Wiktionary
alt. A swimming stroke in the style of a dog swimming. n. A swimming stroke in the style of a dog swimming. vb. To swim using the dog paddle stroke.
Usage examples of "dog-paddle".
Do you (a) struggle bootlessly until you sink and drown, (b) scream until someone rescues you, or (c) dog-paddle to the nearest floating object and wait calmly for your mistress to resolve the difficulty?
The music balloons without cease but Green hears Lenz say what sounds like 'How dare you' with great emphasis as he drops the dog forward onto the yard as there's a high-pitched male sound from the form at the window and the dog goes down and hits the ground on its side with the meaty crunch of a 32-kilo bag of Party-Size Cubelets, all four legs dog-paddling uselessly, the dark surface of the lawn blackening in a pulsing curve before its jaws that open and close.
But Nick was unconscious, and the idea of me dog-paddling all the way was daunting even if I would have a break traversing Round Island in between.