I havent had the chance to introduce Guinness to deep water just yet.. we have however on our hikes experienced little puddles with lots of water that he seemed to just LOVE. Runs straight through it and its up to his chest.. So I hope he'll enjoy deeper water when the weather gets warmer.

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All my dogs love to swim

It's not a trait bred into them. Some are naturally good swimmers others are mezzo-mezzo, and some don't care for the water at all. I have two Pits. One is like an eel and the other can swim, but hates the water

Rex does not like water to swim i guess... BUT, he swap pretty good when i took him tubing in a river. He was on the tube with me , being dragged by a boat. Our tube tipped over . And rex swam all the way to land..... which was about 100-150 Ft .. He swam pretty fast to . I agree with screaming eagle though. Some dogs do not know how to swim. And some dogs to. it depends on the individual

swam


(typo)

The vast majority of the Am Stafs I've been around love to swim and are very good, strong, enduring swimmers. I love having a dog that likes it as it gives you great options for exercise and is something they really enjoy.

One time I took a mother dog and her litter of 7 week old puppies down to our pond; and when the mother dog got in the water, the puppies followed like little ducklings and were soon paddling right behind her (SHE was still walking in the water!). It was the cutest thing and I wish I had had a camera with me at the time.

Carla

Pax swims till he exhausts himself and has taken on water a few times (esp when he first started swimming). Now I cut him off before he gets to the near- drowning point.

My girl was introduced to swimming at about 6 months. At first she was afraid of the water so I swam out and yelled "HELENA HELP!!!" And my sweet girl swam all the way out to me and let me grab onto her and pulled me back to shore... lol Ever since then she's been a water hound she loves swimming.

are pit bulls good swimmers?
 

Ive heard that because some pits are to top heavy it can be hard for them to swim. my pit can swim but ive noticed she can have issues occasionally.

...this is an individual assessment. Just like in people your "pit bulls" will exhibit different proficiencies for swimming. If your dog can't swim well you can 1) keep him out of the water. 2) Buy a life jacket.

Dogs will seem to tire suddenly when you think they're doing fine as they can not tell you in plain English that they are pooped. So I'd suggest the life jacket...

Diesel was introduced to water at a very young age. He took to it immediately and swims just like the Labs/Retrievers that he goes to the river with. He will sometimes go to the middle of the Guadalupe, point upstream and paddle for 45-60 minutes. I have to go in and get him out...he loves it. Although APBTs/ASTs/SBTs are not a breed that has webbed paws...they do have skin between thier toes part of the way up that helps a bit.

Queen loves to swim and swim quite well. On the other hand, Caesar cannot swim. I should just say I have only seen him swim once and he did not like it. With my other three, I have not introduced them to water so I do not know.

Every APBT ive introduced to swimming either A) Enjoys it without problems, B) Wants nothing to do with it.

Ive never noticed much of an issue if they enjoy swimming other then the first few times they can be clumsy, LOL. One of my apbt jumped off a dock cause she seen some ducks...soon as she hit the water she was racing back to shore...She didn't know what to think other then she was wet (she was acting like a cat almost)...after she realized she was fine she found much enjoyment out of swimming and started retrieving aswell.

Ive also had another apbt who would just stay in the shallow part by shore, and she got a wild hair up her butt and leaped not realizing where she leaped she couldn't touch the ground and she freaked out so I had to reel her into shore. Ever since she wouldn't go into the water.

I always keep a long line on the dogs when there swimming so I have control incase of anything.

But APBT ive had who enjoy swimming, have been great swimmers. And its a very good work out for them that doesn't strain there joints unlike running them etc.

My dog was scared of the water because I think my boyfriend kept throwing him into a pond when he was a puppy. Now he loves to swimm, I got him to like it because I would take him and my parents golden retriever out to a lake, and the two were such buddies that he got over his fear and would swimm too. However when he first started swimming he was not that great at it, but after a few days of doing this he could swimm as fast as the retriever. I think most dogs have to learn to swimm, maybe that's why some people think their pit is not good at swimming.

My male Olde English bullie was about 2-3yrs old and we were at a dog park with a pond. Well he was running around playing with a lab and the lab went running into the pond -swimming, Titan follow behind the next thing I see is he sinks like a rock. I run in shoes and all, diving in to save my boy. Now I am in the air diving, he finds ground and is coming out as I am hitting the water! Nasty- we both ride home wet and stinky.http://www.pitbull-chat.com/images/smilies/biggrin.png

I don't know generally, but out of our two pit bulls Chloe, LOVES to swim and does so even in the dead of winter (if she thinks she gets too hot from playing). She's great at swimming and doesn't seem to have any trouble at all. Our puppy who's now 5 months, she followed Chloe into the pond one day when she was still pretty young and sunk straight to the bottom. My dad was just about to go in when she emerged and came running out of the pond, she hasn't attempted it again.
Kirra my bros pit bull, she doens't really like the water at all. We took her boating and put a life jacket on her and she was barking her fool head off at us when we were in the water so we threw her in. I've never seen a dog look so panicked and she thrashed and wasn't graceful at all. So we pulled her back out and left her in the boat. She hates getting baths too, we had her in the tub the other night trying to bathe her and she tried to get out so hard she ran on the walls, no joke.

I have had two APBT that both love the water. My first female swam like a lab. I had a boat and she would jump off and swim with me as long as I would stay in. She even liked pools. My current APBT was a little slower to enjoy the water. I took her to a pond and played fetch with a ball and stick. We started by the shore and she was swimming in less than an hour. This summer I will teach her to go in the pool and lounge on the steps when its hot. Both of my girls took to water very naturally. I have also heard that the APBT isn't a water dog, but no one ever told my girls!

Jersey tries to like water, and seems to really want to like it, but it touches her belly and she is done. Boston is kinda...well...dumb, and he almost drowned himself. How you ask, did he sink when it was too deep, was he frolicking so much that he got too tired? Nope!!! He stuck his face in the water and breathed...in. That's it, he didn't seem to realize that a nose is for oxygen not water, and then he did it again. Yep not good in the water.

that's a funny little story about boston. definately sounds like other than the necessities of drinking and bathing that he could refrain from all other types of exposure to H2O. Be sure he doesn't try to look up when it rains.

Tyson LOVES to swim. Him being a fatty at 80 pounds it's pretty hard for him to swim for a long time, so Mom and Dad got him a life jacket! http://www.pitbull-chat.com/images/smilies/tongue.png When we go to the camp grounds (we hardly take him considering his aggression, size, "Pittie", and other dogs there,) but sometimes we take him down there for a whole day to play around in the water then he goes back home.
But he will get out there and just swimswimswim like a fishy! http://www.pitbull-chat.com/images/smilies/biggrin.png