If you have a working gundog, especially one you’re planning to take rough shooting, on the peg, picking up or wildfowling, it’s essential that they can retrieve from and over water.
If you have a pet labrador, spaniel, or HPR, swimming is also one of the best forms of exercise for our dogs as it’s low impact and uses a lot of muscles, which can ultimately help protect dogs against injuries.
Swimming is also a great way to keep our gundogs cool in the summer months and, provided they’re introduced to water correctly, it’s good fun for them too!
When it comes to water, it seems that the wheels quickly fall off even with behaviours that are relatively reliable on land.
The key issues handlers seem to face are a reluctance to get in, over-excitement, noise and unsteadiness, going ‘deaf’ on the bank or while they’re in the water and not recalling, and the ‘big one’, dropping the retrieve to shake.
These problems are often discussed, covered and fixed in our water training workshops, week-long summer camps and one-to-one sessions.
In this blog, we will focus on an often-overlooked aspect of water work that, if left untrained, can arguably be even more of an issue than dropping to shake.
After briefly discussing how to nurture or develop our dog’s ability to swim, we will cover why it is vital that our dogs can retrieve over water and how to begin training this.
Aren’t all gundogs natural swimmers?
When it comes to genetics, gundogs do have innate attributes that make them suited for water, like water-repellent double coats and webbed feet. That said, not all gundogs are natural swimmers from the start.
Some dogs want to get in the water and start paddling straight away, while others are more cautious. Every dog is different. Even gundogs known for their love of water can take their time to become confident swimmers.
Under no circumstances should you throw, push or drag your puppy or young gundog into water. If you force them and turn it into a negative and scary experience, you may put them off water for life.
Instead, relax and don’t rush. Focus on making it a fun interaction and go at the pace of your individual dog.
This might mean multiple training sessions before they’re swimming, but the extra time spent ensuring a cautious dog is happy to enter the water alone will pay dividends in the long term.
Never mind going over, how do I get my gundog to get in the water?
The fundamental skill for you to focus on initially is confidence to enter the water and teaching your puppy or young gundog to swim on their own accord. We want them to think entering the water is fun and to do so without hesitation.
You will want to find a location with easy entry and exit points at this stage. The best place would be a calm lake or pond with no steep banks and a nice flat bottom, which isn’t too precarious underfoot for you or your dog.
Here at the Clicker Gundog Training Centre our pond was purpose-built for training and includes a gradually sloped entry point on one side to make it as easy as possible to introduce puppies and dogs to water.
At a minimum, you want to ensure the water has no strong currents, steep banks or reeds. And that no hazardous obstacles are hiding in the water that could cause damage to your dog or you.
It is also advisable to wait until the weather and the water temperature are warmer. This is why our water workshops and week-long water training camps are held in the summer months.
If your dog does not immediately rush to explore the water and is reluctant to get more than their paws wet, go with them to the water's edge. If you have found some water with a gently sloping bank, walk into the water as far as your wellies or boots will allow.
You can use food to lure your puppy, paying them for entering the water and then clicking and rewarding any incremental steps they make.
Again, you need to remember that dogs are very different. Some will be happy to take themselves deeper into the water. Others might still be reluctant. You must observe your dog carefully and determine how slowly you take this introductory session.
At the end of each session, take note of the point on the dog’s body that they were happy to be submerged in, as this will act as your benchmark for your next session. You aim to build the dog's confidence to submerge slightly deeper in each repetition/session.
Eventually, you will get to a point when their whole body is submerged. At this point, you can start to throw treats out of their reach to encourage them to reach forward and commit to swimming.
Be careful not to throw the food in too far, as if they deem it too far or unreachable, you could halt their progress. Small, progressive steps are better.
Why your gundog might be reluctant to swim across water.
There are plenty of situations where the retrieve will be on the other side of the river, pond or lake.
Puppies and young dogs who have been taught to enter the water by repeatedly being sent in for marked retrieves can often get stuck on the idea that the article will always be in the water.
Instead of crossing and continuing running their line or hunting on land, they often swim to the bank and turn around thinking they have missed it.
