Is Your Pet Safe at the Pool This Summer?

Is Your Pet Safe at the Pool This Summer?
In the summer owning a pool can be a great source of fun for the entire family—even for your pets. It also can be a safety challenge if you are not careful.
Pool safety issues for pets and kids are very similar, and they go far beyond just careful supervision. With children and pets, you can never assume that you can watch them all the time. It only takes a minute of distraction for either one to run out the door and into the pool. In fact, one study showed that in the case of children, supervision failed in 69 percent of the drowning incidents.
With that said, pools can be great fun for your pet. Here are just a few of the issues you should consider:

• Although many dogs love the water, don't assume they can swim naturally. Never throw a dog into the pool, he may panic and not be able to climb the slick sides to get out of the pool.
• Even excellent swimmers will gradually lose their ability as they age and become weaker. In addition, senior dogs are more prone to slipping and falling into a pool.
• Heat and sunlight are more intense around the pool. Your dog cannot keep as cool as you, so watch for signs of overheating. Don't let your dog drink from the pool-- the chlorine can make him sick.
• You should also be aware that chlorinated water may irritate your dog's eyes. When the two of you are finished playing in the pool, hose your dog down with fresh water to get the chlorine out.    

When designing safety measures, many people find it helpful to think of "layers of protection" to guard against the unforeseen. For instance, when you are away, what's to stop someone else's child or pet from wandering into your backyard pool? The following are a few tips that can avert tragedy:

• Install a pool fence or barrier. This is your first and best line of defense. The fence should have a self-closing, self-latching gate.  D&D’s TruClose self-closing hinges combined with the MagnaLatch magnetic latch provide the ultimate safety hinge and latch system for your pool gate.

• Keep doors to the pool securely closed. Many dogs and cats can nose open doors, so make sure there is no gap between the door jam or sliding glass door runner and the door itself.

For your health and the health of your pet, make sure your pool's chemical balance is correct. As any pool owner knows, it takes very little to throw your pool out of balance. Your pet can get sick if he drinks or is exposed to the green algae that inevitably invades your pool now and again.
Be sure to remember these tips and your family and pets will have a fun and safe summer!

Are you risking your pets life?

It’s a common misconception to think that all dogs know how to swim. While dogs drowning in pools rarely make the news, people don’t realize how often this actually happens. It is estimated that over 5,000 family pets drown in backyard pools each year.

While we wouldn’t think to leave our dogs in a hot car, we need to also think we would never leave our dog around an unfenced pool either. Since your dog typically can’t make these decisions not to be left in a hot car or be left around an unfenced pool, the safety actions provided are for you to act upon because chances are your pet(s) can’t read either.

 

Now perhaps you’re saying to yourself “My dog never goes near the pool. He’s afraid of water. He hates baths he definitely doesn’t want to go in the pool.” A dog running by

the pool can slip and fall in. A dog playing with another dog can be pushed in. A dog that never has gone into water just does, and the reason why is never known. So the fact that your pet has yet to drown in the family pool is like rolling the dice. And, maybe your dog will never fall in the pool but as a pet owner you need to be reminded that you are responsible for the care and safety of your pet.

 

Follow the layers of protection:

·       Train your dog to know where your pool steps are and how to find his way out in case he does find himself alone in the pool. Don’t assume your dog knows where they are and due to a dog’s physical build, the ability to find the stairs is their only hope in survival.

·        ALWAYS know where pets and children are. Never leave a child unattended in or near water in a pool, tub, lake, river, canal or ocean, even when lifeguards are present.

·        If a pet or child is missing, always check the pool or spa first.

·       Install “isolation fencing” which completely separates the pool or spa area from the house or other structures. An isolation fence restricts unauthorized access from neighbors’ yards, other nearby buildings, and from inside the house. Isolation fencing is the preferred configuration for pool and spa protection.

·        All fences must be non-climbable, meet all applicable local safety codes, and should be at least 60” tall, with vertical bars set close to one another so that a small pet child cannot squeeze through, consider the Puppy Guard Add On like these offered by American One Fence & Railing.

·       Pool gates should be self-closing and self-latching and accommodate a locking device such as the rust-free MagnaLatch® Top Pull or the MagnaLatch® Vertical Pull (also known as the pet safey latch), along with self-closing hinges like the TruClose®.

·      Gates should open away from the pool and have self-closing hinges, and should never be propped open. Check and adjust your gate regularly to make sure it operates correctly.

·      Keep anything that can be climbed, such as chairs, tables, storage bins, playground equipment, ice chests, etc. inside the fence area.