Water
Rescue 
Most Newfoundland dogs love the water. The breed is famous for its swimming ability and natural life saving instincts. Puppies love to spill their water dish so they can lie in the water. Then there are some Newfoundlands that don’t particularly care if they swim or not. Some dogs are fearful because they were not properly introduced to the water or were never taught to swim correctly. It is very important that your Newfoundland’s first experience to deep water and swimming be a pleasant experience 1
The Newfoundland Club of America has developed a series of tests to encourage breeders to consider the life saving instinct as a basic part of their selection of dogs for their breeding programs.
NCA Water Tests
At PONC, during the summer we have a number of members that train their dogs at Lake Pymantuning State Park near Jamestown, PA. We encourage everyone to come out and see these wonderful dogs train and work and to bring their dogs to learn how to enjoy the water.
2021 Water Training will be on both Saturdays and Sundays through the summer and depends on each participant to help others to attain our training goals.
(Donations are highly encouraged to defray the cost of renting the facilities)
Remember, you must bring the following safety equipment for each person that will be going into the water with their dog. If you don’t have training equipment, bring your dog and some type of shoe to wear in the water and we will show you what you need and you should be able to borrow a life vest for the day. Spectators are welcome.
Children are not allowed in the water unless training a dog and must be over the age of 10 and supervised by an adult. If more than one person is in the water with the dog, each must have safety equipment:
- Personal flotation device – a life jacket that is properly sized to the individual.
- Appropriate footwear – we cannot guarantee what will be on the beach or in the water as the training area is also a popular fishing site. Flipflops are not acceptable.
- Crates/ExPens or some other method of containing your dog(s) as we highly encourage you to assist others in their training. It is an excellent way to see up close how the dogs work and learn from other trainers.
- Leash and collar for the dog – we recommend that you get an inexpensive leash that you don’t mind getting wet.
- Other items that might prove useful, such as folding chairs, blankets, helpers to carry all your stuff down to the beach.
- Water for your dog and family. Even if the weather is cool, your will need lots of clean water to drink. Although your dog may drink from the lake, if you provide fresh water, they will spend less time drinking lake water.
PONC will have a Training Leader on site each day. Please check in with that person, and sign in if you are going to train dogs.
1 – “The Newfoundland Companion Dog – Water Dog” Joan Bendure