OT...nah don't throw him/her in. Just play along the waters edge where they can feel the ground at first. If you have another dog that will show them how safe and fun it is, even better. The photo in the avatar is from the first day my golden retriever discovered the lake. His mom jumped right in and he followed suit.
Back to the topic:
2: Only because I'm trying to get you to put a blue polyp macro up instead.