Scuba Diving Dogs

Many years ago I learned that it was a good idea to make sure of the facts before making a statement. Let’s be honest, it can be extremely embarrassing for anyone, as it tends to show a lack of knowledge when there is no need. It’s a lot simpler to ask a question, or, if nothing else, just indicate that one is unsure, thus getting others to satisfy curiosity.

At a recent get-together, my recent blog regarding Mera, the mountain-climbing dog, came up for discussion. See Climbing without a licence. When a member of the group who was not a dog owner said, “I can’t see the point of having a dog unless they can go scuba diving.”

Oop’s

Dogs do go scuba diving; there is even a Guinness World Record available.

Testing the water

Before we get into canine scuba diving, I am going to mention two other issues regarding canines and water, swimming and diving. Some dogs just have no interest in swimming regardless of the fact that they are a breed that traditionally is very keen on water. I sympathise; regular readers will know of my aversion to water except for showering. The idea of immersing my body into a volume of cold liquid without good reason is totally unacceptable; however, if others want to do this, that is fine by me. This brings us to the first issue: what do you do if your dog declines to enter water? Throwing the dog in, working on the assumption that the dog will learn rapidly, can work, but it can have two unforeseen consequences. The first is that the dog is so traumatised that it won’t go anywhere near water again; the second issue is so much worse. What happened is a well-documented case of the idiot who picked up his dog that he had rescued from a shelter and threw it into the local river. The dog made it to the bank, and as the owner attempted to pick it up again, the dog decided that he was not prepared to risk being partially drowned again, so he bit the man’s hand hard. The net result was that, because of infection, he lost his thumb and one finger. Must admit not a lot of sympathy from this direction. For those who are interested in the safe, simple way of introducing their reluctant canine to swimming, may I suggest The Landlubber Labrador.

Holding their breath

Whilst we are on this subject of water, we can also look at the free divers; yes, they do exist, you may even have one. Now we can hold our breath for between 45-90 seconds and our best friend can only hold it’s breath for around 10-12 seconds and like us it takes a huge gulp of air and then dives. The best divers are the Newfoundland and the Portuguese Water Dog, and the reason is that both breeds have webbed feet, which gives them a huge advantage over other breeds. They both have a waterproof coat and a strong retrieving drive. This evolution, which took hundreds of years, is down to the fishermen of Newfoundland and Portugal who needed a type of dog that could dive and retrieve nets and gear that had gone overboard. The breeds at the other end of the scale will be the Bull Dog and the Pug, the issue being buoyancy and the compromised airway because of short muzzles.

Going deeper

In the world of canine Scuba diving, probably the most famous exponent of the art is Mutley, a scruffy-looking crossbreed belonging to Gene Alba, living in California. Gene is an experienced diver with a passion for animal welfare who has developed a state-of-the-art breathing apparatus that allows Mutley to Scuba dive. The final cost was around $40,000, and Mutley started his diving career in Gene’s swimming pool. I am informed that Mutley is a certified diver, but without any knowledge of the subject, I freely admit I cannot confirm this, and again, he may have been the world’s first canine scuba diver and held the record for the deepest dive. As a side note, Gene rescued a cat that had got caught up in wire, and having freed it, the cat never left. This feline is called Hawkeye and is also a scuba diver, probably the first and only cat with her equipment costing around $20,000

In this very specialist world, there is also a black Labrador Retriever cross called Shadow, rescued from a dog shelter in Florida. He is owned by American diver Dwane Folsom and regularly dives off the coast of Grand Cayman Island. Shadow wears a specially adapted diving suit that includes a weighted jacket, a helmet and a breathing tube connected to Dwane’s air tank. The deepest they usually go is around 13 feet (4 metres), and this dog may at one point have held the world record for the deepest dive.

Out of her depth

Finally, there is Misa, rescued from a shelter by Bjorn Schembri and terrified of water. It rapidly occurred to Bjorn that living on Malta, a Mediterranean island, was not the best home for a dog suffering from aquaphobia, so he set about getting his newfound friend to be confident with water. He started by playing with Misa on the beach and progressed from there. Eventually she started to enter the water, then swim and then scuba dive. Bjorn has claimed the record for the deepest scuba dive, claiming a depth of 15 metres.

For current record holders, readers need to access the website Guinness World Records.

The common denominator in all this canine involvement in water activities is that they are all doing it voluntarily; they enjoy what they are doing, and there is no force or pressure placed on any of them, plus the humans all have a passion for animal welfare.