Is It Safe for my GoldenDoodle to swim in our pool?

[Debbie and Thomas]

Our Golden Doodle Thomas is 26 weeks old. We are renovating a house nearby that we plan on moving into in June. We will open the pool that is there sometime in early May and stoke up the heater so we can use it before we move in. Is it safe for our dog to swim in the pool, with supervision of course. I am worried about the chemicals and what affect they will have on his skin, and what about water in the ears?We were also thinking of installing a "doggie door" in the bottom of the back door. Is this a bad idea seeing as there is a pool back there? I would appreciate any pool owners giving me some advice.

[Sandy]

My first thought is the liner - would his nails rip the liner? I don't have a pool, but my Mom does, and I don't think I'd let Toby in there.

[Debbie and Thomas]

Hi Sandy, I actually don't want to encourage him to go in the pool, but if I know my doodle, he will find a way. I have seen so many pictures on this site of doodles swimming in pools-so I wondered if the chemicals were safe. I never even thought about the liner(which is brand new) but we do have nice in wall steps which are fibreglass/acrylic so he could exit easily without having to scatch at the sides of the pool. I hope?? Thks.

[Adina P]

I don't have a pool, BUT I know others with pools and dogs and they do great!
Wet ears can be a problem though so you'd have to use ear drying stuff regularly to clean them out.
I (again with NO experience) would want to avoid allowing my dogs free access to the pool. For one, I don't think they'd ever be dry -- LOL -- and two just for safety so they are not out there unsupervised.

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

My doodles love to be swim in the pool. It is a plaster bottom pool, so no problem there. It is best to rinse them with the hose when they are done swimming and spray them with leave- in conditioner like "The Stuff". Swim Ear, which is basically alcohol is as good for doodle ears as it is for kid ears. I keep my doodles clipped short from May to Oct to help them dry faster.

I would not be comfortable with free (doggie door) access to the pool. I love my doggie door, but it was easy for me to put it in a door that does not open to the pool. Is this a possible option for you?

[Debbie and Thomas]

Our pool has a vinyl liner which is brand new-but we do have a nice set of fibreglass steps so he could get out easily without scratching at the liner-Ihpe! Re doggie door-if we installed one, it would go out to the backyard with full access to the pool, so we'd have to fence it or do an invisible fence. This is getting expensive.

[Tracey]

Our is the same...just make sure to do some major training on getting in and out ONLY on the steps. Liners aren't cheap =P.

[Debbie and Thomas]

You are so right-I never thought about that-having a soaking wet dog entering the house at his leisure and doing one of those big shakes on my new hardwood. I think we will have to think about this a lot more. Thks.

[Tracey]

We have a pool, and our old pup loved it. We've got saltwater as well, but even with chlorine, I figure it can't be worse than the pesticides we put on them ;). Just rinse him off afterwards, and always get his ears dried out.

If your pool isn't fenced off, I'm not sure I'd do a doggie door...Tucker got in the water whenever he could, and if he'd had constant access to the pool, we'd have had a wet dog 24/7 =P. That's a lot of drying off and drying ears!

[Debbie and Thomas]

Ours is chorine at the moment-very expensive to convert to salt water and I hear that something even better is available so I though we would wait for a conversion. Doggy door?? He would be in and out all the time driving us nuts-so I think we'll put this on the back burner for now. Thanks everyone.

[Moose&Mica]

We don't have a pool, but Moose and Mica loved swimming in my parent's pool in FL when we visited. They swim in a pond here in IN during the warmer months. I've never used the ear dry stuff and have not had problems with their ears. However, it can't hurt to use it. I did not notice a problem with the chemicals, but it helps if you can rinse them off with clean water after the swim. My parents had a sliding door and if we left it open so the dogs could run on the screened lanai Mica would end up getting in the pool. They just can't seem to resist. Mine got in even with the floating cover that keeps the heat in (they went after the floating thermometer which had a duck on top). They would probably get in all year round if they could get to the pool. Just something to keep in mind.

[Debbie and Thomas]

We have already decided NOT to use the solar blanket cover at all. My sister has a friend whose dog drowned last summer because he got in the pool with the solar cover on, he was actually chasing a squirrel or something and ran over the pool with the cover on it. They think he thought it was solid ground. He was not a swimmer and couldn't get out with this cover on. Poor thing-they found him only a few minutes later and did CPR, rushed him to the vet, but he was gone.

[Debbie and Thomas]

Yes you are right! But, I will have to let him out in the yard to go potty. We have a winter cover that is child and pet safe-it is flat and attached by ropes to the deck of the pool with big steel rings that hold it in place. It will hold up to 200 lbs. Wow, I better weigh this doodle before the winter. At the rate he is growing, who knows?