Unlike humans, all dogs know how to swim. It is a rare occurrence where a dog which is thrown into a pool of water that gets drowned. Swimming is in their nature because during the ancient times and in the wild, swimming is an ability they cannot afford not to have because it is part of their surviving abilities. They may show a lot of hesitation when we threat them when they are scheduled for their baths, but actually, they can survive in the water. They just don’t like the feeling of being wet because they need to constantly dry themselves by shaking the water off and they are not water loving animals to start with.
This is a cute video of a Shih Tzu in floaters which ran headfirst into a swimming pool. One sunny afternoon where all the dogs in the neighborhood are having a pool party, Gizmo the Shih Tzu learned swimming the hard way. He was constantly cheered by his owner to jump onto the pool and swim. After a lot little runs around the poolside, Gizmo eventually had the courage and jump – only headfirst. Don’t worry because he didn’t seem to mind how he got into the water. He swam back up as if nothing happened and kept paddling on the water. Such a cute little dog!
Shih Tzu are actually poor swimmers. They can swim just like any other dog, but they cannot tolerate dong distances in the water. They have a short muzzle that they had to fully extend their necks to get some air unlike in bigger and long snouted breeds. They also have hair instead of fur – just like humans and this can get easily heavy when soaked in water. Shih Tzu are not sporting dogs and they do not require long periods of exercise because they easily get tired. Swimming can just be their form of exercise but not a sport.
Enjoy this short clip of Gizmo where a Shih Tzu shows off his courage into diving into a pool of large dogs and getting enjoy the thrill of it.
