# Afraid of water



## eternalstudent (Jul 22, 2010)

Does anyone have any hints or tips that I can use to get my puppy to like water?

I am not wanting her to swim the channel or anything but it would be useful not to have her scared of the water running in the gutter.

To my knowledge she has never had a bad experience with water, and I have tried to make sure she does not have bad experiences. She will not follow other dogs into the sea and does not like puddles.

any help much appreciated


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## SerenityFL (Sep 28, 2010)

My dog hated baths, (so stereotypical), and would freak out if one, tiny rain drop touched her. (Living in Seattle at the time, this was a joy!) But she would dive, full sprint, head on in to the ocean and she LOVED the garden hose. Go figure.

I never did cure the rain thing but for the baths, I tried to make it a fun, exciting experience like getting a bath was better than Christmas. Basically, I started out with a small, kids wading pool in the back yard and got in it myself. She was interested in what I was doing so I pretended she wasn't allowed in. This just made her want to come in that much more. I kept pushing her away, pushing her away and telling her, "No, this is MY pool. You don't like baths, you can't get in." (Making sure to use the word, "bath" while telling her she couldn't have it.) Finally, after much prancing around and shoving, I allowed her in.

She eventually learned to enjoy baths.

Not that you want to play in the dirty gutter water but maybe create some small puddles in your yard and make them seem like they are fantastic but don't allow your dog to play. 

By the way, is it still water or is the water running? Maybe it's the sound? Or maybe it's not the water at all but the filth in the water or maybe it's the gutter itself?

Maybe try a small little pool and keep the hose running in to the pool so your dog hears the sound of running water and gets used to it? That's what I would try first.


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## Hammond (Dec 27, 2010)

*Evaluate and Find the reason for the behavior.*

Each and every dog has its own behavior. Some specific breeds of dogs, love to swim in water. Some don’t. First you should identify the reason why your dog is having fearful behavior particularly for water.
There are a number of different reasons taking part in this. It could be due to a psychological behavior which inherited from their parents. If it is a genetically continuing behavior, the dog may not respond to the treatment or delay in responding. If then take your dog to a veterinarian for a medical evaluation.
Due to a bad experience with water in the past also could be a reason. Some dogs show the fear for water because they lost their trust in their owner or people almost. Hence you should develop the trust first of all. :thumb:


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## doggiedad (Jan 23, 2011)

eternalstudent: how old is your dog?


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