Over the last year, I've really enjoyed seeing this develop, my old dog taking to water. The video below was taken 10 months ago, you can see how he looks back for reassurance and doesn't quite know what's happening.
Since then, he has only gotten more confident, staying in longer, going out deeper. It's now at the point where we can NOT walk past that boat ramp without him pulling on the rope to get in the water. Actually, today it was a little cold for swims, I didn't really want him to get in, but no, he put on the brakes until I let him go where he clearly wanted to be. And so, the anticipation for walkies have become anticipation for swimmies too, then the customary roll on the grass at the other side of the lake.
I was telling this to the vet yesterday for his vaccination and checkup, she thought it was amazing. We usually have an audience when he gets in the water too, which garners a lot of admiring looks. One guy commented he was on OG!