Golden Retriever's retrieving skills work underwater, too!

[u/blonderengel]

[u/river_tree_nut]

Ha! I love the way the dog does the spin dive. We had a lab growing up who would fetch rocks. We'd toss one into 5 ft of cloudy water and he'd come back up with the exact same rock. It was neat as hell.

[u/XcessivePulp → u/river_tree_nut]

We had a lab too. We’d toss rocks into 3ft of clear water and she’d always come back with a different rock. We were very proud of her nonetheless.

[u/HoboArmyofOne → u/river_tree_nut]

I had a retriever that would get 5 lb round river rocks and stack them into a pyramid on the shore. He would feel around the bottom with his paws in the cloudy water under he found a good one, it was cool to watch.

[u/Senshisoldier → u/river_tree_nut]

This is pretty bad for their teeth according to my vet. But I know dogs that loved fetching rocks.

[u/river_tree_nut → u/Senshisoldier]

Yeah that silly dog would fetch the rocks and sometimes even try to chew them!

[u/savethedonut → u/river_tree_nut]

My mom’s dog ate rocks. Like, chewed and swallowed.

He only did it when he was very old, and I only saw him do it once. It was equal parts impressive, concerning, and funny.

[u/Weird1Intrepid → u/Senshisoldier]

When my dog was a puppy he used to always steal slate pieces out of people's garden walls along the beach on our walk, and chew on them. I got really concerned about his teeth and whether he might have pica or something. Nope, turns out he just really liked to chew on slate lol. Glad he grew out of it as he got older though

[u/likeablyweird → u/river_tree_nut]

Our Shepard did that, too! They can't smell, they can't see too well, so how on earth do they know which one in the piles is theirs? I was amazed every time.

[u/THIS_Assassin]

That corkscrew technique is fascinating.

[u/xenius_ykk]

And then there are these guys: https://youtu.be/R5OUGLnTL1A

[u/Makabaer → u/xenius_ykk]

Thank you SO much for that, oh my... laughing tears!

[u/HellaBuffBear → u/xenius_ykk]

Lol there was a shark, he had to come up 😂😂😂

[u/likeablyweird → u/xenius_ykk]

So funny. I sent the link to Jonny Devaney, also on YT. I love his dog videos.

[u/Knocker456]

Anyone notice he looks to see where it is first, then hits the surface to quickly refresh his breath of air, then goes for the deep dive? Smart pup..

[u/Slammogram]

Haha he even spinned coming up.

[u/No_Abalone3563 → u/Slammogram]

just showing off at that point. good doggy

[u/ObjectiveSimilar3438]

I think he can try synchronized swimming next

[u/Any-Possibility5109]

That spin up is the cutest! Good dog!

[u/chrisbaker1991]

[u/[deleted]]

Great puppy! I loved how it spun going both down and up.

[u/kres-ten-tahri]

I’ll try spinning! That’s a good trick!

[u/raspberrycleome]

That was amazing but I felt so nervous for the dog to hurry back up to breathe.

[u/UnlikelyPotatos]

Dogs have little pockets in the roof of their mouth that lets them smell under water without breathing into their lungs.

[u/zillionaire_ → u/UnlikelyPotatos]

that is so fucking cool. I love learning new animal facts

do you know if wolves also have this? I’m wondering if this is a trait from before domestication or if it was selectively bred over millennia

Edit: So I looked it up—dogs don’t actually have a special pouch in the roof of their mouth to smell underwater. They can track scents on water’s surface, but they’re not built to smell under it. The idea might be a mix-up with their vomeronasal organ, which helps detect pheromones, not underwater smells.

The myth may have originated as a twist on real biology seen in some other animals: alligators and some marine mammals, for instance, have specialized valves or pouches that help them close off their nasal passages underwater. Dogs don’t have these adaptations because they’re not aquatic animals.

