Cover for oversized in-ground spa

[waste]

John, are you still thinking about doing this?

I am more than willing to give you the tips on measuring and installing a safety cover.

[JohnASmith]

Sorry everyone I have had issues logging on which Ben just corrected. I am still interested in a safety cover but I am only trying to protect a 15 pound dog not an elephant He stays clear of it with no cover but I am just concerned that he might interpret a solar cover as a solid surface. I did buy a 15' round 16 mil solar cover with the intent of trimming it to fit. I stopped when it dawned on me I could be putting our pooch in danger.

[waste]

It's cool

It actually sounds to me like you'd be better off not covering the spa. The cover would be costly and you risk marring the deck when the anchors are installed. As long as your dog won't go in without a cover on it, let it ride - it's a little more work on your part to keep the spa clean, but you can get a decent leaf-rake for $15 - 30, to get the large debris and then just give a good vacuum when you want to use the spa again

I'm not sure if you winterize the spa but, either way, I think you'll do OK without a cover.

[JohnASmith]

The main objective was to retain some of the heat then next was to keep out debris.

[JohnASmith]

I have purchased a heavy, 15 mil, bubble type cover that I will need to cut to fit. The cover itself is very capable of holding our 20# dog’s weight except for the edge where he could easily slip under it. So next is formulating a plan to prevent that before I cut the cover. Some thoughts I have in my head are:
1: Cut it oversized so that it laps the deck where it can be attaches with lead anchors in the deck and grommets in the cover.
2: Install lead anchors in the nose of the deck and do similar to #1 but also possibly gluing a rope around the edge of the cover to keep it somewhat taught.
3: Configure some kind of floating thing that will add buoyancy to the outside edge of the cover, maybe kids play noodles or something similar.
I am just thinking out loud here but hoping for some thoughtful feedback. An expensive cover is out of the question since I might as well use more gas to heat the pool and clean it a bit more often. I just have to believe there is a more economical solution.

[PoolDoc]

Hm-mmh.

I don't have any good ideas, that I would want to share. When your dog dies, my plausible idea is not going to sound so good. A co-worker of my wife just lost one of her dogs to a pool cover . . . and I'm really happy that I had NOT offered any suggestions, since the things that had occurred to me, wouldn't have prevented what happened.

Safety covers work.

Otherwise, this scene
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSx3zOG4Fuk
from the first Lethal Weapon movie is what always comes to mind.

It's actually not the best example, because animals that drown because of covers, often do so UNDER the cover, rather than wrapped up in it, as in the movie clip.

By the way, you should make sure your dog can get out of the spa when it's not covered. Dogs can learn to use ladders -- but they usually have to be taught to do so. (Cats can probably learn, too. But I'm not going to be the one to try to teach a cat, unless it's been de-clawed and defanged first!)