Some can quickly get frustrated swimming in circles, while others will try to retrieve water lilies and sticks in an attempt to pick and return with something.
If you have introduced your dog to water and the activity of swimming with food, then you are less likely to face this problem. By separating the act of swimming from retrieving in the early stages, dogs will not inadvertently learn that water retrieving exclusively involves finding the item in the water.
But this does not automatically mean that they will understand or think about crossing water, and so it is still a skill we must teach.
And even for dogs who are happy to swim out over water, there is the challenge of returning.
When the dog’s feet start to meet the ground on the opposite side, they are often inclined to consider running around the body of water to return rather than swimming straight back.
Although the run may be a longer and more indirect route, this may be considered quicker and more efficient in your dog’s mind than swimming a more direct route.
Training your gundog to go over water
Teaching your gundog to cross an obstacle like water is vital, and one way we can approach this is by first training them to recall over water.
Instead of introducing them to a large body of water, we can start this exercise with simple land-based obstacles first, such as ditches, fallen logs, bales or any other jumps.
Provided your dog is already happy and confident entering water and knows how to swim, you can then move on to teaching them the concept of recalling over water, before finally adding in the retrieve.
Step one:
Take them to the opposite side of the object, sit them up approx. 1-2 meters from the obstacle and then go back to the other side and recall back across. For some dogs you might need to step over or through the obstacle yourself rather than going around it as they might watch you and be encouraged to do the same. You can click or use verbal reinforcement as they cross the obstacle in response to their recall whistle and then payment on return to you.
Step two:
Once you have achieved this at that distance, on your next repetition, you can position your dog slightly further back from the obstacle. You don’t want to put them so far back that they consider it more efficient to run around or past it to get to you. You can also move gradually further away to recall them back to you.
Step three:
Repeat this in various locations, on differing obstacles, to start to generalise the concept.
Step four:
If your dog has already been introduced to water you can now practice this on a small stream. Take them through to the far side, leaving them in a sit stay until you go back over the stream and recall them.
Step five:
You can now start to increase the depth and size of the body of water. At some point, it will become impossible for you to walk your dog through the water to the other side.
Remember, you want to avoid walking around the water’s edge if you can to stop the dog from watching you and thinking that they can just run around too.
Once you get to this point, then you can use an article to lure your dog to the other side. You can do this by yourself or you might have a helper with you who can stand on the opposite side of the water from you.
Step six:
You can now introduce a dummy. It should be thrown approximately three-quarters across to the far side of the water. Your dog should be sent in for the article on their normal cue. When they have the article in their mouth, use your recall cue (whistle or verbal). They should turn around hearing this cue, and you can click this response to the cue even when they are still in the water swimming.
Step seven:
Your aim from now on is to slowly increase the placement of the article in the water, moving it closer to the far bank each time while repeating the process from Step 6.
Step eight:
Through repetition, the article will be making its way further onto the bank on the far side of the water.
Remember: When the dog’s feet start to meet the ground on the opposite side, there is often an inclination for the dog to look at the options of running around the body of water to return versus swimming straight back.
Although the run may be a longer and more indirect route, this may be considered quicker and more efficient in your dog’s mind than swimming a more direct route.
Here, the timing of your recall (directly as they pick the article), along with marking this decision with your click and then giving verbal feedback during your dog’s return will increase the probability of them swimming back.
It is important to remember that you or your helper walking around the body of water and showing the dog an alternative route to swimming across might also encourage them to run around. So, if you do have someone on the far side, make sure your dog doesn’t see the route they take to get there.
If you would like to work on your water training this summer, we not only have a week-long training camp dedicated to foundation water work, but we also include water training on our breed-specific camps and group classes.
The purpose-built pond we have here at Clicker Gundog has been carefully designed to set the dogs up for success. Fencing discourages dogs from running around, and there is a gradual sloped entry point on one side to help those dogs who have not been in water before or who need their confidence boosting.
For more information on our foundation water training camp, click here.
For more information about training at Clicker Gundog and using the pond facilities, please click here.
📸 Photographs 1 & 2 credit Alice Loder Photography