My inlaws live on a lake in Fredericksburg, VA so we go down there almost every weekend with our two boxers. Riley, the oldest, 1 1/2 loves the water but up unitl last weekend would not go past where she could not stand. My wife was out in the cove swimming, and Riley was on the shore standing in the water bitting the bubbles and leaves in the water, then all of a sudden Riley pawed at the water a couple of time and took off swimming towards my wife... We were dumb founded. We have put her in the water before to make sure she could swim, but she never swam on her own. It was great we were so happy. So we put her life vest on her, and she fetched a couple sticks we throw out so she could swim for them. The next thing is to get our baby Cooper to swim, he is only 4 months though, and also to teach Riley to jump off the dock.