Puppy - when to take into pool

[gunkel04]

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..

[Tredge]

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.

[Luvtlee]

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!

[gunkel04]

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

[Tredge]

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.

[dawndenise]

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.

[gunkel04]

Tredge, you are definitely correct, what ever you decision is, make sure it is the one you want for good, trying to get your dog to stay out of the pool after the fact would be next to impossible! As far as the saftey turtle, it looks like a good product, here is a link to a write up on the collar:

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load...531609.html?10

[spooky2feet]

You may also want to consider a Skamper Ramp:

http://www.hunterk9.com/site/870877/product/795

[wl1117]

I was at a Petsmart this past weekend in the Austin area and they still had the turtle alarms on clearance. I think the base with one turtle was about $45 and extra turtles where $15. I was suprised to still see them on clearance since I got mine a couple months ago for the same clearance price.