Kiddie pools at dog park

[Josh Adams]

We live in the city and go to a very popular dog park regularly. There are two plastic kiddie pools that owners fill up and allow their dogs to bathe in and drink. I can't even begin to describe how disgusting it gets. Dark, foggy still water with urine. Our dog, among others, have gotten sick from it. Our Sam tries to goes in especially when he's found a buddy who's soaking in it. We constantly have to pull him out. We empty the pools but then some owners get angry and fill it back up. It seems they're not concerned by the sanitary issues. I understand it's a public park, but every dog should be able to use it safely. Thinking of petitioning the city to have them removed. Am I wrong here? 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

No, you are not wrong. It's disgusting, and unhealthy. And if it's a public park, your tax dollars are going to help pay for it, so you should have a voice in this. 
I'd attend a meeting of whatever municipal agency controls this (park district, planning committee, whoever) and speak about it there. Present options if possible. Our local dog park has a multi-station drinking fountain with fresh running water at three different levels for big dogs, small dogs, and people (it's pretty cool) and a hose station, where people can wet down their dogs and let them have a drink of fresh water from the hose. No standing water, and certainly no standing water that dogs can get into, or worse yet, pee in. 
In the meantime, I'd find another place to go. 

[Josh Adams]

I thought you'd agree. I see owners stare at their dogs while they drink and bathe in it, it's unbelievable. An owner laughed at me this morning when I said it was a health issue. Unfortunately, people bring kiddie pools to dog parks all around the city. This particular dog park is the most popular with a lot of young dogs and pups so it's a good option for our Sam. I'm just going to keep emptying those pools until I get the city to do something about it! :)

[Stacy]

I'm going to respectfully disagree with you on this one. I would suspect that the water is more foggy with dirt than it is with urine, but even so dogs immune systems are different than people. They eat dead things and their own poop. At the very least, they lick their own butts. Katie has eaten possum poop and another dog's vomit (much to my chagrin) without any ill effects. I do my very best to keep them safe, but they're vaccinated. I let them play in the lake. I let them (ok, I can't prevent them) from playing in the muddy pond that forms as lake runoff. With the exception of some foster puppies that I brought home with it, I've never had a dog test positive for giardiasis or coccidia. Even though that's just anecdotal information, I'm comfortable with the odds. Side note, I feel like we hear a lot about giardia in puppies but then not so much in grown dogs. I suspect that it's the puppies immature immune system that is the cause of that. 

If you're taking him to the dog park, you're already exposing him to all manner of dog bodily functions. Pee-mail is everywhere, even if you don't see it and he's smelling it, maybe even getting a lick in now and then. And even when people pick up after their dogs there is still more than a trace of fecal material. 

My thought is that if you are uncomfortable with your dog playing in the pool that you figure out how to keep him out of it instead of making that decision for everyone else in the park. You get to determine your level of comfort with it, but I don't think it's fair to make that choice for everyone else who goes there. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

You do make some interesting points.

With lake runoff, there's also the issue of leptospirosis, which I don't vaccinate for, so for my dogs, that muddy pond would be lethal. However, that's not the case with wading pools that are emptied and filled with fresh (I hope) water., unless of course one of the other dogs happens to already be infected with with the virus. So I think at the very least, you need to have vaccinated for lepto to allow that. 

A non-health issue with letting Poodles, doodles, and other high-maintenance coated dogs indulge in the kinds of water play Josh mentioned is the bath they're going to need afterwards. I have never, in 41 years of owning my own dogs, all Poodles or Poodle mixes, bathed a single one of them with the exception of JD once, and that was one time too many as far as I'm concerned. So allowing any of my dogs past or future to immerse themselves in dirty, pee-poop-mud-God-knows-what-else water is not in my realm of possibilities, lol. 

[Stacy]

In my experience those pools are filled frequently. The dogs aren't very good at keeping the water in. So while my actual concern would be standing water breeding mosquitoes I have pretty low concern even for that. 

I do feel your pain with the grooming and bathing thing. I keep the girls fairly short in the summer, but there are times when I look at them and don't take them to the dog park because I can't handle the thought of bathing them afterwards. I do wash the dogs between grooming appointments at the self service dog wash but it's  always an ordeal. My grooming skills aren't great. But they're dogs and they love it - and they get almost as dirty at the park even when they don't get wet. So I just go with it. 

I guess I just think the it's your dog. If you don't like it, by all means don't let them do it. Theoretically we should all have enough control over our dogs to keep them from doing things we don't want. But I don't understand why, just because we don't like it, we have to prevent everyone else from doing it. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Your last sentence reminds me of when the laws were passed that children have to wear bike helmets. My thinking was, "If you want your child to wear a bike helmet, then put a bike helmet on him. Why do you need a law?" 

And of course, the answer was, "Because my child won't wear one if everyone else doesn't have to wear one." 

Like that. :) 

[Stacy]

Point taken. Though my mom would say that if everyone jumped off a cliff, would you do it too? I would also say that so many of those laws are widely ineffective and unenforced. I can't tell you how many kids I see come in after a car accident who were unrestrained. In 2018! When we all know better. 

I just feel like people have to have some personal accountability. If you don't want your dogs to do that, don't let them. It doesn't matter what everyone else does. We have trouble around here even getting people to pick up after their dogs, even though it's mandated. And even the park police don't have the manpower to follow everyone around to make sure they do it. I think they should do it just because it's the right thing to do.

[Josh Adams]

Thank you, Stacy. I do see some of your points. However, a kiddie pool is very different than a lake or muddy pond. A kiddie pool is 25-30 gallons max of standing water that is left there. There are dogs of all ages -- 10 week-year-old puppies to 15-year-old seniors -- so the risk for Giardia and other parasites is higher than one might realize. We live in a major city. There have to be at least 100 dogs in this park everyday. Yes, there are inherent risks of taking your dog to a dog park and we're comfortable with that. The reward of seeing Sam run and play for hours far outweigh the risks. With that said, though, the kiddie pool is just asking for trouble, IMO. A dog park is for a quick run and play, not for bathing. Aside from sanitary concerns, I think every dog owner has the right to keep their dog safe and dry when they visit a public park. If someone wants to bathe their dog, there are city and state parks nearby that offer streams and lakes where dogs can run off leash. As far as keeping him out of the kiddie pool, believe me, we try - as well as the many other dog owners who prefer the kiddie pools go away. We all end up going home with wet, smelly dogs who now need baths because we don’t know what they got themselves into. :)

[Stacy]

I can agree to disagree, but I just wanted to say that if people are really taking 10 week old puppies to your dog park they are putting them at huge risk for life threatening diseases. The risk of Parvo is significantly higher than giardia. And since we know how many puppies seem to be infected with giardia, those are the ones who I would be concerned about spreading it. Socializing is so important, but I wouldn't touch a dog park with a 10 foot pole with a 10 week old puppy. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

On that I agree totally, and add an Amen. Jasper hadn't even had his second set of shots by 10 weeks. 
Sheesh, he didn;t even come home until he was 10 weeks old! 

[Barbara, Zoey and Zeke]

I wouldn't like the kiddie pools either.  I think it is a good idea to take it up with the local authorities.  Where I am they have the same fountain and spray that Karen described, but also a "water feature"  It is like a kiddie splash pad on a concrete pad.  That way the dogs can lay down on the pad and get their undersides wet, or get sprinkled on from above. The dirty water all goes down the drain.  The dogs love it and no standing murky water.  There is a button to push so that it runs just when needed.  This might be an option that all would like. 

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

It would totally gross me out. I wouldn't want my dogs in it.