when can i let my gosling swim?

[sydney13]

i have a big pond down the street and i want to walk my goose down to it to let her go swimming. What age would I be able to bring her to go swimming? How strong are they at swimming? the pond leads into a rough river and i wouldn't let her go near it as a gosling, but do i need to worry about her getting swept away as a adult?

 

[Kim65]

She probably won't go in the pond without you going in with her. She'll probably stay close to you and not get so far away as to get caught in the river BUT I'd never take that chance. What would you do, get a raft and go after her

The back of my property is a decent sized river that dumps into a large river downtown. There are many shady ponds down there that would be "safe" but my geese will never know about that river. I have day-mares of them floating away down to the Columbia River and out to the Pacific. No thanks.

Your goose will be ecstatically happy with a solid plastic kiddie pool that you can dump in the grass when the water gets dirty. My geese are especially fond of a three gallon water bucket, prefer it to their small backyard pond for bathing in (it figures). Your pleasure at taking your goose down to the pond is super understandable though

if you must, maybe she could swim with that harness and leash you're wanting her to walk on (that was you, right?

).