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I got a new boxer puppy last weekend. The pool is supposed to be completed by the end of the week. So at what age is appropriate to introduce the new dog to the pool?
Chloe is only 12 weeks right now. The pool has a ledge about 4' wide and will be about 6" of water, but if she walks off she will be in 3 1/2' of water - can all dogs swim from birth?
I have seen on this forum to take the dog into the pool before it is filled, and show her to the steps and let her climb out. Do this many times. Then if she gets into the pool when it is filled, she will remember the way out.
This will probably apply to most dogs, but there are some 'stubborn' ones out there.
I believe dogs can instinctively swim, but again, some may be water-challenged! :p
Not all puppies/dogs know how to swim. It is not necessarily an innate trait from birth. What we did with our Maltese was to carry him into the pool about 6 feet from the steps, lower him slowly into the water and, when it was obvious that he knew to keep his head up and paddle, let him swim to someone standing at the top of the steppings and calling him. Repeat a couple of times and then do it once a week or so, moving further away from the steps each time, until you're fairly certain he can handle it and knows what he's doing. Our Maltese is not interested in getting into the pool voluntarily but I am at least somewhat confident that if he did fall/get in that he would know to swim to the steps to get out.
Puppy breath! You are so lucky!
Introducing Chloe to the pool now, when it has just a few inches of water, is perfect timing. At 12 weeks she's too little to do steps. That's learned behaviour and won't happen for another 2-3 weeks. Carry her in and set her down in the shallow part. Bring a toy and tease her with it so that her focus is on the toy and she disregards the strangeness of the water. Six inches will touch her belly and she'll lap at it, might bark at it, and she might feel insecure and try to climb up on you. Hence, the toy. Your job is to help her to associate the water with something fun and pleasant.
Dogs need to learn where the exit is because they tend to go out of a body of water at the same place they went in. From your photos I'm having a bit of a hard time picturing how she'd get out of the pool eventually. For now, guide her to where the steps will be. If there's already a step or the ledge you mentioned that she can reach, then put her toy on it and encourage her to get it. We want Chloe to learn that exiting from the pool is always safe and nothing bad ever happens when she does.
All dogs know how to swim, it's a survival mechanism, but not all dogs like to swim. Some dogs need to learn to like water. If you find that Chloe is afraid, take her out, dry her off, and don't put her back in for a while. There's a small window of time between 10 weeks and 14 weeks which is known as the "fear period" during which a negative experience can have a negative effect on the dog for the rest of its life. You want to avoid this. If she doesn't like the pool, introduce her to a body of water by bathing her in the kitchen sink, a very small area, then graduate to a warm shower in the bathtub. By next season I bet she'll be a water dog.
Have fun with your puppy!
Our boxer Samson was there from the begining this year, from a flat back yard until the completed pool now, he was 12 weeks when we started digging the hole (the mound of dirt removed from the hole was his own personal mountain!). After the hole was gunited and before it was filled, he would run in and out of the pool, up and down the steps. When we were filling it, he would do the same thing. Now he goes in the pool everyday, he comes out the same way everytime, up the stairs. He is such a waterdog now, he will jump in off of the waterfall if one of the kids is jumping next to him. Here is a link to my webpage containing a few pictures, and a short movie with him and the pool...they explain everything..priceless!
http://web.mac.com/gunkel04/iWeb
Greg..
IMHO, Never.
I have a Chesapeake Bay Retriever who does better IN the water than out....its like her source for super power. She can hardly stand to not be in the water, even if she has to break ice to get there.
My Chesapeake Doesnt go in the pool. She has been trained not to and we're happy about it. We trained her since she was introduced to the pool.
It might sound fun to have a puppy in the pool, but a full grown dog is a liability and more trouble than anything else.....not to mention very dirty.
If you raise that puppy thinking he can pounce in the pool, you'll never get him to stop.
Dont get me wrong, we love our dog and we take her to the lake and river all the time....but our pool is for people. Our dog also seems very happy to watch us swim and hang out around the pool.
Having our dog swim with us is something we're greatly looking forward to, it is going to be so much fun! He is as excited as the rest of us to get started. He's a boxer/lab mix and his favorite things to do are swim and play with the kids. I just couldn't see not letting him come into the pool with us.
Anyway, it looks like you've got a lot of great advice here from others, so I will keep this short. Definitely get him started as soon as possible and be confident so that he will be confident also. Not all dogs can swim, even though most can, but I do believe all dogs can learn.
gunkel04, I very much enjoyed the pictures! :)
Tredge, although I understand your feeling that the pool is for people and not for dogs, it gets a little warm here in the desert (120 +), and our Samson is part of our family, just like one of the kids. He, along with the kids, enjoy the pool to no end, and when it is hot out, and the kids are staying cool in the pool, so is Samson... As far as the dirt is concerned, I think my 8 year old is dirtier than the dog most of the time!
Greg
Everybody is different :) Some people allow their dog in their bed too but thats not for us either.
Just plan ahead because changing it later will be near impossible.
If your puppy will ever be out in the backyard on her own and you're worried about her falling into the pool before she's confident in the water, consider buying a Terrapin Safety Turtle for her collar. When wet, the Turtle sets off an alarm in the house that lets you know she's in the water.
A poster on another website alerted us dog owners to a great buy on these Turtles at PetsMart in early summer. Phenomenal price, but don't know if there are any left at that price, as they were on clearance already in late May. I believe the PetsMart website still would have them (although they were NOT on sale there in May...only in stores) and you can always search the Terrapin site, as well.