Some breeds of dog love the water. Newfoundlands are huge dogs, and they are often used for rescues in water.
This dog is leaping into the water from a boat, to rescue a swimmer in trouble.
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Some breeds of dog love the water. Newfoundlands are huge dogs, and they are often used for rescues in water. This dog is leaping into the water from a boat, to rescue a swimmer in trouble. |
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These dogs learn to take out life belts to swimmers, and then tow them in to shore. |
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As part of their training, they also learn to tow boats. This dog is taking the rope, and it will then turn around and pull the boat behind it for several kilometres. Newfoundlands have a swimming style rather like breaststroke, and have slightly webbed feet. They are very strong, powerful swimmers. |
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They love to be in the water. Many owners of this breed of dog train their dogs to do these tasks, and then go into competitions. A Newfoundland dog is strong enough to pull a drowning person to shore. |
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Newfoundlands have webbed feet and a few hundred years ago used to be kept aboard sailing ships. Many sailors thought it was bad luck to know how to swim so if one fell overboard he often drowned. In these cases, the dog would be thrown in to "fetch", and due to his size and webbed feet would generally have no trouble bringing the man safely back to the ship. It's a wet job! Better have a good shake to get dry! |
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