it is shallow there will be no other dogs and we will be there with her we where just swimming there today lots of kids there so the water is fine.

thanks in advance LOLA

[KellyT]

In my opinion no .. your pup won't be vaccinated, and even though there won't be other dogs there at the time that doesn't mean that the outside ground is a safe place for your pup to be!  For example parvo can live in soil for several months.

It is important to socialise your young puppy, but this should be whilst being carried (in arms, baby sling etc) and definitely not on the ground outside your garden until she/he is fully vaccinated.

[Archie bean]

Since she will not have had her jabs by that age so I would not put her down on the ground near or in the water. You never know what bugs may be lurking about! If there are lots of kids about having fun in the water then that might be a bit overwhelming too for such a little pup, especially if she's only just left her siblings and is getting to know you.
Just my own thoughts, others may have different/better advice 
Good luck with your viewing - hope you find your perfect pup, and Happy Birthday for a few weeks time.

[maddy74]

Agree with posts above, its not worth taking the risk she could catch anything.

Also if she has only been home a few days a full day out would be too much imho as small pups tire very quickly. We stayed at home the first few days we had Willow so she would know that was her home, and when we did start taking her out in our arms, we started at 5 minutes and increased bit by bit as the outside world is a scary and tiring place for a pup initially after leaving their mummy.

We took Willow for her first swim at just over 4 months and some people said this was a bit young really.

 

[lola B]

ok thanks for the info but once they have had there vaccines and have settled in nicely when is it ok to bring them in to the water??

[Juno]

Juno splashed into a lake on one of her first walks (around 11ish weeks) and has been a water baby ever since.  She swam non stop for half an hour this morning and is sparko now!  Your pup might just fancy a paddle at first so just let her take it at her own pace

[lola B]

so basically let her do it in her own time? i would love to go swimming with her as i am a total water baby myself i can swim but i have never had classes so i dont know how good my form is  i actually spent hour and a half swimming in a lake today it was 26 degrees 

[Juno]

Yep.  The world is huuuuge when you're a pup so she might find it a little daunting at first.  It all depends on the pup, really. 

[MaggieR]

Defo let her take it in her own time - if you're in the water that may well give her the confidence she needs to go in - but don't force the issue cos you could put her off for good.  If she just wants to paddle to begin with thats cool   And just remember as babies they will get tired incredibly quickly, so if she does take to it and look like she's having an absolute ball, don't let her over do it.  She'll get tired and cold so just manage her like you would an ickle baby - cos really thats what she'll be