Water Work | SWD Club

KEEPING THE HISTORY ALIVE……..

The original importers of our breed in the early 1990’s, knowing the history of “agua” in the name, quickly sort to join the local Newfoundland Club to train our dogs in water rescue. Putting their natural retrieve instinct to good use in collecting items lost overboard and swimming out to retrieve surfboards and other small watercraft, even with the odd Newfie on board. Over the years as the breed was becoming established in the uk enthusiasts continued to enjoy these fun activities with their dogs.

2014 saw the official introduction of the SWDC New Natural Aptitude Water Tests designed to keep our dog’s heritage and skills alive, formally encouraging you with rewards for you and your dogs. These tests were developed by the SWDC from some of the historically traditional jobs our breed undertook as part of its daily routine in Spanish coastal fishing villages, in the north Llarado and the south Cadiz.

Tests were designed to complement those skills required by the breed classification within the Gun Dog Group: Minority Spaniel, where formal KC gun dog tests are available, which generally include water retrieves.

These SWDC tests were specific to our breed and reflect other, more demanding, aspects of traditional water skills used by Spanish fishermen decades ago. These tests were designed to harness and refine the natural skills which are stamped into the DNA of many of our breed. Many of you have already seen how good your dog is in water, retrieving and diving for sunken or lost toys! You will have seen the SWD’s natural abilities which they love to practice. The aim wass to hone these skills and provide a framework to gauge and train dogs to be able to achieve the tests, which were recorded to preserve our Breeds' heritage and provide achievement certificates.

Following on from the 2014 SWDC Natural Aptitude Water Tests and the excellent work that Pat Booth put into developing water training for SWDC, we have extended these to incorporate lower levels, different test environments and the ability for handlers and their dogs to complete the SWDC awards remotely.

We have published the refreshed water awards. You may notice the following changes:

The Water Awards will now be assessed at Levels 1, 2, 3 and 4.

We have introduced new certificates and rosettes for all Awards.

We have introduced a new level – Level 1. The aim of Level 1 is to build confidence for complete beginners.

We have introduced ‘Environment’ to all Awards at all Levels. Working in water comes with risks and dangers that all trainers consider prior to undertaking training. As the Awards were being revised, we made the decision to allow each successful partnership to be able to achieve each Level in the 3 different environments that you can conduct Water training in:
- Pool – any inside or outside man-made swimming pool
- Non-tidal – any river/ lake/ stream/ sea that is not affected by tidal flow.
- Tidal – any water that is affected by tidal flow.

If you are unsure as to the type of water you are working in, please refer to British Waterways, Maritime & Costal Agency or Canal and River Trust, all available on the internet.

We have introduced Remote Water tests for online submissions for qualifying for Water training Awards at Levels 1, 2 and 3.

The new Levels can be found on the Water Awards page, along with the Remote Water tests information.

We will be introducing a Level 5 in due course, most likely in 2023.

Naturally, some Spanish water dogs have the capacity to Dive to recover items, you can see some examples of them performing these skills both on YouTube and on our report page.

On a note of caution here please only try this in a controlled environment, as it is a dangerous risk to your dogs' health if not actioned correctly. Please train with caution.

The first signs of a potential diving dog is when they are playing in their water bowls and they exhale bubbles from their nose, you will think it looks cute, if rather messy! It means they are blocking water entering the nose naturally and so we see the beginnings of a diver.

Diving can be achieved in one of three ways;

By them circling in the water and diving;
Swimming down in a corkscrew style; or
By jumping from a height to gain momentum to start the swim down.

Spanish Water Dogs like humans don’t all swim, and many need a little help to swim correctly.

Be aware if you notice your dog swims upright . It would be better to use a buoyancy aid to help it learn to use its back legs. Also water ingestion can be fatal so please moderate water retrieves if your dog carries the object low in the water, this can result in the dog swallowing large amounts of water. A constant ‘rasping’ sound signals water hitting the back of the throat, try changing the weight of the decoy, to see if this helps. If training, take regular dog down time to keep your dog’s adrenaline lower and recovery time quicker.

