Reactive dog rescued from neglect and overcrowded shelter learns to overcome fear of water thanks to dedicated dog dad’s unconditional love and patience, says: ‘You couldn’t hug her. But now I am holding her in my arms after swimming.’

Author image for Laurent Shinar
Laurent Shinar • Writer and Editor
Jul 17, 2026 7:30 AM EDT

The beautiful thing about rescues is that it gives the pupper a second chance to really live their life. To enjoy the rush of wind and grass as they run through the park. To refresh themselves in a cool lake when the summer sun becomes too much on their fur. To smile and lead the life of a truly happy doggo. And that is what this story's pupper protagonist got to do and then some.

Reddit's r/rescuedogs subreddit is of course a place for pawrents and potential pawrents to discuss the ever deepening topic of rescue doggos. Often the discussions are related to how a pawrent might curb certain behaviors born off the doggo's painful past life and pawrents, as this is a large part of what taking on a rescue dog means, dealing with their fears, insecurities and behavioral problems. But the story we have for you today does not include a pawrent having a breakdown over their doggo eating only the fabric covers of their couch. But instead tells the success story of a pupper pawrent who used their unconditional love and support to coax their water fearing pupper to overcome their phobia.

As the pawrent speculates, the pupper must have had some sort of drowning incident and so was desperately afraid of water. And when on a lake trip the sweet doggo began losing its mind when everyone entered the water his pawrent noticed. But instead of forcing the poor pup into the water he was patient with him. Giving him time, encouragement and space to come to the water on his own terms. Gradually giving this canine the confidence to step up one day and take that leap into the water and into love.

 

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    "She finally got to be a happy dog. I think thats so beautiful."
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    Black dog standing on grass panting

    Dog represented by model

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    This is Clipsee, Shes around 2 years old and we adopted her a bit over a year ago. The dog she brought home was not the same dog we have now. She was skinny, terrified and
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    looked sick. There were cs on her face and body and she had such a bad build up of dandruff she looked grey. They ran to be pet store after adoption to get supplies and lost track of time. My
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    sister had theatre and needed to leave so she wasn't able to bathe her. She hadn't been at the shelter long and they were overflowing with animals and understaffed.
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    For reference they have around 190 spots for all animals and over 200 dogs at the time. I bathed her, cleaned her, and gave her a bowl of food.
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    They suspected she had undergone ab e based on her reaction to noises, people and other things but specifically her reaction to men. Very specific men. She did not do well in enclosed spaces. She would be fine
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  • Jheez, the heart really weeps for these kinds of cases. It is all too classic that the shelter would be at over capacity, and a dog who has been through heck and back will have to be squeezed in amongst the many other residents. Now this is problematic for a few reasons. To begin with the stress and yelling of other dogs in similar positions easily riles up the new dog retriggering them. While at the same time staff are overwhelmed and have not the time to calm not the new resident or the existing ones. So it is little to no surprise that a dog who leaves a place like that will come with some caveats. 
     

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    in a large room until you closed the door. Then she would panic. Bath time was the hardest. She was horrified. Ive seen her scared of noises and people but never in my life have I seen a dog this scared. She fought back,
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    whined and cried. tried to run. Bath time was the hardest. The problem is she would get dirty for different reasons but that first bath was the hardest. I talked to her gently but she was horrified. Shaking.
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    One time we took her to a park that had a swimmable lake and she panicked as soon as she saw it. My sisters where I'm and we even threw her ball in.
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    side note: This dog had no idea what fetch was until we adopted her but she caught on quick. It's heartbreaking because you will never meet a more ball motivated dog. The shelter labeled her as a malinois mix if that tells you anything.
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  • Just a whole heap of wow, is all we have to say about this. How bad does your life have to be as a dog that at one year old you do not know the meaning of the game fetch? Like, put the water fear aside for a moment even though it is very troubling and a significant sign that something happened to this poor pupper in water. But not knowing the game fetch for a dog is like a cat not knowing what to do with birds. This dog would have had to have been either in a breeding programme or something so bad we do not even want to imagine it.
     

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    Now here is the good part: I was walking to the bathroom one evening to shower and she was following me down the hall. I kissed her and told
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    Arby's
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    her I loved her before walking into the bathroom. She then followed me right in. No hesitation or fear. She just looked at me like "Where are we going?" I was in shock. Baths were still a
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    struggle and she just walked right into the bathroom. I almost cried before directing her to my mom's room and she tried to follow me back. I started to type this out before but then today happened.
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    We were at the park again with the lake. It's a hot summer and my sisters wanted to swim. I am throwing Clipsee's ball when one of my sisters shrieked because the other splashed her. This
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    caught Clipsees attention and she walked towards them. My sisters called her and she dove right into the water and started swimming with them. They tossed her ball out for her to catch. By the
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    end I wrapped her in a towel and she curled up in my lap, sleeping the while car ride home. I wrapped my arms around her and just held her.
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    This dog used to fight me over baths. She used to be afraid of any loud noise or fast movements. She used to fight and actually get aggressive when she felt trapped in any form of way. You
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    couldn't hug her or restrict her. But now I am holding her in my arms after swimming. Her guard fully let down as she rests her body on top of mine.
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    The best part is that I don't think that entire trip she was thinking about her safety or one of us harming her. She just got to be a happy dog. I think thats so beautiful.
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heartwarming story dogs fear thanks water patience reddit story dedication crowded unconditional love neglect dog story reaction animal shelter dog dad rescue
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