This is Chilie, a female golden retriever from Denmark who loves to dive for stones.
This dogs is very lithe and wiry– probably a mixture of performance and conformation lines.
But she’s definitely a credit to her St. John’s water dog ancestors, who were famous for diving down after shot seals.
Stones aren’t the best thing for a dog to retrieve. They are very hard on the dog’s teeth.
However, if one could find something else that will sink but easier on the dog’s teeth, this activity would be much safer.
I used to have a dog (probably retriever/beagle) who would dive for things. We used hard rubber dental toys or waterlogged sticks. He would fetch rocks, too, and always managed to bring back the right one – can they scent underwater?
Our first Rottie loved doing this — she dove for logs and rocks and would dredge them up on shore and roll them around like it was the best game ever. =)
My first Boston used to dive for stuff in the pond in the park. he was always bringing up beer cans.
This is great! Thanks for the tips about toys. I couldn’t think of a dog treat that would sink, so I thought I’d have to send the neighbor to the bottom with the treat. Now if I could get the landlord’s permission to use the communal swimming pool….
Seriously, I am 5 minutes from Lake Ontario, a big water park for dogs. I’m gone, stopping at PetSmart on the way….
I have 2 Goldens that will dive down into the water. They love to swim but their ears sometimes pay for it. One will ride waves in at the beach too!
My childhood dalmatian was a diver. I used to love watching him dive down on the shores of Lake Ontario, going after the hockey pucks I’d throw for him.
They make great underwater retrieval toys.
One excellent underwater retrieving toy is a simple beef bone. Being white, they’re easier for the dog to see, and they’re cheap so you don’t feel bad if you lose one. Once the meat and marrow is gone, the dogs tend to lose interest in gnawing on them anyway.
One of the tests in the Newfoundland Club of America’s water trial program is retrieving an object from under water, although the water is not so deep. (They used a weighted wiffle ball for the underwater retrieve). It’s great to see Newfies towing a boat, retrieving a lost oar or lifejacket, “rescuing” a swimmer, and so on. Yes, they can still do those traditional jobs.