I have a pool question.
My GSD is 3 years old and has never gone swimming. I purchased a house in October and have an older in ground pool in the backyard. It’s fenced in square, no staircase. Just vertical aluminum vertical steps.

1) Anyone either have plans for building some doggy stairs for the pool or know of a good company that builds them?

2)Chlorine, is this a problem for the dog?

3)Probably the biggest issue, how to introduce her to swimming? There is really no way in my pool setting to introduce her except to pick her up in the low end and gently place her in with a leash and guide her to the doggy stairs going out.

Any advice would be appreciated, thanks!

also, yes, it has a liner which I don't think will be a problem unless she panics to get out, hence the leash and supervised in pool rules...

Hi Joe,

Until you get the issue of doggy stairs sorted out, I wouldn't introduce your dog to swimming. It only takes one unsupervised moment...one lapse of attention (and it happens to the the best of us) and you could have a tragedy.

I don't know of any manufacturers but surely there must be at least one?

As for chlorine, probably not a good idea to let her swim right after you dose the pool and I'd rinse her off well right after a swim.

Do you have a lake nearby with a gentle sloping shore? Throwing balls a little ways into the water to get their feet wet and then gradually increasing the distance you throw them. You can also get in the water with them to help them get use to swimming but near the shore so they can get out easily if they panic. I would teach the stairs separately and swimming separately before introducing her to a pool. In the pool, I would also be in the water with her and have people on the sides to pull her out if she panics by the edge. Personally I would skip the leash, it may hinder her swimming and possibly get caught up in her legs.

My GSD swims like a fish and loves to dive into water, only she likes it when I throw or skip rocks.

Have fun getting wet!

I don't have a pool, but would like to introduce my 15 month old Chocolate Lab to water and swimming. I was thinking about getting a plastic kiddie pool as a way to introduce him to deeper water before taking him to the lake, pond or what have you. Something he can firmly plant his feet in, but still get used to the fact of having more than just his paws in water. It will also give him something to play in this summer when it hot, and doesn't necessarily require supervision.

rather than stairs there are many drop in ramps you can get at petco/smart that are a little better for dogs just getting used to swimming. Make sure you make the dog walk herself in and out, never pick up a dog and place them in water where they have to swim as it will likely just make them panic or worse encourage them to kick while you pick them up.

Usually just rinse the dog really well after the pool and she should be fine.

 Quote: Dan Walker

I don't have a pool, but would like to introduce my 15 month old Chocolate Lab to water and swimming. I was thinking about getting a plastic kiddie pool as a way to introduce him to deeper water before taking him to the lake, pond or what have you. Something he can firmly plant his feet in, but still get used to the fact of having more than just his paws in water. It will also give him something to play in this summer when it hot, and doesn't necessarily require supervision.

Those lil hard plastic ones that are easy to keep refilled often enough to NOT have a mosquito sanctuary are nice.


Our training club has a couple set up on summer training days, and we also haul one out at home for summer parties where dogs are present.

It allows the dog to get the belly and armpits cool and wet without soaking the back fur, which is good. On a dark dog, in the sun, soaked back-fur can create a steam-bath effect, holding heat against the skin.

About big pools:

I wanted to note carefully here something already pointed out: The first thing a dog must be shown in any pool (every different pool, too) is the way out. That is, the owner guides the dog to the steps more than once and watches the dog go up and down.

Dogs die in pools every year when they are exhausted by just staying afloat but don't know how to get out. They enter by jumping in and don't know (as we do) that there are steps somewhere if they just follow the edge until they come to them.

http://www.leerburg.com/qapup.htm#inground

is a good place to start.

I do have lakes near me, not necessarily a place where I would take her though. There is one place, a big pool in a flowing stream that I go trout fishing at where I could go and teach her. It’s like a beach area with knee deep water and there are deeper pools.

It’s brackish cedar water. I did google some dog stairs and they do make them for pools. From 100.00 to 300.00.

I need to get her used to the water and this stream would be the best bet for me, versus our pool.

Last question, is there a general rule of thumb of what the water temp should be before you think about going swimming?

Go by the dog. If they plunge in, it probably feels great ;-) If the dog is hesitant, wait for a warm or hot day when the water feels good to you too and go in with them. If it's too cold the dog may be less than enthusiastic about going in. I had a fox terrier as a child that would go swimming year round with ice on the water. (I cringe now thinking about it because what would have happened if she were to get stuck under the ice!) She would hit the ice hard and break through, swim around, get a rock (yes, a rock!) and swim back out, drop the rock, and repeat all day if allowed to. At night we would throw the rocks back in when she wasn't looking, lol.

Hi Joe,
Our dog Buster that we had for about 10 years was introduced to our pool by gently guiding him to the steps and pulling him into the water (we waited for a very hot day when the water was nice and warm). We showed him where the steps were (at each end of the pool), stayed close by while he "dog paddled" a little, and then let him get out by the steps.

He never would just get in on his own and swim. When it was very hot out (in Las Vegas we get many days of temps over 100 degrees), Buster would go down the first two steps (just enough to where the water was barely over his back). He would then jump out and lay in the shade to cool off. He would never get in the water if there was anyone within touching distance of him.

Our two dogs that we have now have never been in the pool on their own. Nickie fell into the pool the first week that we had him when he was 8 weeks old. Obviously he is very afraid of the water. Roni Hoff has helped us work with him on this fear. Our other dog Roxie accidentally fell in the pool when she was chasing a butterfly and wasn't watching where she was going. Our solar cover was on at the time & luckily I was right there to help her get out (if a dog happened to fall in and get under the solar cover, they would likely drown). That is the reason we always supervise our dogs when they are outside.

You can read a post that Mike Schoonbrood submitted on May 9 (the subject was a dog who was freaked out by car tires). Mike's idea is to not make a big deal out of getting in the water and the dog will be fine. My opinion is that every dog is different so that will not apply to ALL dogs.

I think the pool at Ed Frawley's house has a ramp - if you look under the dog training equipment - Orbee Balls, you can see a short video of Ed throwing his dog the Orbee ball and there seems to be a ramp at the end of the pool where the dog exits the water.