Wet Doodle

[Lee Seidman]

I am at the end of my rope!!!! I can't restrict Billy from the yard because that also restricts Lexi from the yard. As soon as Billy goes outside he jumps into the pool. We have a doggy door to enable Billy and Lexi to go in and out whenever the need arises to clean themselves. We can not keep Billy out of the pool. He gets wet and then comes in the house thru the dog door and shakes all over. I don't lock him out because it is too hot to leave him in the sun, besides, when he is out, he jumps back in the pool to cool off and play.

 

Fencing is not an option because it will cut off the entire yard, besides it is very expensive. If anyone has any training ideas I would appreciate it. It is turning into a major problem. He goes in and out several times a day now.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Lee and Barbara,
I only have a kiddie pool and yes my doodles at 2am crawl into the pool --instead of going to the bathroom like they said they wanted to do when they woke me up. Of course, they come back in and try to crawl into bed.

But I just came from your page and I have a wonderful idea. I love the Keys--was married there 3 years ago this Tuesday. I miss it so much. I'll come down and guard the door. I'll do it for FREE :)

Sorry, I don't have any answers but I just can't get over how pretty it is in The Keys. Beautiful Beautiful Place you live. So, if you don't find any answers--I'll come down and help.

[Lee Seidman]

lol, It is pretty down here, come on down, we have two empty bedrooms now that the kids are gone....plenty of swimming for Doodles!

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Packing now. See you in the morning. I take my coffee black. :)

[Adrianne Matzkin]

The house is very, very comfy - great huge TV right by the kitchen!! Barbara cleans like no one else I have ever seen - if they ever come here I am going to have to hire a team to clean before she gets here - WOL!!!
They live close to an indoor Flea Market, that is wonderful if you have the patience to wait for the walker crowd to stop chatting while taking up the entire aisle!!!
Jo - GO!!!!

[Lynda Kamrath]

I think your pool would be considered an "attractive nuisance". I don't know what the solution would be for that. I remember that our pool at high school was also an attractive nuisance and other hs students were always tinting the water and decorating the area. It seemed kind of funny then.

[Lynne Fowler-Oodles of Doodles]

I don't know from your post if he jumps from the side or goes in from the steps but mine were all taught to use the steps and if I lay the skimmer poles across the top 2 steps, it will stop them from going in. When I take the poles away, they know they can go in. Jumping off the sides, I have no solution for. Good Luck.

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

I did a lot of training with Murphy around the pool and I trained him to go in when I gave a cue,(OK-IN) And a firm NO sound when he would go near it on his own and even look like he was thinking about going in. Then I would treat for not going in.
He learned to go potty, and come right back in unless told otherwise. He was 5-9 months old when we did this training and I would have to reinforce during that time, but it got better as he got older. Hope that helps. It was a lot of work, but no different than teaching / training any other safety training. I was more concerned he'd get out and go in and drown if I didn't teach him to not go in. Yes he is a great swimmer, but do-do happens ! Besides, we were dealing with ear infections, so I had other reasons to restrict his swimming.

Maybe locking the doggie door and tethering him when you take him out to go potty. When he veers off in the direction of the pool, then yell NO! That's how I started. When he was doing okay with the short tether, I then slowly lenthened the tether, and continued the NO! and treat, then when he would consistantly stop with the long tether on, I took it off and just said NO,and treat, then watched him till he didn't even go near it anymore, and came right over to the door for his treat. I stopped the treats gradually, and used ball throwing or big hugs for rewards and he got pretty consistant with it rather quickly and no more wet dog! To teach him to go in on cue, I would then take him over to the pool a few times a day and tell him OK-IN! I was in the pool with him too, ( even if it was just on the steps up to my knees) so maybe he learned he could only go in if mommy was in and said so???? Not sure of that one. But it was part of the training I did. Just my thoughts. Worked for me.

[Lee Seidman]

will try all suggestions, thank you...maybe blocking the steps will work, he comes out from the steps, but actually will put a ball in the pool, wait for it to float away from the side and then jump in after it...

[Lee Seidman]

Follow up....Billy must have spent at least three hours in the pool today. Everytime we dried him off he was back in in a few minutes...we are calling in a trainer in the morning, nothing that we have tried is working, he loves the water...I hate to keep him out but he can't go in whenever he wants. He actually does laps, when he gets tired he does not come out but sits on the steps...never saw a dog love the water so much.

[Lorraine Bromley]

We have an invisible fence for our yard. They also have wireless fences with adjustable boundaries. Neely was shocked at low once and the training and follow up lessons with the flags and boundries has been a God send especially since we have a very busy street and its just not worth the risk. And there was no way we could afford the fencing and making it work functionally for us humans to use the yard too.

[Sally, Ditzy Mitzi & Sgt. Pepper]

Would love to know how the training went. We finally have Mitzi pretty well trained not to jump into the pool at random, though she did go in last week when I took a break while grooming her. Guess she was too hot!
I worry, though, that blocking off the steps could be dangerous. If Billy manages to get in the pool and can't get out it might not be good. What he is doing is a lot like what Mitzi did when we first got her. I spent half my time drying her off, just to have her jump in again. It was exhausting. Somehow she learned not to go in all the time. Now we can let her out in the back and she just runs around to chase lizards and birds.

Most of the time now she just cries her heart out when the children go in and she is not permitted. She must
smell chlorine on their bathing suits or she recognizes their suits. The minute they are ready to swim she reacts and tries desperately to join them. She tries to retrieve the children when they are swimming.

Guess like most poodles that have webbed feet and were originally used as water retrievers, swimming is a natural thing for them to do. I have also heard somewhere that retrievers use their tails as rudders, so the doodle combination is a double whammy! Good luck and please keep us informed.

[Lee Seidman]

Hi, Trainer is coming tomorrow, I am going along with this, but doubt we are ever going to keep him out of the water.....worth a try tho! We are due for a romp at Happy tails, it is so hot that most want to let the temp cool down a bit. Maybe mid September. We take them to either Lake Ida or De Graff park in Deerfield. DeGraff is not a dog park but they seem to look the other way off leash.