Swimming with your dog in a pool can be fun and refreshing, but taking precautions is essential to ensure your dog’s safety and health.
Is It a Good Idea to Let Dogs Swim in the Pool?
First, only dogs that have already received the first round of vaccines and anti-parasitic treatment should be immersed in water.
Many dogs enjoy spending hours in the water with their owners.
The most significant risks are run in its first months of life when the animal is in the most fragile health. In this article, you will find out how to make your dogs enjoy the pool with you healthily.
Can All Dogs Bathe in the Pool?
In principle, all dogs can enjoy a nice dip in the pool in the company of their owners. As long as they like this activity, both they and their owners. Their body and state of health must allow them to bathe safely.
Just like people, dogs have different personalities, preferences, and abilities; a helpful indicator to understand their importance in terms of bathrooms is, for example, race.
Some breeds, such as the Labrador and the Golden Retriever, the Newfoundland, or the aquatic dogs, demonstrate a natural aptitude for diving. These dogs can swim perfectly, having been selected by man to adapt to the marine environment.
Conversely, for example, in the case of brachycephalic breeds, swimming can be a real challenge due to their physical constitution. Their snout is elongated, making breathing more complex and consequently decreasing lung capacity. For this reason, these dog breeds have to work hard to be able to swim.
However, what makes the difference most of the time is not race, size, or age but personality, health, and training.
Can Puppies Swim?
A newborn puppy isn’t ready to move independently on land or in water. Over time, the little one will develop physically, cognitively, emotionally, and socially, gradually gaining more and more independence.
Baths should be avoided before a puppy has completed a vaccination course and anti-parasitic treatment. However, you can bring it closer to the water and refresh it slightly by wetting it a bit to get used to it. In this way, you will give time for his immune system to strengthen enough to allow him this new experience.
Furthermore, before immersing your dog, it is essential to consult a trusted veterinarian. In the clinic, he will be able to ascertain your pet’s actual state of health and give you suggestions on the process of adaptation to the water used.
Can Dogs and People Swim in the Same Pool?
Having a swimming pool at home can be a great way to enjoy some fun and refreshing time with your dog. However, taking some precautions is essential to ensure the experience is safe and enjoyable for everyone. For larger pools, it’s crucial to have a fine sand filter and a disposable fine filter for the skimmer basket.
Disinfection can be done using active oxygen tablets or saline electrolysis, and it’s essential to keep an eye on the chlorine level to ensure it’s not too high, as this can cause diarrhea and vomiting in dogs. It’s important to never leave your dog unsupervised in the pool and to give them a quick shower after each swim.
Small plastic paddling pools may not be a good option for dogs as they can easily break and contain small parts that may be dangerous if swallowed. Paddling pools made of hard plastic can also be too slippery and increase the risk of injury.
Advice for Having a Safe and Enjoyable Time With Your Dog in the Pool.
- To ensure your dog’s safety, it’s essential that they can quickly enter and exit the pool.
- A pool ramp can be helpful for your dog to access the water.
- To reduce the risk of contamination, it’s recommended to cover the pool when it’s not in use.
- It’s essential to be aware of the potential for slipping in the pool, especially for dogs with stability issues or that are elderly.
- For larger pools, it’s essential to have a specialized filter and regularly disinfect the water, for example, by using active oxygen.
- After swimming, it’s essential to dry your dog immediately, mainly if the temperature outside is not high.
- Just like humans, dogs are not recommended to swim on a full stomach.
In addition to consulting a veterinarian, it is equally important to take certain precautions and preventive measures to ensure your pet’s safety. Below, therefore, give you some advice to help you make the most of your summer days by the pool with your four-legged friend.
It’s important to always supervise your dog while they are in the pool and never leave them unsupervised.
Even if we have a perfectly equipped swimming pool, we should never leave our dog alone in the water. Dogs can suffer from spasms or sleep attacks, which will prevent them from moving properly and, therefore, from being able to get out of the pool. Precisely for these reasons, the risk of an accident can be very high.
The idea is, therefore, that the dogs always have a collar on while playing in the water.
Hydration and Protection Against the Sun’s Rays
Excessive exposure to sunlight can cause burns or other serious diseases such as skin cancer. In pet stores, we can find special sunscreens for dogs. It is essential to apply them on the exposed parts of your dog, being careful not to touch the eyes and nose.
It is also essential to reinforce the animal’s hydration by keeping it in the shade during the hottest hours of the day and making it drink a lot. Extreme heat can dehydrate you and cause heatstroke.
Rinse and Dry Your Dog Thoroughly After a Swim
After bathing the dog in the pool, it is important to rinse it with running water to remove the chlorine. Then dry it very carefully, paying particular attention to the ears. An accumulation of humidity favors the proliferation of fungi, mites, and other microorganisms, jeopardizing their health.
Give Them Preventive Medication
If we want to take advantage of the summer season in the pool with our dog, it is crucial to increase the pesticide treatments that we usually administer to them. Dogs will always need preventive medicinal therapy throughout their lives.
Strengthen Hygiene
We must reinforce water hygiene if we want to share the pool with our dog. The advice is to clean the pool regularly, every two or three days, to avoid accumulating hair or impurities. In addition, you must brush the animal’s fur daily to prevent dirt from getting there.