Be careful having your dogs around the pool.

    • Gold Top Dog

    Be careful having your dogs around the pool.

     I feel like this is important issue to share many owners who have a swimming pool. My breeder lost her 10 months old dame to submersion injury from swimming in the pool with a lifejacket. She accidently swallowed too much water that filled her lungs. I use pool  for my border collie to excerise his hips since he has HD. I want to warn others so that they do not have to lose their dogs like that. I know everyone loves to go swimming  with their dogs, but be careful.
     
     Hope you guys will enjoy your summer.
     
    You can read the full story about Penelope
     
    [linkhttp://www.apexcanecorso.com/Penelope.htm]http://www.apexcanecorso.com/Penelope.htm[/link]
    • Bronze
    This is always a good reminder to go around at this time of year. I've known of a dozen dogs lost to drowning in family swimming pools in recent years, tragedy that could have been avoided in each case. Poor babies.
    • Gold Top Dog
    Thats such a sad story.    Since Penelope was wearing a life jacket and still swallowed water is there any safe way to swim with your dog ?  I had hoped that Prancer could use the pool for exercise, but after reading about that I'm not too sure I'd want to risk it.
    • Gold Top Dog
    Would this be like water intoxication?
    • Gold Top Dog
    Good reminder.  May I suggest another caution: make sure that your dog knows how to get OUT of the pool.  Sometimes our best efforts fail and they get in when we don't want them to.  It's really important that they can use the ladder or stairs and that they KNOW how to get out when they get in. 
     
    And also, please don't use a solar cover unless you are 100% sure your dog cannot get into the pool when you don't want him/her to.
    • Gold Top Dog
    ORIGINAL: huskymom

    Would this be like water intoxication?

     
     Well you can say that, but actually penelope accidently swallowed too much water that filled her lungs. It is not easy to remove water out of lungs so it suffocated her to death. A very sad story, I know.
    • Gold Top Dog
    ORIGINAL: JoAnnDe

    Thats such a sad story.    Since Penelope was wearing a life jacket and still swallowed water is there any safe way to swim with your dog ?  I had hoped that Prancer could use the pool for exercise, but after reading about that I'm not too sure I'd want to risk it.

     
     
     In my opinion, whether she worn a life jacket, a small accident like this can happen. I have a pool so I take water safety very serious. I often start with a baby pool first to introduce my dogs to the water before they are allowed to swim in the pool. I don't use the lifejacket on a dog because I think it might be more dangerous than a dog without a lifejacket. The dog's mouth can easily swallow more water in when it has a life jacket on because the jacket makes the dog float more and swim less. (My opinion) I have noticed that dogs without lifejacket usually swim more and keep the mouth close. I'm not trying to tell everyone not to use lifejacket, but I really don't know what's the best for our dogs being in the pool. I do not let my dogs swim alone in the pool and we have a gate.
     
     
    • Gold Top Dog
    If you have a pool and a dog, IMO you should have one of these, and be sure the dog can use it.
    http://www.petsnap.com/skamper-ramp.htm
    • Gold Top Dog
    Spiritdogs - love the ramp !  thanks for posting that.   I have two ways out of the pool but at water level (ie: eye level to a swimming dog) they'd be difficult to see.  I like that this is visible from the surface of the water.  
    Re the lifejacket - oh boy - now I don't know if I should try it or not.