Labrador Dog Training Water Rescue with Newfies

 Three of my OtterTail Labs and I had several fun training sessions this summer working with Newfoundland dogs on their water rescue exercises.  The Newfoundland breed is known for this work and there are titles they can achieve by passing a variety of tests under the guidelines of the national Newfoundland Club.  Unfortunately, Labradors cannot earn these titles, so we went for the fun and learning experience.

(Nissa, Harvey and Pop pose together on the rowboat platform)

Some of the exercises include retrieving a life vest or cushion that is dropped from a passing boat, taking a life preserver and swimming out to a person who needs help then towing them to shore, swimming out to a boat and towing it to shore, jumping off a boat to retrieve a lost paddle and swimming out to a person then towing them to shore as they hold onto the dog's body.  This is just a sample of the tasks they learn.  We had a blast!

(Tallulah retrieves a cushion dropped from a passing boat)

(Tallulah and Tonto both enjoyed pulling the boat to shore (so did Nissa, no pic))

(Newfie "rescues" his owner Jackie and tows her to shore as she holds on to his pantaloons)

There will definitely be some Labrador paintings coming from our days swimming and training on the lake with our friends.  I hope you all enjoyed your summer.  Have lots of fun training your dogs!