I got 2 new dogs in late Jan 2017, 4.5 yr old Golden Retriever brothers who were kept in a 5' by 10' outside pen for first 4 yrs of their lives, so no exposure to running or swimming at all up to about human age 28. When they were first rescued, they lived with a foster family with a back yard pool; one of the dogs, Ben, discovered the pool on his 2nd or 3rd day there and starting going for a swim on his own initiative every day (there were steps into pool so he could get in and out easily.) OTOH, his brother, Charlie, never got into the pool during their 4-ish month stay at this house. Since I've had them, we've gone to run at this park right along side the TN River and Ben goes swimming every day, vs Charlie swims just a little but rather likes to run through the shallow water and splash a lot. They're both very good runners but Charlie really has more endurance as he is very, very hard to wear out. Ben is about 10 lb heavier and more muscular than Charlie, and seems to have an innate love for the water vs Charlie mostly loving to just run. It's your classic swimmer/runner dichotomy, but displayed in dogs vs humans, and this is despite them both being pure-bred retrievers, i.e. you'd think they'd both love the water but apparently not. This may not be of interest to many people but I think it is kind of fascinating to see ST swim discussions played out by my dogs. :)
"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."
"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."