How to Help Your Dog Overcome a Fear of Water

The best way to ensure that your dog is great in the water and to prevent any issues down the road is getting them to a pond as a young pup and letting him literally “get his feet wet” just playing and slashing around. This will help get him comfortable and enjoy splashing around.

But there are times when we come across a dog around a year old who has missed that early water introduction and has never seen water except in his dog bowl. Most of the time, these dogs turn out to be fine and dandy with the water, never missing a beat.

But what do we do when that rare one comes along that is scared to death of it? It doesn’t happen often, but these dogs do exist. After seeing the bumper splash out in the water, they pace back in forth along the bank, whining because they want to go get it, but they just cannot make themselves overcome the fear of actually going after it. These dogs will usually go out to a few inches deep but don’t have the guts to venture out any further.

This is a problem you can overcome. When the dog shows you that he has the desire to go out after the retrieve, that tells you that there is a good chance of building his confidence with swimming. But make no mistake, it will take a lot of work and even more patience to get him where he needs to be.

Chaco, a nine-month-old chocolate lab I trained years ago, first introduced me to this issue. He was a stud, energetically retrieving long land doubles and triples like it was nothing. He was so athletic that he could jump into the back of my truck with the tailgate up like it wasn’t even there.

But when we went to the pond, the water brought out a new side to him. I could sense the fear coming out of him; the water was so intimidating to him. He was showing me that there was a new skill I had to learn—how to help him conquer his dread of the water.

The first thing I did was invest in some lightweight hip waders. He would get his feet wet, but that was it. So, I would walk out to about knee-deep water and splash around with the bumper, trying to get him to come to me. He got so excited but was still scared to come out any further. I would then get close to him and rub him behind the ears, praising him and trying to get him more comfortable. It’s very important to give nothing but positive reinforcement throughout this process; there can be nothing negative for him to associate with the water.

Over the next week, with me in the water working to coax him out to me, he built up the courage to go out to chest-deep water. I would toss a bumper just out of easy grasp for him and watch him reach and strain as much as he could to grab it. No matter what, at this point, he was keeping his feet on the solid ground beneath the water. That was his security.

Eventually, with a ton of positive encouragement from me, he got up the nerve to break free from the ground underneath him, although just going out less than a foot. And as soon as he grabbed it, he could not get back fast enough!

Once he was consistently making the very short one- or two-foot retrieves, I would extend the range, but only by about a foot. He immediately became hesitant again and resisted the temptation to go. But once again, with the help of my encouragement, he finally gave in and went for it. When he did, I gave him more praise than he had ever seen!

I continued this training routine for a couple of weeks. I usually started out each session with previously successful distances, tossing bumpers close to remind him how solid he was at that range. Then, I would slowly extend the length of the retrieve. Each session ended with a few feet further than the last one.

Once I had him going out a few feet, I could extend it out in five- to ten-foot increments. Before long, he knew the water was no match for him. I could throw one out there 20 yards and he would blast off after it on command.

Like I said, patience is vital. If you rush it, he won’t have the opportunity to build confidence like he needs to. Baby steps are key, along with constant praise. You never, I mean never, need to force a dog out into the water, either by throwing him or dragging him out there. This will just feed into his fear of it. You have to work to make him excited to see the water.

It can be a very slow and frustrating process, but just because a dog is timid of the water does not mean that that fear cannot be overcome. Working closely with your dog, you can get him through this obstacle while strengthening your bond with each other. Once you lead him to the other side of the hurdle, you might be surprised and how trusting and loving he will be towards you, helping to strengthen your connection that will last for years.

For more tips on how to get your pup in the water, check out this article: How to Properly Introduce a Puppy to Water. And for more dog training information check out this page, Hunting with Dogs.