Now summer is well and truly here hundreds of Dachshunds are cooling off in their owners swimming pools, the sea or local pond. People often wonder if their short legged Dachshunds can swim. The quick answer is yes dachshunds can swim however they can also sink.
In fact many dachshunds love to dive into water and swim but owners need to make sure they are keeping a very close eye on their swimming dachshund because unlike us they can not reach the bottom of most pools. This means that when they get exhausted from swimming they need to be able to either float (by wearing a life jacket/vest) or immediately get out of the pool.
I have a friend who's dachshund loved to swim but unfortunately her little baby jumped in the pool when they were not outside. She sadly could not get back out of the pool because of the sides being too steep and drowned. My friend now puts life jackets on her other dachshunds whenever they are anywhere near the pool. Her pool is also now fenced. This was a very sad time for her and really opened my eyes to the problems of allowing a dachshund to swim.
Life jackets for dogs are very cheap and Dachshund Luke loves his. He is not a big swimmer and gets worn out very quickly but when he is wearing his life jacket he just takes a break and floats around the pool :-)If you have a dachshund or small dog that loves water you may want to consider purchasing a Paws Aboard Designer Life Jacket - S
for them.
for them.