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My 3 children swim in our inground pool all summer every chance they get. It is a big part of our lives. 'Buddy' freaks out! He goes into protect and save mode. He runs frantically around and around the pool barking and whining, never taking his eyes off the children. If they go near the sides he tries to grab them with his mouth to pull them out.
I put on his leash, and as the kids play I walk him around the pool, make him sit, walk ,sit ect. It is torture for him and for me. I let him lick the kids hands as they reassure him that they are o.k. I take him indoors, away from the chaos, put him in his kennel, and he barks and whines.
For safety I took 'Buddy' to the pool when it was not in use. In case he fell in I wanted to make sure he could swim and know where to get out. I attached the leash and took him from the stairs to the center of the pool and back to the stairs. I repeated this several times showing him the stairs and also how to maneuver the ladder.
So today I heard the frantic barking and knew instantly that 'Buddy' was poolside. By the way 'the kids' are (15, 13, 10).
WELL, NOW HE JUMPS IN TO SAVE THEM!
I ran out to retrieve him but could not get his attention. He kept running and jumping in and swimming up to them. He scratched my sons back, shoulders and arms!
He would not come, and I could not catch him. I wanted to train him so I yelled to the kids to go to the shallow end and as he approached to put up their palms and forcefully push him away and yell no! Leave It! He would repeatedly swim in a wide circle and try again. I grabbed 'Buddy', hauled him out, put on his leash, sat in a chair by the pool, leash wound tightly around my hand, and made him sit between my legs. It took all my strength and determination to keep him in a sit position pinned between my legs. He sat and screamed and whined and shook uncontrollably. I could not get his attention. I could not calm him down by soothing tone or by command tone. I asked one of the kids to get his favorite squeaky toy, he didn't care. I then asked for some cheese or meat from the fridge (something I have never done before) He refused to look at it or even smell it! I got up to take him into the house, and his brute strength scared me. He is in his 7th month and already 60 lbs! I walked up the stairs pulling my dog by the throat with all my strength saying to myself, "I need professional help, I can't do this" .
I know it's "the nature of the beast" but I feel sad that I will have to segregate him to his kennel all summer as the family plays.
Please help me, to help him have a better life. He's family. We miss him.

Sorry to hear that. I have a pool as well. I wondered how to go about training her. I have brought her into the pool only once...My Shepherd is a yr now. She does go around and watches us but doesn't make any noise and she seems to know that we're ok.

You have to watch, be careful not to give him any treat cuz he could see it as a reward for that behaviour. In my opinion, I would make it an exercise. Practice the sit stay, have that down pat...then try it by the pool. You'll have to expose him with his tantrums alot to the pool area to make him more comfortable and to resolve this. Make sure you stay calm and assertive. It make take time...

I hope this is a start to other help you'll recieve,
Good luck!

Have you read the section in Brad's book about kids being alpha with the dog? If not it is a great way to get your kids involved with the training and alpha over the dog. Sit stays around the pool and patience training when they are in it are very important as well, and a great place to start, so you've been doing well so far, but combining it with the alpha training is great too. When your kids (and yourself) are alpha, there's less pressure on him to protect them.

Thank you Lil Bow wow, or is it Michelle?
He is pretty good on the sit stay, down stay, leave it, roll over, shake a paw, high five, and catch> at home. He tries hard, we try hard.
Of course it could always be better. We will continue to work on it all in house. We have worked through issues, but this one feels different to me.
I have never before offered a treat. I wanted to break his attention. I wanted him to focus on me. He was not our usual dog, he was FREAK dog. What it showed me was..I have a lot to learn! Yes, I was getting mad, frustrated>>I will keep my cool! thx. I'll keep training. I won't try ~I'll do! It's not the best time, I'm extremely busy, but hey, when is it the best time? I'm guessin NOW! Cheers! Here goes!!

WOW. You made me think! My children are very much apart of his training. He will do the basic commands for them: sit,down, stay, they teach him tricks. They are basically the only ones that feed him, after they have eaten.He walks calmly for and with them most of the time, they always go ambilical. They know how to correct. My son and daughter scooter with him. BUT does he respect them? Know who's boss or is he going with the motion? He is a very smart dog, I wonder if he follows their commands because he knows he's baby sitting? Does that make sense?
We are respectfully stern and strong with 'buddy'. When we say sit, down or stay we do not repeat, we wait, correct or force.
I am now watching like a hawk for leaks. This is no fun. We have a pro dogscooter arriving any day now. I'm not sure if my kids or 'Buddy' are ready. It's 7:30 the kids are again in the pool and buddy is in his cage crying. Yes, here I go again..I feel like a reluctant gladiator!

