We had two black lab "blends"..pound puppies...and they both hated the water. Puddles in the back yard after a storm would freak them out! When we knew a storm was coming we would have to make sure they would go out to do their business or they wouldn't go at all. Was really stressful for them if we had an early morning shower...get the picture?

That story is SO cute!!!!!!!! When I was a kid, our neighbors balck lab used to spend all here time at our house. We had a house full of kids, and her owner was a single guy. She loved us. I remember him calling on the phone and asking "Is Lucky there?", and my Mom said, do you want me to put her on the phone???? LOL!

Most love water. There is alway's the exception, but Charlie is not.

I used to have a dog, Winnie, who was half poodle, half schnauzer. She absolutely loved water too. She would go in the water and swim and swim. She would follow me up the diving board and jump in after me. She would go underwater and bring up rocks and old bottles etc. I loved that dog. She was one of my Mother's dog's pups. We got her in 1972 and she died at 13 years. I still miss that dog. She was the best dog ever.

I had a lab and we camped near the ocean when we use to take her to the salt pond. On the road to the salt pond she use to start crying with excitement. She love the water.

I grew up with the most lovable German Shepherd/Collie cross. She was one of those you just had to pull out of the water. She also looked after us kids. Where we usually swam, there was a very gradual deepening of the water, but my granparents lived on a river where the water suddenly dropped to about 10 feet in depth, just about 3 feet in. She swam there, too, but we usually didn't. One day we did, and my 10 year old cousin was first in. Well, she raced down to the river as he approached it, and just as he was ankle deep, she arrived, and grabbed the back of his bathing suit with her teeth. He freaked, we laughed. She was saving him from the deep water. LOL Once we all got in, she got in and circled us like Momma Duck, just in case.... LOL

It could be six of one and half a dozen of another. I think your dog being a lab does love the water but, although he lets the children abuse him and that is what it is I am sure he does not relish this. Children should be taught to treat any animal with respect. That means they should be taught what to do and what not to do with the animal and its fur etc.

Mine loved to swim or sit or lay in water but hated a bath - silly but true.
Blessings,
Scherrie

My retriever didn't want to retrieve. He would go into the water only ankle deep, chasing small rocks and sticks, then bite into the water, making it look like he had planned it that way, too funny. I miss him.

I had a foster named Niko he was adopted out a few months ago and I got a call from the new mom. They took Niko to the lake in town and there was a bulldog(? her name) there that was chasing a ball in the water and bringing it back to his owner. Niko jumped in the water scaring his new papa half out of his mind. While Dad on on shore frantically stripping off his shoes thinking Niko is going to drown, Niko is very calmly swimming out to the bulldog took the ball right out of its mouth and swims back to shore very proudly showing his dad what he found. They can't keep him out of the water now.
Niko is a 6lb chihuahua. :-)