imported_Cassie Posted June 1, 2004 Posted June 1, 2004 This just proved the theory of the power and strength we can achieve in emergency situations. I had all 6 of my dogs down to the lake today. My Newf's & Dobe like to wade while my Rottie loves to run in and swim for hours. There is a little wharf which goes out to the deep water, my Rottie loves to run down the wharf and jump in after sticks etc. and she will run and jump in just for the heck of it also :lol: Any way, my Newf's are always the type to wade in the shallow water, I have yet to see them swim :-? today my male Gil decided to he wanted to get out to where my Rottie had just jumped off the wharf...so he ambled out past his usual depth of chest deep and proceeded to wade out further...as soon as he passed the drop off (and it is a sharp drop off) he panicked and went under...I had to run in and save my Newfoundland dog from drowning. I feel so bad for him, he is still shaken up over the whole ordeal. I can't even describe how horrible it was to see him go under and then to see his paws coming up over the surface, then to see his big head come up and then go under again...he sunk like a rock. I really can't believe I had the strength to grab him and pull him in to shore. It's funny, I never had any thing like this ever happen with any of my other dogs except my Newf :-? my Rottie took to water like a fish and she had never been in water until I adopted her at 1 year. Well, there goes the idea that all Newf's are great water dogs. I think they are breeding them with WAY too much coat and poor structure. Years ago when I first got Newf's (about 25 years ago) you couldn't keep them out of the water and they used to float. I had one male years ago which would just swim for hours at the lake...he used little leg motion to keep afloat. ? Well, I have calmed down...of course I didn't let Gil know this upset me. I don't want him having panic attacks...I am just treating him normally as if nothing happened. I think I will take him back down to the lake this evening and let him play... just so he won't have any fears of the area. Poor little Gil...I wonder if I should submit this to the Newfoundland dog club I belong to...big letters in the newsletter...Newf Rescue, by owner. Quote
imported_Kat Posted June 1, 2004 Posted June 1, 2004 Aww poor Gil. This theory of all dogs having the capacity to swim intrigues me greatly, especially with people having expectations of water dogs like Poodles, Otter hounds and Newfs etc being natural swimmers. Any which way I'm glad that Gil is safe and give him a big Newfie hug from me please :wink: Quote
Guest Anonymous Posted June 1, 2004 Posted June 1, 2004 :o poor gil! glad you saved him.. i think it's a good idea to bring him back down to the water.. i would do it with just him and you so he can get some extra attention and love at the water sohe know's it's ok ;) Quote
courtnek Posted June 2, 2004 Posted June 2, 2004 just a thought...people are supposed to be able to float naturaly as well, with inflated lungs you should float...however, my kid and some friends I know all SINK LIKE ROCKS when they get int he water. Kyle knows how to swin, but he cant float to save his life...I wonder if that's true of dogs too? :-? Quote
imported_Cassie Posted June 2, 2004 Author Posted June 2, 2004 Oh K, poor little snoop...its funny how our poor dogs can make the same mistake over and over and over again :wink: I must say that your husband sounds like a saint. I don't know too many men that would jump into freezing cold waters even to save even their own wife :lol: . Did you train your husband or did he come pre-trained :lol: The water wasn't too cold yesterday, we have been getting some lovely weather here in Canada. I did have to run in with all my clothes on...I didn't think it would too nice running in with just my undies on...can you imagine being caught by another person out walking. A 40 some thing year old women, with a little more meat on her bones than normal...and a little cellulite here and there dragging a big black Newf out of the water...this surely would have put even the best womanizer off women for life :lol: people are supposed to be able to float naturaly as well, with inflated lungs you should float...however, my kid and some friends I know all SINK LIKE ROCKS when they get int he water Court, I don't think it has any thing to do with inflated lungs. Our Newf's used to be quite buoyant, my Newf's of yesteryear used to stay in the water for hours, they would float without using much leg action where as my other dogs where pumping away to keep up with them One Newf I owned (which passed away to bone cancer 1 1/2 years ago) used to do circles in the lake , he was very difficult to get out of the water...it was no effort at all for him to swim. I used to teach swimming leason many many years ago :lol: and one class I had was an adult class learning to swim. For one class I had them use floatation devices and to learn to tread water in the deep end of the pool. One man who had alot of body fat on him forgot his floatation device and proceeded to float in the deep end without using his arms and legs to keep him afloat :o and his upper body from chest up was above water :o I always thought excess body fat and body type were main factors in the water, excess body fat making you a floater and lean muscle making you a sinker...of course this is just from what I have seen over the years, not scientific proof :wink: I must be lucky (or unlucky)...all of mine love the water and I can't ever get them out. They are worse than a 5 year old at the pool. newfiemom, you are very lucky, I miss my water dogs :( I live in the atlantic provinces of Canada and have access to lots of lakes and the ocean...this is where I spend most of my time. There is no greater joy than to swim with your dogs or to watch them out swimming (getting great exercise :wink: ) I was also interested in water rescue sponsored by our local Newfie club...its not to be :( I do have one funny experience with one of my Newf's and water (this is years ago). This boy loved the water, they were opening the local aquatic center and wanted to use my Newf to lead the parade around the pool (mayor of the city etc.,) any way, half way around the pool my water loving Newf could not resist temtation and got away from the parade leader (wasn't very hard, dealer was a strong minded boy) and he proceeded to dive into the pool and caused quite a commotion. I had to come down to get him out...it kinda destroyed the day, I was embarressed at the time, but, laugh about it now. By the way, they say bad luck comes in 3's :-? last night when I took Gil back down to the lake...my Rottie found a porcupine, I spent 2 hours last night pulling quills out of her nose, lips, gums, tongue, upper mouth, front legs... :evil: not the way I planned on spending my evening. I just plopped her down in front of the TV and proceeded to pull them out with my plyers. I will say that she was extremely good for the whole ordeal...she even kept her mouth open for me so I could get the quills out of her tongue and inside her mouth. She is such a good girl...and to think she was very aggressive when I first adopted her...she has come along way :angel: Quote
izzy Posted June 2, 2004 Posted June 2, 2004 What a rescue Cassie, are you into weightlifting? Gil must be like an olimpic record :lol: I'm glad he's fine. Quote
Guest Anonymous Posted June 2, 2004 Posted June 2, 2004 That's flipping scary. I had a situation once where my GSD fell off a dock in Northern Ontario. He had just gotten the hang of swimming, but only under his own control with a grade. Sure enough he started panicking. However by the time we started pulling our shoes off, he regained composure and swam around and then scrambled up the dock. Funny the things we'd do for our dogs. There's always a story each year of someone drowning in an attempt to save their dog from the same fate. I'm just glad to hear that both you and Gil made it out safe and sound! My Newfoundland didn't take to the water right away. Which was a shame since most of his family are waterlovin nuts! He too prefers to wade, it was just last year at his breeders that he finally swam out to retrieve the bumper. He's turned out to be a strong swimmer, he does fortunately have GREAT structure, not overdone at all, it just took him four years to discover it. Quote
Guest Anonymous Posted June 2, 2004 Posted June 2, 2004 :o lol now K don't scare her away!! HF is traiend too! Quote
imported_Cassie Posted June 2, 2004 Author Posted June 2, 2004 Shenanigans99, you have a Newf, how wonderful. You'll have to tell us more about him. I own 4 Newffoundland dogs, as for my baby boy Gil, he is 3 years old and has great structure for the "show" world...just not the proper structure for the swimming world. He is what every one is looking for in the show ring, lots of coat, longer square body and big pumpkin head. He got his Canadian Championship title before he was a year old and his American title only took a couple of shows..he is a beautiful dog, just not a proper body for swimming. Its wild when you see different kennels of Newf's and what they think is the perfect Newf...you can almost tell which kennel the dog is from just by its look. When I got my first Newf, it was quite square, shorter legs, and longer snout and not a whole lot of coat. My current Newf's have longer legs, longer bodies, and pumpkin head with shorter stops...one of my Newf's has a head bigger and rounder than most Saint's I have seen at the shows. I do love my Newf's to peices and they have been wonderful with my dog aggressive Rottie. They put up with alot from her and I credit them for making her into the peaceful and dog friendly dog she is today. They have also been good to my newest rescue Beau (a Dobie). Beau is a male and has bonded quite wonderfully with my 2 intact male Newf's. Quote
Guest Anonymous Posted June 4, 2004 Posted June 4, 2004 It's so neat to find other Newfoundland owners on a board you stumble upon, it's pretty rare that you do! I've wanted a Newf for the longest time, I waited several years for one, and when I found the right breeder, I waiting another year and a half for my guy to be born once I found my breeder. I really like her dogs, they're quite square, moderate coat, awesome heads-not overdone ala Saints, but not underdone like a Pyr's either. My guy is just pet quality, but he's still quite a handsome dog, his only problem is that he's a small guy, only about 110lbs. Nevertheless, he's fast, and extremely mischievious...hence his name. ;) I would like more Newfs, but I live in Toronto, while our home is situated in the suburbs on a quiet ravine and quite large, I don't know if it'd support three large dogs, let alone four or five! Maybe I'll get clumbers and live vicariously through them. lol Quote
Lucky Chaos Posted June 4, 2004 Posted June 4, 2004 Shenanigans napisał(a): I would like more Newfs, but I live in Toronto, while our home is situated in the suburbs on a quiet ravine and quite large, I don't know if it'd support three large dogs, let alone four or five! Maybe I'll get clumbers and live vicariously through them. lol Another Torontonian yay! Have you signed up yet? :wink: Quote
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