That would be Michelle

Great then...if he see\'s your kids as alpha as I think my dog does too, towards my kids. I would also make sure when you take him to the pool area for a training session that he has had a good workout first. It may make it easier to train him. If you feel he\'s still not listening and going schizo then you can do a soft pin...Step on the leash near his collar so he\'s forced into lying down. Eventually, he\'ll tire of struggling and may even settle!

Good luck again! You\'ll ge t there...sounds smart like my Abby!

The soft pin advise is good. thanks He is getting better.
He actually laid down beside me for a good 30 min. today! I have come to the conclusion that it will take time, many repetitions, patience and a firm hand. Soothing tones just don't cut it in this situation, well not yet. I have to remember that he is still a puppy and that he may just want to join in on all the fun! Too bad it can't happen in 'Brad' time as it does on T.V

Right on! Glad it's working out for you! Keep at it! Don't give up ...sometimes they take a step back but just remain consistant and it'll pay off.

Abby loves to play with baseballs. When we're in the pool enclosure and it goes in accidentally, she'll bark. Then we get it for her. If it's near the side she can get at it herself. The one time she tried to get on one of those floating chairs to get to her ball, she fell in! I let her be to see what she would do. She came to the side put her front paws on the coping and pulled herself up and out on her own! I couldn't get over the strength she had to do that!!! My liners ok!

Your dog isn’t a Lab is it? lol... I’ve had a similar experience, mustangsalad. At my sister-in-law’s pool a few weeks back - the moment my daughter jumped in, our Lab Jessie immediately followed. Once my son went in, well, it was game over LOL! It’s probably not so much your dog wanting to ‘save’ them as it is him wanting to ‘play’ with them and be in the center of the action. Jessie kept swimming in the middle of the kids, and ended up scratching my son and biting his ear, which of course made him cry. He didn’t see her swimming up behind him.. She’s not obsessed with water - she just wants to play with them in the water. I’m fine with her swimming with the kids, but it’s very important for the kids to always be aware of her presence and her nails when she’s swimming with them. The moment the kids either can’t or don’t want to watch her, she’s outta there.

After that pool incident, we went back the next day and didn’t let her go in the pool once, even though she whined.. She settled eventually. I think patience training is key, and letting your dog swim only when YOU’VE allowed him to, and not when he feels like it. Use the pool as a privilege.. Make him sit and stay by the pool when the kids are in it. The moment he goes past the invisible line you’ve created, you calmly bring him back behind the line and try again. Do this over and over and over again. But then invite him in with a command, swim around for a bit, then bring him out and make him sit and stay again.. It’s alot of work, but worth it. Something to do beside the pool besides tanning LOL!

I agree. I first got Quendi in the summer (which means swimming almost every day) and she spazzed too. She actually seemed afraid of the water. Haha! Anyway, the first time we put her in (boy was that hard) she just fell in love with swimming. Maybe you should get your dog into swimming by itself too, it helps. !ONE PROBLEM! Your dog might not know how to get out, or hold itself up for a breather. SO when teaching pup to swim hold it up where the tummy is (with one hand) so that it can paddle around but not scratch you. My theory is that dogs scratch at the other peoiple swimming because they either want to play or need to be held up for a breath. A tip: until you teach doggy where the pool steps are, tag team. When pup swims up to someone get person #2 to get the dog from the side I got some nasty scratches on my chest, neck and even face from Quendi using me as a flotation device. You have to teach your doggy proper pool behaviour too. So if the kids are young, dont let the dog swim with them alone \'till teach your dog where pool exits are About the dog jumping right in, you really just have to say \'NO!\' The best way to go is the \'you go in when I let you go in\' policy. Remember: you are the alpha. Let me guess, whenever someone rests a hand on the edge of the pool dog comes and bites it? Yeah, the only thing I\'ve found is taking the hand away, ignoring the dog, and and a sharp \'NO\' GOOD LUCK