While it may seem intuitive that most doggies know how to paddle, some need a little instruction. WSJ's Geoffrey Fowler attends a canine swimming class.
PACIFICA, Calif.�Most doggies can paddle on their own. Lady had to go to school first.
Lady, a 90-pound mastiff-and-shar-pei mix, was having the kind of weight gain and lower-back problems that could be helped by pool exercise. But her owner, Laura Burry, wasn't sure Lady could swim. "She likes puddles, but has never really gotten into the water," says Ms. Burry. "She is not too adventurous."
So Ms. Burry, a 24-year-old student, brought Lady to the Rex Center, a canine-swimming facility just south of San Francisco. Here, teacher Ellen Davison strapped a red life preserver around Lady's neck, guided the dog into the heated pool and gave her a lesson.
Lady
"Many dogs do not know how to swim, despite what you may think," says Ms. Davison. Some panic at first in the water, "just like a little kid would do," says Ms. Davison, who has been teaching dog swimming for three years.
Others need help because of disabilities such as arthritis, she says. Certain breeds, like bulldogs, sometimes just sink.
After a series of accidental dog deaths, officials in Colorado's Department of Agriculture recently proposed one of the first laws mandating dog "personal flotation devices" for kennels with pools. They also suggested requiring lifeguards.
Cesar Millan, the dog-training star of television show "Leader of the Pack," says his bulldog needed help learning to swim because its body wasn't naturally balanced for flotation. He had the pup trained by older Labradors, which are "like Michael Phelps" in the water, he says. "The dog must learn to relax," says Mr. Millan.
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Six-year-old Lady at a swimming lesson with instructor Ellen Davison.
Other dog owners are turning to professional help. Over the last decade, dozens of canine-swimming centers have opened across the U.S. Introductory swimming classes, usually one-on-one, typically cost $50 to $70 per half-hour.
New York City's Water4Dogs facility offers lessons in a heated 18-by-16-foot pool for dogs with injuries, dogs that need to lose weight and dogs getting ready for summer. "A lot of these New York City dogs have Hamptons homes with pools or homes on the beach," says Jean Marie Cooper, Water4Dogs' senior therapist.
A window on one side of the pool lets owners watch their dogs' strokes underwater. Water4Dogs also offers dog-birthday pool parties.
South San Francisco resident Vindy Chiu signed up her 6-year-old dog, Turbo, for swimming classes because she feared the white Eskipoo had inherited her apprehensions about water.
"I don't really swim, so I had never taken him to get acclimated to water," says the 37-year-old office manager. During beach trips, Turbo would run from waves. "I wasn't sure if he was scared of water or just didn't know how to approach it."
A class at the Rex Center helped both Turbo and Ms. Chiu. "They are not throwing them in the water�they start with baby steps," she says. "It made me feel really good."
About 20 minutes into his lesson, Turbo could make it back and forth across the pool on his own, Ms. Chiu says. He demanded a chicken treat as reward for each lap. After class, Turbo napped for hours.
The goals of dog-swimming lessons are more remedial and therapeutic than competitive. There is only one dog stroke, the paddle.
While the paddle is intuitive, some dogs need a little help figuring out how much to kick. When Elaine Rothenhaus brought her yellow Labrador Bella to a swimming lesson, the puppy took to the water fearlessly, but her rear side kept sinking.
"I thought, oh wow she really doesn't know how to swim, despite what everyone thinks," says Ms. Rothenhaus. Everyone, she says, included her husband, who had questioned the necessity of lessons.
When the instructor strapped a flotation device around Bella's waist, everything got better. "After a few more times, she figured out she had to kick her back legs," says Ms. Rothenhaus, 42. Several classes later, Bella no longer requires a flotation device, she says.
One occupational hazard for instructors: Nervous dogs sometimes have accidents. At Water4Dogs, they call such incidents AFRs, for accidental fecal release. The Rex Center in California, where health regulations require pools to be drained after such incidents, fines owners $300 for each mishap. Instructors say owners can usually avoid them by taking their dogs for a walk before class.
Like any older dog learning a new trick, Lady's first steps into the pool were tentative. Swimming instructor Ms. Davison, dressed in a black surfing body suit, held Lady in her arms as they backed rear-legs first into a pool.
Panting heavily, Lady wouldn't even accept duck-flavored treats, so Ms. Davison massaged her in the water.
"Her face looks so concerned," said owner Ms. Burry.
"She is pretty scared right now, which is typical," Ms. Davison replied.
As Ms. Davison pulled Lady deeper into the water and she started to kick her legs, Ms. Burry encouraged the dog from the side of the pool. "Oh my gosh, she is swimming!" she said.
Ms. Davison carried the dog farther and farther out into the pool and then encouraged Lady to swim to her owner. By the end of the lesson, Lady could make it about halfway across the pool.
How was Lady feeling after class? "That was the best time I had ever!" said Ms. Burry, speaking for Lady in a high-pitched voice.
Each dog is different, so Ms. Davison says she must rely on instinct. "The dog will pretty much always run the session," she says. "Once they do a lap on their own, their little head or chest will puff out as if they were saying, 'I just did this!' "
"A lot of it has to do with the [human] clients," says Ms. Davison. "You have to be aware of their emotions and how they are taking the whole thing, especially if their dog is struggling in the water."
Ms. Davison says she has received requests for cat-swimming lessons, but hasn't yet taken on feline clients. "I'd need to do some more research on that," she says.
Write to Geoffrey A. Fowler at geoffrey.fowler@wsj.com
