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Mastiffs are adorable and loyal giants. Their insane size and love for their owners have made them a very popular breed.
However, when we look at Mastiffs, many questions begin to arise inside our minds.
Like, are they dangerous? Do they fear water? Can They Swim? and many, many more.
In this post, I’ll be answering the question, do mastiffs like water? and many more things. So stick to this post because you will learn many new things.
Let’s dive into it!
It’s a bit complicated, it depends from dog to dog. Some mastiffs enjoy taking bathe, and playing in the water, while some hate it.
If you have a mastiff that fears water, well, the good thing is that with time, you can eliminate the fear of water from your mastiff’s head. It may take time, but eventually, your mastiff will start loving the watery life.
Once your Mastiff doesn’t fear water anymore, you can take them to the pool and bathe with them.
Remember, don’t push your mastiff into the pool or pond and expect them to swim out. It could be dangerous.
There is a Myth that dogs are born swimmers. The truth is different, not all dogs are great swimmers.
Dogs who have powerful chests, flat faces or extremely short snouts, short legs, and long coats or thick double coats struggle to swim.
They can, if you train them well. Again, most mastiffs are not born swimmers, so be patient with them. It may take a lot of time to kick out the fear of water they have.
Don’t force your mastiff to swim. Otherwise, your mastiff will develop a fear, and they may never go in the water.
To teach your Mastiff how to swim, you can take the help of dogs who know how to swim. Take your mastiff and other dogs to a pool or pond.
You’ll notice that your mastiff isn’t jumping in the pool instantly; instead, he or she is looking at the other dogs who are having fun in the water.
Your dog won’t be able to hold back their excitement, and soon they’ll jump into the water and start playing.
You may have to wait around 15 to 30 minutes, but your mastiff will surely jump. If they don’t jump, then come back the next day and try again. Keep trying, and make sure not to force!
Another way is to use their favorite toy.
While bathing in a pool, show your mastiff their favorite toy, and encourage them to jump. Once they jump, give them a treat. This is another effective way to eliminate the fear of water.
Now, it’s time to look at some of the best swimming mastiffs. They are not born swimmers but they can surely learn and become really good at it.
Apart from being one of the biggest dogs, English Mastiffs are really good swimmers.
They are huge dogs, they are not very athletic or fast, but surprisingly, they love swimming, bathing, or water in general.
Training an English mastiff how to swim is much easier than training a German mastiff (Great Dane), Cane Corso, or Tibetan mastiff.
French Mastiffs are one of the smallest mastiffs in terms of size. They are very muscular dogs and love being with their owners.
They are not born swimmers, but with training, they can become great swimmers.
Some Dogue de Bordeaux dogs love jumping in pools in the summer to keep themselves cool.
They also have webbed feet, which help them float in the water.
Overall, they are the best choice if you are looking for a Mastiff who is cute and knows how to swim.
Read: Are Mastiffs Good With kids? (4 Detailed Points)
The bullmastiff is another breed that is regarded as being a good swimmer. However, like other Mastiffs, they too need training, but once they are trained enough, they can swim well.
Furthermore, they don’t have a lot of stamina, so don’t expect them to swim for hours. 10 minutes of swimming is enough for them.
Yes, most mastiffs have webbed feet. It helps them to swim, run, walk, and jump better.
Without webbed feet, a dog would struggle to keep themselves above water, run faster, and dig holes.
Furthermore, the size and shape of webbing can vary from dog to dog.
They can, but they won’t do as well as dogs who have webbed feet.
Dogs with no webbed feet indicate that they are not natural swimmers like the Labrador Retriever, Newfoundland, Portuguese Water Dog, Otterhound, and German Shorthaired Pointer.
Dogs without webbed feet should never be tossed into the water, especially, when the water is deep. It can put the dog’s life in danger.
In fact, never toss any dog into the water. If they wanna join you in the pool, they’ll. You should not force or push them to join you in the water.
The fear of water is a little higher in puppies, so you have to pay a little more effort here.
Mastiff puppies don’t need more than one bath per month. Sources say, bathing a puppy more than once every month could imbalance their natural oil and that could lead to itching and flaking.
Don’t let your puppies go near a deep pool when you are not looking after them because, at such a young age, puppies haven’t developed swimming skills.
If you want to train them at an early age, you can, but make sure to not leave them alone in the water; it could be dangerous.
It depends on many things, like daily activity, health conditions, age, etc. But in general, mastiffs should not bathe more than twice a month.
Overbathing can cause several issues such as itching, rashes, increased parasites, and many more.
Dogs are not like us, they don’t need regular showers. Another thing is that never ever use your shampoo on your dog.
Our shampoos are not beneficial or effective on dogs, in fact, they can deplete the natural oil of dogs.
Use dog shampoo. You can do your research about what type of shampoo would be best for your dog, but my recommendation would be FURminator deShedding Dog Shampoo.
FURminator deShedding Dog Shampoo is great for a mastiff’s fur and skin health.
So that was it for today. I hope you learned something new through this post.
Thanks for reading!
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