My dog goes crazy in water, Am I alone in this?

[rosscrazyelk]

http://youtu.be/1-637h_G2e4

[lokidog]

Not like that.     Might make duck hunting a bit tough.   

[rosscrazyelk]

He can play in the water for hours. I have even timed him swimming and the longest is 45 minutes without touching land

[Halo]

We used to joke about our lab when he was young, "Instant Idiot, Just Add Water".

[trophyhunt]

It looks like he wants a rock that is on the bottom, did you throw a rock in the water?  If he is gonna be a hunter you might want to call the dog whisperer!!  My lab goes nuts when we go for a run, it absolutely drives me crazy!  He won't stop barking for at least the first 1/4 mile, which calls the neighbor to us and them I have to dogs to watch on our run.  But back to your dilemma, I would try running him a bit to burn some energy before you go on your outing?  If I throw the ball to my dog for a while before we run, he doesn't go crazy when we go run.   

[vandeman17]

I wouldn't worry. My pup goes nuts and acts like an idiot when it's play time but come hunging time she is all business

[DoubleJ]

Our two dogs will swim a bit if the chance is there but they get bored with it pretty quick.  Let it snow though and holy crap, watch out.  Our 13 year old dog acts like he's 2 years old again.

[ghosthunter]

You need to get him out more.

That would not worry me. If he sees a bird fall I bet he will be all business.

[elkhunter1977]

We used to joke about our lab when he was young, "Instant Idiot, Just Add Water".

Lmao! My lab is the same! He chomps at the water to make bubbles and then tries to get the bubbles. He would stay in the water all day if let him. Once I thought he broke his tail jumping in the way he does, wouldn't lift it for two days. Took him to the vet and was told he just wore it out swimmimg. After a week of rest he was ready to go again.

[Watimberghost]

Haha, I have a Chesapeake that is 4 years old that will do this on a daily basis. We have a huge pond in the back and if we let him he will swim all day. And most of the time barking at his splashes.

When we hit the killing fields he locks it down. I thought he was ruined, but he's the best bird dog I have.

[pens fan]

My dogs do it. It is apparently a 'disease' of sorts but I would not worry about it.

[Happy Gilmore]

It's called "water freaking" and can become a very bad situation with some dogs if not corrected and handled properly

[h2ofowlr]

My labs go nuts for water.  They B-line it to every waterway they see.  They don't bark at rocks, so that's a good thing.  I would have to put a bark collar on the dog if it started doing that.

[ATM green head machine]

That your channel i just subscribed.

[heronblu]

My dog does similarly crazy things: She drinks water on the run (mouth open in the water), and she barks at rocks. She is an awesome rabbit hunter and a very decent bird dog. If she's got a job to do she is totally focused.

[hollymaster]

Fish whisperer.

[sakoshooter]

Looks like he needs to be taught not to bark is all. Let him have fun. Mine has caught quite a few salmon. Pulls em out by their dorsal fin.

[rosscrazyelk]

That your channel i just subscribed.

Yes.

[Happy Gilmore]

Here is an explanation from Linda Harger. For a few of you who don't know Linda, she has the ONLY two living Dual CH. FC/AFC retrievers in the world. Lives in Idaho and is one of the most successful Chesapeake Bay Retriever trainers of all time-

"Water freaking is a lack of focus, dogs who freak tend to forget what they are supposed to be.....like a water retriever. If I have one do it I'll do as Tommy W....here nick here......there are some dogs I let swim or play but if I say here they better start swimming in or they won't think the water is so fun.....
Most freakers aren't smart enough to allow to play as they can't tell the difference when it comes to work"

"Some dogs are just water freaks it isn't from training at all.....pressure of the incorrect kind brings no go, water avoidance issues. A " freaker" has the proclivity from the get go and it increases or decreases with training and Learned focus....I really think it is a pure lack of focus in the real world...these dogs forget anything else around them until they tire or are made to "wake up"
I sat in my lawn chair for an hour plus several summers ago and watched as a 3 year old male freaked his way across Parasides Reservoir in Wyoming......I could see him thru my binoculars hit the far shore, get out, shake off, run around a few minutes, look around in surprise when he realized he wasn't near the truck or any of his friends and then pace back and forth trying to decide to swim back. He did without freaking and I could call him out when ever he started to freak without any hesitation from then on......most, thankfully don't take a mile swim to realize what is happening"

There are a few other resources which have some people discussing water freaking. Boykins are known to be one of the breeds with a tendency to be water freaks as are Chesapeakes and Labs.

Most people recommend a very solid foundation of collar conditioning and making sure the dog absolutely understands the "here" command associated with collar pressure and has also been de-bolted.

Putting collar pressure (bark collar or otherwise)of any kind for barking will not solve the problem and will likely lead to ruining your dog very, very quickly.

[BigD]

One of our dogs likes chasing the water skippers around the edge of our seasonal pond, he can spend all day at it. I thought he was going insane until I figured out what he was doing.

[ATM green head machine]

That your channel i just subscribed.

Yes.

Ok cool.