Swimming in pool water...any precautions?

[books]

As some may have seen in my photos of Meg that  I posted last week, she is a true lover of water.  We took her yesterday to a friend's pool and this dog cannot get enough of the water.  She jumps in and just swims and plays all by herself with just sheer joy.  We usually go swimming there at least a few times a weeks and our friends, after witnessing Meg's pool time yesterday, have sent an open invitation for her to come as well.  I know that chlorine is bad for our hair, so what about dogs?  Do I need to do anything special for her?

[Maizy]

I found this.

 

I don't know how much of a help it will be. It does say to wash them down with fresh water and watch for irritated eyes. Don't let them drink the water.

[sharkie]

i'm not sure about the chlorine either. i started swimming this week and forgot to bring my goggles. my eyes are red, dry, and extremely irritating for 3-4 hours

[juliepoudrier]

Books,

I have a friend in SC that used to let his dogs swim in the pool and I don't recall him mentioning any ill effects. My dogs used to swim too when we visited and I don't remember red eyes or anything, but then they weren't sticking their heads under the water either. I would guess that rinsing her off with fresh water, as someone else mentioned, would help with the chlorine/hair thing.

 

J.

[books]

I just ask, because I know that choline is bad for our hair. It clings to the hair and leaves a sticky residue that only comes out with special shampoo. My daughter's hair is very fine and if we don't use the special shampoo, you can really tell by all the tangles that ensue. Granted, I'm not too worried about too many tangles in the dog's hair, I just wanted to make sure there wasn't anything else to be concerned about. When I used to work for the vets, we used to administer eyedrops prior to baths to protect the eyes. Maybe I'll try to get some of that for her eyes and just be sure to hose her down after she's done in the pool.

[MaryP]

I have a pool and my dogs swim in it nearly every day in the summer. The only problem that I have is with my one dog, Milo, whose fur is so dang thick. If he doesn't dry off fairly quickly, he'll get stinky. He's the only one, though.

 

The chlorine may be high when you first add it, but if it is at a maintenance level, it's actually lower than that of drinking water (unless you are on well water). My bf, who was a contaminants biologist for many years, told me this. I had to see for myself, though, and tested my tap water with my pool test kit. He was right. The chlorine in my tap water was much higher than in my pool.

 

I was talking with another rescuer here in FL a few months back and she was telling me about some research linking chlorine exposure with incidence of cancer in dogs. Of course, I don't know what level of exposure she was talking about. Too much of anything can have the potential to cause cancer.

 

The only other thing that I would caution you on is if she is the kind of dog that drinks the water, you don't want her in the pool too long. Dogs can actually die from drinking too much water. This would really only be a concern if she's the kind that just gulps water the whole while she's playing.

[ShoresDog]

We've not noticed any problems with Daisy swimming in my mom's pool, and she certainly has had a lot of fun. She very quickly learned where the steps were. Though she doesn't seem to have any trouble getting out, I wouldn't let her go in without a person there watching over. Just like with children.

 

 

I can't seem to find any pictures of Tundra in the pool. She loves water. She's a Samoyed-Siberian Husky cross, and she has soooooo much fur that we've had issues with dog hair in the filter. Even when we run the filter pump the whole time she's in the pool, a lot of hair ends up in the filter basket, and yet you can still see hair floating all over the surface of the pool. Just for fun, here's a picture of her in the ocean.