dog obedience

[phrsyd]

we need some advice. we have a 1 and 1/2 yr old male lab. He is well behaved and generally follows commands very well. We have access to a river and he loves swimming. The problem is, lately he has started swimming way too far out and won't come when he's called. There's boat traffic in the river and it's quite hard to see him in the water. Someone suggested a waterproof shock collar. It was suggested we begin with using this outside with commands and then to the water. We have no trouble calling him in the yard, etc. When you whistle or call his name, he comes. It's when he's in the water that he won't listen at all!!! Any suggestions?

[Lyka_01]

I guess good suggestion, waterproof shock collar will do...Actually we have same problem one of my dog act like that too, when he is in water he misbehave and causes me trouble of calling him back...

[bigtom59]

Hi phrsyd,
I got to tell you, this is nothing more than a lack of training, you need to do some more obedience training with your dog. Your dog can hear you calling him just fine but he is not obedient to you calling him because he hasn't been trained well enough! You need to spend more time working with your dog and you do not need a pool, when your dog is obedience trained correctly he will come when called regaurdless of where is at, water or land

[haniah]

Bigtom59, you are probably right, but if the dog perfectly reacts to come when his name is called, why doesn't he do it in water? Well u can continue working with him, but still u can't be sure if the dog will react when he is in water.
Dog going into water feel more free, he knows u won't follow him, there is too much happening around. I think that the collar can be a good idea, though... hope dog won't get totally taken aback from water!