We are thinking of getting a vinyl liner, ingound pool. We also have a golden retriever that LOVES to swim. Will she cause a lot of damage?? Is it easy to train her to use the plastic stairs? What are other issues we should think of??
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We are thinking of getting a vinyl liner, ingound pool. We also have a golden retriever that LOVES to swim. Will she cause a lot of damage?? Is it easy to train her to use the plastic stairs? What are other issues we should think of??
Shouldnt be too much of a problem to teach her to use the stairs. Once the pool is dug out and the walls and stairs in place, take her in and out of the "pool", using the stairs, a bunch of times. Just kind of gets them used to the idea that the stairs are the way to get in and out of this new big hole in thier yard. The first few times she is in the water make sure you are there as well to make sure she gets the hang of using the stairs. My 2 dogs arent the brightest bulbs sometimes and it seemed to work out pretty well with them.
What a coincidence. I have 3 golden retrievers. One is old, but the other two are 6 months (male) and 1 year (female). Both took to the pool immediately when we opened it this year. Especially the younger male. I discovered he was climbing the ladder and taking at least one swim in the morning and another dip in the afternoon. The female joined him sometimes.
http://www.jreece.com/Family/slides/Pool5.html
Our 27 ft round AG pool is butted against our deck so the step up is only about 2 feet to get in. So they could easily get in and out. I too was afraid they would tear the liner if we were not in with them, however in two weeks of morning and afternoon dips, they did not damage our liner. We may have just been lucky, but they seemed to know to go to the ladder to get out. However they left dirt and lots of hair in the pool.
I finally put a plastic fence around the part of the pool that butts up to the deck (approx 30%) and built a blockaid around the ladder using some thin plywood. This stopped them from getting in the pool unless we were there.
Jim
We have been told by lots of people that dogs and vinyl pools don't mix, but we got a vinyl pool anyway. Our 2 dogs are not around the pool unless we are there. One dog won't even come close to the pool, but the other one comes right up to the edge. We've thrown her in a couple of times, and guided her to the steps. My hope is that she doesn't want to get in, but can get herself to the steps if she does happen to FALL in. Just don't ever let the dog get out of the pool any other way than the steps, or they will put holes in the liner for sure.Quote:
Originally Posted by JimCrackorn
The skimmer socks will grab most of the hair. One of my labradors swims, other is the the border patrol.
I have two siberian huskies and they go swimming in the vinyl pool all the time. They have always used the stairs in an out and have never even thought of climbing out over the edge.
I have three dogs, and only one of them (the smallest and oldest one) likes the pool. But he rarely even ventures beyond the steps. He is only a foot tall.
The others like to sun-bath on the deck, and will occationally drink from the pool, but never go into it. I suppose the time that one of them walked accross my pool with the winter cover on it, and squished around alot put him off the pool for life. :rolleyes:
Oddly enough, the other two LOVE to frolick in streams when we are camping. I suppose its the smell of "living water" and the creatures that draw them to the streams.
My blind dog recently fell in the deep end corner. He panicked and was pawing against the vinyl side/brick work, but only for a few moment (10 seconds max until I got there). I pulled him out, calmed him down, and inspected the liner. No damage. FYI, he is restricted from pool area unless we are there. No injuries or maltreatment occurred during this process.
CaryB
Caniac
We have 2 female Golden Retrievers and only the younger one will go into the pool. She goes off the diving board like she has been doing it forever and swims directly to the ladder. The older one does not like to go in but will swim if tossed in and knows to go to the ladder. Repitition is the key when training a dog and they can learn almost anything that is possible to a dog.
Hi Jim, We have three German Shepherds and an a/g pool. One of the dogs habitually stands on his hind legs when trying to catch a Frisbee. No damaga to the liner so far. We keep their nails trimmed and we taught them where the exit is. Dogs tend to get out of a body of water at the same place they went in, and since Pax almost always dives in off the edge he had to be shown how to get out at the steps. It took two lessons for him to learn how to exit. Occasionally, a dog will push off the side after he's retrieved his toy. We have no tears or scratches in the liner. IS there more fun than swimming with dogs????
Hey jim What we did with our golden was took him to the top of the steps and used his favorite toy.We just put it in a few feet and walk down the steps with him,out to the toy and back up the steps. You know how smart they are and just a couple of times and they got it. One nice thing about teaching them to use the steps is when the pool is under shock treatment and I don't want dozer in the pool we just put a lounge chair in front of the steps. He gets so confused it's a riot!!!! steve