Do ducks really drown themselves?

[Jpmiller]

Can't say why or how they disappear but i will echo that it is super cool seeing a dog retrieve a bird from underwater.

[EWUeagles]

Ducks DON'T drown themselves. What will happen is that they will try to hide in the weeds and get stuck. Another thing that will happen is if they are shot, especially in the lungs, they'll go down get under something and die quick and not get a chance to resurface. Like other people have mentioned a duck can be almost completely under the surface with just it's bill out and swim away faster than you think.

[HikerHunter]

I've had this happen to me in the past and most recently just this last weekend with a ring-necked, but with a different result. Crippled on the water, we tried finishing it off a couple times but it kept diving. Then it seemingly disappeared. It was glass calm out and we could see some air bubbles and a few small ripples, then nothing. I walked over to where it was, and only the tips of its longest tail feathers were barely sticking out of the water. I grabbed it by the leg and felt the vegetation tear as I pulled it out of the water. In deeper water that bird would've been very hard to find.

It certainly drowned, but I believe it was an attempt at escape not intentionally drowning itself.