Summer Pool Fun

With summer finally arrived in Oregon (not that I was complaining about our mild and somewhat wet weather while we had it), and our pool set up in the yard, the dogs are going out every afternoon for a bit of swimming.

Both dogs like balls, which makes it easy to get them motivated to get in the water and swim around. With the ramp giving them easy access to the pool, they jump in, swim around, and get out as they feel like it, while I throw their ball for them to have a bit more motivation.

Koira has a bit of a problem of trying to steal Ptera's ball. Which isn't an issue except that Koira will try this even when the ball is in Ptera's mouth (and while Koira's ball is still floating in the pool), which has resulted in the puppy going under water a few times. We're working on it, and I stay in the pool with them to supervise and make sure things are safe.

I love that even in super hot weather, having a pool means the dogs get to exercise as much as we want. I don't have to worry about them overheating, or about the pavement burning their paws, or us not having enough water along on a walk or hike. In fact, I actually have to make sure they stay warm enough, since the water is pleasantly cool and if there is a breeze (especially in the evening when the yard is in shade), the dogs can start shivering.

Ptera was very unsure about water when she first came home. I am happy to say that that is no longer the case. She doesn't absolutely love water like Koira yet, but she happily jumps in to get her ball. She is learning how to go to the ramp to get out of the pool, and her confidence seems to be growing every time.

The biggest struggle I have is when the dogs get their balls and then go down the ramp outside the pool, then drop their ball out in the yard. At least 50% of the time, Koira won't bring her ball back. And Ptera doesn't seem to realize she can climb the ramp with a ball in her mouth. So I spend a good deal of time climbing in and out of the pool to retrieve abandoned balls. Which gets frustrating for me, because that isn't really the fun part of things. So I generally end up ending the swimming sessions because they keep leaving the balls in the yard and I am getting frustrated and don't want to take it out on them. Even so, we all spend a good deal of time in the pool before it becomes an issue, and I try to head them off by grabbing the ball as they go up the ramp or just as they arrive at the platform at the top of the ramp.

Snatching the ball before she drops it out into the yard.

As we play in the pool more and more, the dogs get the system down, and figure out how things work. They figure out where the ramp is to enter the pool, they swim directly to the ramp to exit the pool, and they turn around when they get on the platform, excited for the next throw of the ball.

And while Ptera might be new to swimming, she is doing great with it. Not just her confidence in going into the water, though that is going up, but in her actual swimming ability. In the pool, I tend to alternate having life jackets on and swimming without them, so that the dogs learn both how to function with them on (for our river trips), and how to have a good, effective swimming stroke without them. And something I love about the GoPro is that it gives me a chance not just to take adorable pictures of the dogs in water, but I can get some adorable shots showing exactly what the dogs are doing underwater.

I need to get a good picture of Koira underwater too, but for now, Ptera's underwater power stroke is absolutely adorable.

Are you surviving the summer heat? Do your dogs like to swim to cool down?

Wordless Wednesday: Beating the Heat

I finally have the pool set up, with a custom pool ladder/ramp set up for the dogs to easily get into and out of the pool. Just in time for the first temps in the 90s since the beginning of June.

Impatiently waiting at the top of the ladder for the next throw of the ball

Easy exit from the pool is essential for safety, as is training the dog to go automatically to the ramp when they want out of the pool

Both dogs find this ramp super easy to use, and Koira remembered her training from last summer and went immediately to the ramp every time.

Swimming swimming swimming

My little landsharks, becoming water sharks.

Water brings out a bit of the crazy in Koira

Operation Dog Pool: Complete

I finished the dog pool set up. Last week on Thursday, we set up the pool itself. On Friday, I built a ramp and mini dock for the outside of the pool, so that the dogs didn't have to use the human pool ladder. This morning, we finished attaching our new in-pool exit ramp with some vinyl coated steel cable, and took some videos of the whole setup in use.







I think the dogs are going to have a blast in the pool this summer, what do you think?

Fit Dog Friday: Pool

On Wednesday, I bought myself and my dogs a pool for the summer.

The new pool. Taken with my underwater camera, so seriously lacking in picture quality.

I've seriously been wanting a pool for years, and now, I finally have one. It is twelve feet long, six feet wide, and three feet deep, which makes it plenty deep for the dogs to swim, and even big enough for the humans to swim a little bit as well.

Also taken with the underwater camera, but I liked the picture anyway. You can see at the bottom that Koira can't possibly wait to get into the pool.

The pool got set up yesterday, and this morning, it finally finished filling and was ready to use. And just in time, because our forecast has temps in the 80s and 90s all week.

I actually did three separate sessions of pool time with Koira. She kept getting to a point that she was shaking violently. I'm not totally sure if it was from excitement or from being cold. I was in the water with her and not particularly cold. But once she started shaking, I took her out for a break to calm down and warm up.

I tossed Koira's lifejacket on and we played in the pool for a bit. I had worked with her yesterday on climbing the pool ladder (without the pool in the picture) and she did okay. It became abundantly clear, however, that it just wasn't going to be the best long term solution. So this afternoon, I set about making a ramp and mini dock for her for the pool.

This is the new mini dock I just worked on today. It overhangs the pool side by just a few inches, and is topped with an old yoga mat to give some traction. 

By the end of the day, I had a mini dock and a ramp up to it from outside the pool. It still needs a few adjustments here and there (a few more slats on the up ramp to give her more grip, and plug the hole between the ramp and the dock part with something so she doesn't catch a foot in there) but overall, I am calling the mini dock project complete.

You can see here the ramp to the ground. I need to add a few more cross pieces to give more traction. I also need to close that gap between the ramp and the dock, and hammer in that nail more- I just noticed the nail in the picture, otherwise I would have fixed that earlier. 

What I still need to work on is something the helps Koira climb OUT of the pool. The pool ladder kinda sorta works, but not well, and I want Koira to be confident in the pool. Part of that means she needs to be able to get out easily. At the same time, I really don't want to spend fifty plus dollars on a pool ramp for my dog. So I am researching DIY pool ramps and trying to figure out what course we want to take. I was originally actually going to do a ramp similar to the one outside the pool, but realized that the wood is just too buoyant and won't stay down in the water. And then wood will likely get waterlogged and slippery after some use. If you happen to have any ideas, please, let me know.

Eagerly waiting on the other side of the fence. 

But, no matter what we decide for the dog ramp, I think it is safe to say that Koira is looking forward to a summer full of swimming in the new pool. You can see, even when I was just taking pictures of our mini dock, she was jealous and wanted to come swim. Silly girl.