Please Help I have A Water Baby!

Hello All I need Help with Milly (Mildred) She is pretty good on recall for a basset she is friendly with all she meets my problem is off lead she is a water baby how do i stop her plonking her self in every puddle mud bath or pond or lake we come across. Every day she jumps into the lake and then goes onto jump into every muddy puddle along the woodland we walk through, I love the route and so does the other dog George who doesn't like getting wet or dirty. How can I stop her without keeping her on a lead.

My on lead problem is she barks at other dogs yet she doesn't off lead so its out of frying pan into fire

Thanks in advance for any reply s xx

I am not sure you can!!! Can you not just take a towel to dry her off with and let her enjoy? What about doing the puddles bit first and then the lake at the end to clean her off a bit, and then when puddles are dry do the lake first so she dries off on the rest of the walk!

Guessing you wouldnt like the video on here of my two up to their necks in it!

Its just such a shame to have to put her on a lead if she is happy off and the puddles wont be around for ever (well hope the warmer drier weather is just around the corner)

lol I guess you are right it is what she loves and yes maybe the lake last is a good idea and first in the summer.

will be easier when the weather is warmer will just shampoo and hose down on return home ( she smells like a swamp most days after our walk ) It is funny to watch her just hard work getting her dry when we get home.
x

I think its useful if they swim because you can just encourage them to have a dip when they pong a bit.
Daisy also pops into any available water.
Can you not encourage some ball-chasing to dry your dog off after?

As well as the added benefit of bathing themselves - you can also tire them out a little by letting them swim.

You could teach a "this way" then whenever she is headed for the lake and you don't want her too - she knows to go another way other than straight in.

But I don't really see a problem, I've just got my first what looks like - water baby and I've tried encouraging the others to swim - it is good for them and what's a bit of mud if you have a happy healthy dog?

She does run after but being so low to the ground it doesn't seem to make any difference lol and she wont play fetch she looks at me like im stupid and I can almost hear her say get the ball yourself lol.

Its the fun of having a doggie again I guess just never had a swimmer before so all new to me this mucky dog stuff always had dogs that didn't like to get their feet wet lol.

I couldn't agree more my only fear is being a basset hound I was led to believe they cannot swim due to weight ratio to leg length so far she has not gone out of her depth so no panicked too much as yet my issue is though that I cannot swim myself so if she got into trouble I wouldn't be able to do much about it but im sure I would try she would prob have to end up saving me then lol x

Suppose every owner is different. I would love it if my lad would swim, but he wont go in deep water. Muddy puddles and swampy areas are a different matter and with a dodgy tummy I found it was just making him off colour too often (as he would often drink the water) so just used his leave it command, now if he notices them he walks around them, but as a staffy he often just charges through them unaware so I cant do anything about it... He cant leave what he doesnt notice but I don't mind him getting muddy, just worried about his tummy

perfect time to start swimming lessons for you! lol As I said my lad isn't a big fan, and that's because he sinks like a brick! But I can't count the number of times he's fallen in a lake or into the canal. He's learnt to somehow hold onto the banking if he's close enough until I can pull him out, but on a few rare occasions I've had to go in after him. I'm glad I'm a good swimmer and he trusts me enough to just let me drag him back to the shore.

I really should learn even if it is only for the sake of Milly and her pond diving lol x