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Pool/Water Safety

Discussion in 'Sheltie Training' started by Jess041, Jul 3, 2017.

  1. Jess041

    Jess041 Forums Enthusiast

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    Feb 2, 2012
    Houston, Texas
    I'm the proud owner of one of those rare swimming shelties. Missy learned to enjoy the water as a puppy because we live in Texas where we have a long hot and humid Summer. If she's hot, she'll go looking for some sort of body of water to cool off in. We are also lucky enough to have a friend with a pool where we can go over and swim to get some exercise without getting too hot. I don't let her get in and out of the pool, mostly because I don't want her tearing up her paw pads running around the edge. She mostly just swims around retrieving her toy, but knows how to use the steps to get out if she really needs to get out. But for the most part she doesn't.

    Yesterday when we were done swimming, my friends and I were sitting in the shade talking and my friend's dog was hanging out next to her, but Missy was kinda wandering around the yard. Eventually she starts to dry off and gets hot again, so she would walk up to the edge of the pool, stare at the water contemplating whether or not she wanted to jump in, and then she jumped in, swam around for a little bit, then got out. 5 minutes later, she did the same thing. After that every time she went up to the edge I would call her back because I knew what she was thinking. At that point I didn't want her to get in because I wanted her to finish drying off more before we left.

    Her jumping into the pool is not a huge problem if I'm outside watching her. But I want to teach her she can't just jump in when she pleases, that she needs permission to jump in. The main reason for this is, my parents are planning on putting a pool in their new house in the next year or so. When they first asked what she would do with a pool in the yard, I told them she'll jump in! They have a gate so they can keep the dogs on the large porch, and sometimes it's used to keep them off the porch. On nice days, it's not unusual for them to let the dogs hang out outside unsupervised. Obviously, that's not going to be something we can do once they install a pool. But does anyone have any tips for keeping a dog out of the pool? I want to avoid any type of accident. I'm not sure if my parents are going to want to get one of those big fences you can put around the pool to keep kids from accidentally getting in.
     
  2. Shelby's mom

    Shelby's mom Forums Enthusiast

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    Jan 4, 2012
    We had the rare swimming Sheltie too. My mom had a gate at the pool so Hollie could not get in when it was closed. We never let her out unsupervised either. I also taught her how to get out by herself. Just watch their ears. Hollie would sometimes get water in her ears and get an infection. She also would get sunburn on her ears so we would always put sunscreen on them. Enjoy the swimming. It is so much more fun with the pups.
     

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