Swimming with your dog is great fun but please remember there are risks and be careful-never swim in water that has Blue Green Algae or if in the sea be aware of rip tides.

The documents showing the Levels 1 to 4, will be uploaded to the Water Awards page shortly, together with the instructions for Remote Testing submissions.

SWD Enjoying Water Training in Other European Countries

My name is Petra van Dam and I live in The Netherlands. I am the proud owner of three Spanish Water Dogs. Two of my dogs and I participate in water training and that’s what I’m going to tell you about in this piece.

Ever since I owned a Spanish Water Dog, I have been interested in the water training. I have always been amazed by their ability to swim and dive, their drive and mentality to work for their owners. It was a real dream to own a SWD that was able to perform the tasks in the water the breed was once bred for. When my homebred boy Jack grew up, it quickly was clear he was a real water dog. We can’t keep him out of the water, and he is always eager to do water retrieves. I went on searching for a group that was willing to let us train with them and after quite a while I found an enthusiastic group that we could join. This group originally only trained Newfoundlanders, but let other breeds join in after a few years. When we went to our first training, our dogs were assessed for their swimming ability. Not all dogs are ‘good’ swimmers, but luckily our dogs passed the test.

The exercises we train are based on the Newfoundlanders, but our Spaniards aren’t inferior to the Newfies! They might not be as big as the Newfoundlanders (or other big breeds), but they are fast, clever, strong and agile swimmers.

For approximately the last two years we train with this group from April to October every other week. At the training it is obligatory for my dogs to wear a life vest, therefore my dogs wear it in all my pictures. Several different exercises are trained, based on the level of the dog involved. It should always be fun and safe for the dog; our dogs sure love the trainings and they’re always eager for their turn!

We have trained our SWDs to jump from the rubber boat and swim to the shore to deliver their retrieve (a dummy) to us. Furthermore, they have learned to swim to the rubber boat when it’s offshore, pick up a dummy and pull the boat back to shore by the dummy. I thought it was amazing our boy could pull the boat to shore with 3 to 4 adults in the boat! Other than they have learned to pick up retrieves the boat when it’s offshore, which can consist of a dummy, a life buoy or a life-sized doll. Jack has also picked up a dropped dummy in the water and brought it back to the boat by request.

It’s great to see how fast they learn and how much they love it.

For approximately the last two years we train with this group from April to October every other week. At the training it is obligatory for my dogs to wear a life vest, therefore my dogs wear it in all my pictures. Several different exercises are trained, based on the level of the dog involved. It should always be fun and safe for the dog; our dogs sure love the trainings and they’re always eager for their turn!

We have trained our SWDs to jump from the rubber boat and swim to the shore to deliver their retrieve (a dummy) to us. Furthermore, they have learned to swim to the rubber boat when it’s offshore, pick up a dummy and pull the boat back to shore by the dummy. I thought it was amazing our boy could pull the boat to shore with 3 to 4 adults in the boat! Other than they have learned to pick up retrieves the boat when it’s offshore, which can consist of a dummy, a life buoy or a life-sized doll. Jack has also picked up a dropped dummy in the water and brought it back to the boat by request.

It’s great to see how fast they learn and how much they love it.

This year I have purchased a wetsuit for the trainings and trained my dogs to pick me up after getting in the water, I play to be a drowning person. My dog is staying with a volunteer at the shore, while I go on the boat. When the boat is quite a bit offshore, I then jumped of it and call my dog. As fast as they can they will swim to me, then I always hand them over a retrieve, and they will bring me back to shore as I will grab their life vest.

It is amazing to see how much fun the dogs have working; they are always happy when they know they’re at the water trainings. It makes me so proud to see what they can do and in my spare time I also love to train them on water retrieves. My dogs don’t see it as a training, they’re just having fun!

I hope you have enjoyed reading my piece and have become curious about the trainings yourself. I would highly recommend everyone to participate in water training if your SWD is loving to swim.

You’ll be amazed about their abilities in the water and it is so much fun for both you and your SWD!

Petra 2016