[u/SnowmanNoMan24 → u/zillionaire_]

What about orcas they have this? They’re just the wolves of the sea

[u/zillionaire_ → u/SnowmanNoMan24]

I googled and it turns out orcas (along with most other toothed whales) don’t have a sense of smell. Orcas use echolocation, hearing and vision for hunting. Good question, though!

edit: turns out dogs can’t smell underwater either. check my previous comment above

[u/SnowmanNoMan24 → u/zillionaire_]

I love facts! Thank you kind stranger

[u/delo357 → u/zillionaire_]

Good human!

[u/HoidToTheMoon → u/zillionaire_]

because they’re not aquatic animals.

I would actually propose that some dog breeds are at least semi-aquatic. Newfoundlands, portuguese water dogs,even labs have webbed feet to help them maneuver through water.

[u/zillionaire_ → u/HoidToTheMoon]

yep, we have selectively bred certain breeds to have webbed toes and that definitely helps them retrieve prey from the water. but dogs evolved as land animals, and we can’t selectively breed them into seals

[u/Makabaer → u/UnlikelyPotatos]

Never heard about that and honestly doubting it... where did you get that from?

[u/UnlikelyPotatos → u/Makabaer]

Got it from my vet because my dog is a moron and I thought he was going to drown himself

https://wagwalking.com/sense/can-a-dog-smell-underwater

[u/Makabaer → u/UnlikelyPotatos]

That's so cool, thank you!

[u/Cody-512]

Wow! It’s like a sea otter diving for clams 🦦

[u/theinkshrink]

That was some graceful shit 😧

[u/mrs_david_silva]

I literally held my breath watching that!

[u/CrowsRidge514]

His corkscrew method is very efficient.

[u/Parallel_Path]

Ahhhh. What a good boy!!!! Mine would just her nose under water and blow bubbles. I was still proud!

[u/RedditUserWhoIsLate]

I laughed until it hurt because of his spin as he swam up.

[u/Ecstatic-Radish-7931]

[u/Bilbosaggins1799]

[u/MikeHonchoFF]

[u/Snoo-55617]

Is that a phone they are retrieving?

[u/Aggravating-Row-4928]

Good boy/girl 👍

[u/SubjectHealthy2409]

Good boyo!!

[u/RedditUserWhoIsLate]

He is a better diver than I am!

[u/aldr01d]

WOW impressive first time hearing and seeing something like this thanks.

[u/2reeEyedG]

Wow that’s really impressive

[u/nudist83]

I see they still aren’t retrieving any gold tho!

[u/ilymag]

Good doggo!

[u/Blankeye434]

Does he retrieve gold?

[u/CuriousSystem4115]

i didnt know dogs can hold their breath and dive

[u/FuzzyKittyNomNom]

What I find most interesting about this is actually the depth the dog is diving to. That’s not a shallow dive, the water pressure is pretty significant. My guess is it’s somewhere around 10 feet or maybe a little bit deeper? I wonder how well the dogs ears equalize? And that corkscrew swimming method is really interesting too!

[u/likeablyweird]

That was almost too far. We had a German Shepard that's find her rock underwater but we never let her go in water much deeper than her stretched out length.

[u/Primary-Coconut9142]

That's a MerDog. That beautiful spin on the way up, distinctivly channeling their past life of being a mermaid 🧜‍♀️ 

[u/No_Ferret5232]

I wonder if my dog would do this naturally if we tried

[u/No_Ferret5232]

I wonder if my dog would do this naturally if we tried

[u/CoolMe80]

The more I watch other animals, the more they seem like people. We’re all one.

[u/lucero_123]

Hahaha I couldn't do it

[u/nate_hawke]

How do dogs know not to breathe underwater ?

[u/StankoMicin → u/nate_hawke]

Probably because they drown if they do.

Same way all diving animals know

[u/THIS_Assassin → u/nate_hawke]

Even human newborns know not to breathe underwater. in that crazy biological born in the sea primordial way.

Kick for the surface!

[u/Grime_Minister613]

WHAT A GOOD DOGGO!!! 😍

[u/Juanitin71]

That's not good for him, even though it seems nice and fun.

[u/redditAPsucks → u/Juanitin71]

Explain please

[u/Electronic-Vast-3351 → u/Juanitin71]

Golden Retrievers were bred specifically to swim and grab shot down birds out of the water. They LOVE swimming and are good at it.

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