Jeri Jessee Posted August 9, 2011 Report Share Posted August 9, 2011 What is the proper age for teaching a puppy about the swimming pool? I have a pool and the dogs are not allowed on that side of the yard without supervision. However, it is always possible to get too close to the edge and I want her to know where the steps are and how to get out in the event she falls in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue R Posted August 9, 2011 Report Share Posted August 9, 2011 Could you take her in the pool with you, to the shallow end, and acquaint her with the steps? If she were to fall in, she would probably panic and likely not remember a bit about where the steps were, but I don't see why you couldn't gently and gradually begin to familiarize her with the pool. If she's not ready for it yet, you may just have to make sure she doesn't get to that end of the yard until she is ready. Best wishes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeri Jessee Posted August 9, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 9, 2011 Thanks, that is kind of what I am thinking. She is very curious but thankfully has not jumped in. I have fenced yard so she can't get over there unless I am with her but I just want to make sure she knows how to get out since accidents can happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShoresDog Posted August 9, 2011 Report Share Posted August 9, 2011 I would definitely take Sue's advice and gently introduce her to the pool, with you in it, and ALWAYS have her get out at the steps with her own feet on them. Never take a short cut and boost her out. If she has some experience of this sort, I doubt she'd panic if she got into the pool accidentally. Once my Daisy was shown where the steps were in my mom's pool, she never forgot where to swim to get out, even if she hadn't been in the pool in a year! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue R Posted August 9, 2011 Report Share Posted August 9, 2011 A lot of youngsters panic in water, at least in my experience. I usually introduce one (if it's the right time of year) by either getting in with them (and holding them out between my two hands, just a tiny dip the first time, and very gradually exposing them more and more) or by holding on and leaning over (if it's a stock tank or spring box where I am *not* getting in myself). Just wet feet, then wet lower legs, and on by baby steps - as long as the pup doesn't struggle or fuss unduly. Take it back a step or don't do it at all a while if you are getting the pup worried. I have also found that if you do this when the pup is hot from a combination of playing and the weather, it goes more easily - a pup that realizes that that invisible stuff feels really good and refreshing, may be much more likely to focus on how good it feels than how worrisome it is to not feel his/her feet under him/her. With Bute, who came home in late May at 12 weeks of age, and so was experiencing a short stock tank (just a sheep tank, maybe 15 inches tall, when the weather was hot and the other dogs were in the tank cooling off after playtime - well, let's just say he was trying to crawl in the tank in no time at all, and became one of my two most avid swimmers of all very quickly. And that's another idea - you go into the pool and sit on the top step - maybe with a favorite toy, maybe with a treat, and maybe just sitting there. Let your pup come to you on that top step. And you can work it from there - once the top step is conquered and easy-breezy for the pup, then sit one step down. Lather, rinse, repeat, as they say. When a pup *chooses on its own* to go into the water, it can save a lot of effort all around. We certainly saw that with Bute (and also with Megan, who was a bit older when she became a water fanatic). Best wishes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bcnewe2 Posted August 10, 2011 Report Share Posted August 10, 2011 Go slow like Sue suggests. I have a pool. It's an above ground pool so worries me even more. I only have one dog that I worry bout. So I put her in all the time. I hold her a few minutes and then let her swim to the ladder. I make sure she heads in the right direction each time. And I make her swim to the ladder by herself. I also make her get out on her own.(it's enclosed ladder steps) She has done this since the first time she got in the pool. I hope it will be her auto pilot if she gets in without me. She does a great job of climbing out and she knows where the ladder is. I do worry though. When it's hot I see her eye the pool. If I'm in and she's not she'll climb up on the rail and walk around it like a cat. I've knocked her in a few times just to see what she does. She swims to the ladder. Pool safety, just like if they were 2 Legers. ETA: Dew loves swimming and is not a puppy so I wasn't as slow as I would have been if she were a pup or scarred of water! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donald McCaig Posted August 10, 2011 Report Share Posted August 10, 2011 Dear Doggers, Last month, visiting friends, I jumped into a homemade, above ground swimming pool. There was one short ladder and it was difficult to haul myself out. No dog could have done it. Unattended, it would have drowned. Although my dogs have swum in oceans, lakes, rivers and creeks, I have never let them swim in a pool. I think pools are dangerous. Donald McCaig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted August 10, 2011 Report Share Posted August 10, 2011 Someone posted (on Facebook maybe) recently a ladder that hooks to the side of a pool and is made especially for dogs. Maybe try Google and see if you can find it? Here's one example that would work on an in-ground pool: Skamper pool ramp. And another example: Skamper ramp site. And this one, while not cheap, says it works for above ground pools. So anyway, there are various safety steps out there for pets. You still need to train your dog to go to the steps/ramp, but at least there are dog friendly ones out there. J. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diane allen Posted August 10, 2011 Report Share Posted August 10, 2011 Julie beat me to the ramp link. OTOH, I have an 8' diameter stock tank that is great for Lucy's exercise. It sits on a concrete pad beside my house, easily "fenced" with a couple of x-pens. My youngster who LOVES to swim could easily knock it over or climb over it - but just doesn't. It's just off limits unless I'm there and it's open. OTOH, he could easily get out if he did "accidentally" fall in. Lucy - could not, but then, she couldn't get IN without help either.... diane Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeri Jessee Posted August 10, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 10, 2011 My pool is in the ground and has a "tanning ledge" about 5 feet wide and then has steps down from there. So it is easy in and out for a dog assuming they know to go to that area. It also has seating almost all the way around the pool so if a dog can get to the side of the pool, there is a ledge to stand on which would keep them above water even if they couldn't get out. Regardless of all that, I want to be extra careful and that's why the dogs are not allowed over there without supervision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bcnewe2 Posted August 11, 2011 Report Share Posted August 11, 2011 Our ladder is a nice ladder that has rungs that are enclosed, so thier feet don't slide off. But I've had Dew swim to and get out of reg. above ground pool ladders. She can and has done it. Of course no one is allowed by or in the pool without supervision but I want them to be able to get out just in case they break the rules. Which does happen around here sometimes. You'd be suprised what a dog can climb if they know it's there and have a bit of experience. It's the shock of falling or getting in that I worry about, will they forget how they got out before. That is the #1 reason I make Dew get in and swim to the ladder almost everytime I get in the pool. My pool has a wall around part of it. I am going to worry to no end this winter when I close it up and there is no ladder but a cover over it. Technically she could jump over the short side and get in. If there's just a cover on it, I don't know what will happen. I'll be doing research on what I can do this fall when I close the pool. I wonder if a ramp like Julie posted a link to might work just laying on top. Maybe a fence across that wall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeri Jessee Posted August 11, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 11, 2011 We were going to have our first swimming lesson last night but Maggie was too afraid. Funny she will stand at the edge and look way over but when I tried to pick her up and put her in she wanted no part of it. So she just sat in my lap while I sat on the side. That was good enough for the first time. It is so hot here in Dallas that I would like for her to be able to enjoy the pool but that might be too much to ask. None of my dogs have ever liked the water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue R Posted August 11, 2011 Report Share Posted August 11, 2011 Pool water, with its strong smell of chlorine, could be a reason why your dogs may not care for it. In my experience, dogs have little resistance to mud puddles and stock tanks, or other "natural" water, but clean pool (or bathtub) water is quite another story! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeri Jessee Posted August 11, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 11, 2011 I had not thought of that, thank you. While I don't think my pool smells of chlorine, I'm sure the dogs have a better sense of smell. Having said that they don't like it----I meant they don't like to get in it---but Reno loved to drink from the jacuzzi where the fountain was. I don't know why except maybe because it was cold and bubbly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bn_here_b4 Posted August 12, 2011 Report Share Posted August 12, 2011 We have an above ground pool and our dogs are not allowed in it. I keep a plastic kiddie pool on the deck beside the big pool and they are trained to go in their pool when we are in ours. They are never allowed outside without one of their people. Even when we walk down to the creek and they beat me back to the house they go in the little pool to cool off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jordyn Posted August 12, 2011 Report Share Posted August 12, 2011 Although my dogs have swum in oceans, lakes, rivers and creeks, I have never let them swim in a pool. I think pools are dangerous. Donald McCaig We live in S. Fl where most bodies of water contain alligators and beaches pose their own hidden dangers, so the pool is the safest place for our dogs to swim. In my opinion it is up to the owners to make it as safe as possible, which means monitoring your dogs outside play time, pool safety training and/or putting up a proper barrier. I have four dogs of my own and as a foster coordinator for a local rescue organization, I have fostered dogs year round for 13 yrs. All the dogs that come through my house are introduced to the pool and taught where the steps are, puppies included but I always monitor their playtime. Our dogs have to walk around our pool deck to get to the doggy door that leads into the yard so if I have fosters long enough I typically teach them "no pool" as well. We utilize our pool daily and have never had an incident, but I've always taken the time to properly introduce it and they don't go in unless I've given them the okay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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