# Inground pool pretection!!



## Ribrustler (May 5, 2011)

Hello,

It has been awhile since I have posted so I hope everybody and their fur children have been good! 
Now to get to the question! We have just moved out of the city(finally) and our new house has 2 acres of fenced property and we also have an inground pool. It is winter time right now and there is a winter cover on the pool, but it is one of the cheaper winter covers that has slack in it like a tarp and you just put weight on the outsides to hold the cover in place. Needless to say Koko wants to run across the pool, play on the pool cover etc. Does anybody out there have any suggestions for pool safety? I am going to install a new winter cover next fall - the safety ones that stretch tight so humans or animals do not fall through, but I need to come up with a solution for the short term. I am mixed about teaching her to stay away from the pool completly because in the summer I would allow her to jump in while we are supervising. I am not very keen on shock collars or shock fences but am leaning that way. I do see that they sell fencing but it is extremely expensive and am looking for some ideas on a less costly method.


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## skew12 (Aug 28, 2012)

maybe some form of temporary fence. i guess it kind of depends on how relentless your dog is at getting into that pool though.


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## arby665 (Nov 21, 2012)

Ribrustler said:


> Hello,
> 
> It has been awhile since I have posted so I hope everybody and their fur children have been good!
> Now to get to the question! We have just moved out of the city(finally) and our new house has 2 acres of fenced property and we also have an inground pool. It is winter time right now and there is a winter cover on the pool, but it is one of the cheaper winter covers that has slack in it like a tarp and you just put weight on the outsides to hold the cover in place. Needless to say Koko wants to run across the pool, play on the pool cover etc. Does anybody out there have any suggestions for pool safety? I am going to install a new winter cover next fall - the safety ones that stretch tight so humans or animals do not fall through, but I need to come up with a solution for the short term. I am mixed about teaching her to stay away from the pool completly because in the summer I would allow her to jump in while we are supervising. I am not very keen on shock collars or shock fences but am leaning that way. I do see that they sell fencing but it is extremely expensive and am looking for some ideas on a less costly method.


 
I would take the current cover off if there is a chance of Koko getting onto it. If she gets on it she may be in real trouble. When we had our pool put in we were told if we weren't going to use a safety cover then don't use anything because those are dangerous. If a person or animal gets on it they could get wrapped up and drown very easily. Our pup likes to run across the safety cover and it sinks just enough for her to have some water to play in. I can't wait until this summer to get her swimming!


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## skew12 (Aug 28, 2012)

arby665 said:


> I would take the current cover off if there is a chance of Koko getting onto it. If she gets on it she may be in real trouble. When we had our pool put in we were told if we weren't going to use a safety cover then don't use anything because those are dangerous. If a person or animal gets on it they could get wrapped up and drown very easily. Our pup likes to run across the safety cover and it sinks just enough for her to have some water to play in. I can't wait until this summer to get her swimming!


This is a very good point. Those tarps can be death traps.


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## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

skew12 said:


> maybe some form of temporary fence.


Agreed. Some time ago I installed a temporary fence to try to help some grass grow near my house where Pimg runs a lot (I've since given up on all hope of grass). The fence was just cheap landscaping fence that I installed with long stakes. It worked just fine- but admittedly Pimg is amazingly respectful of boundaries.

Not the best pic, but it's all I have on hand. You can see the fence and stakes:


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## Ribrustler (May 5, 2011)

Thank you for the replies, I will probably have to do some type of temporary fencing. The problem is it will not be cheap as I have concrete right up to the house and one side of the pool, so i will need to come up with something rather large to reach the grass. It does not help that the ground is frozen either...


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## Ribrustler (May 5, 2011)

We cannot leave the winter cover off up here in Michigan... I am going to buy a safety cover this fall, they do not like to install them in winter because the ground is heaved and they have to install threaded inserts into the concrete, or else i would have one installed right now.


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## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

Ribrustler said:


> Thank you for the replies, I will probably have to do some type of temporary fencing. The problem is it will not be cheap as I have concrete right up to the house and one side of the pool, so i will need to come up with something rather large to reach the grass. It does not help that the ground is frozen either...


Take a 10 gallon bucket, fill with water, insert stake, set outside to freeze. Instant posts.


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## AJT (Jun 20, 2012)

Got an in-ground pool here too and understand the pool tarp/cover issue. We actually have a 5 foot fence with a gate entrance surrounding our pool. Not just for keeping the dog out but also to attempt to keep wandering kids from falling in. I think in our neck of the woods it's an insurance risk to not have your in-ground pool fenced. 

Not having a pool cover is not an option for us since our pool is lined and the water capacity would take several days to refill if we opt to drain the pool.


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## RowdyDogs (Nov 12, 2012)

I would either figure out a temporary fence, or make a rule that she either has to be supervised directly or tied up when outside. I'm not a fan of tying dogs, but I've known of 2 different dogs who drowned by running over non-safety pool covers, and I consider it a huge safety risk that outweighs the temporary unpleasantness of tying the dog out.

Also, when you do get a safety cover, be sure to inspect it routinely for tears. A friend of mine had a really close call when her dog fell through a tear in the cover that she wasn't aware of--fortunately the dog was able to keep his upper body on the cover and she saw it so could run out and save him, but the tear was big enough for him to fall completely through. Just something to keep in mind for the future.


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## Ribrustler (May 5, 2011)

Lauri & The Gang said:


> Take a 10 gallon bucket, fill with water, insert stake, set outside to freeze. Instant posts.


That is what I ended up doing but I poured quickrete into some 5 gallon buckets and i am letting it harden up with the posts in it. I have the fence up- I used 4' tall snow fence and bought a dozen poles and pounded them in to the frozen geround last night. Thankfully Koko is not an aggressive perimeter tester. We do not leave her outside for long periods of time or else I am sure her german shepher curosity would get the best of her and she would get thru the fencing, but for now I can watch from the window and if noses or paws the fence i can give a command and she understands with the barrier in place.


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## Ribrustler (May 5, 2011)

AJT said:


> Got an in-ground pool here too and understand the pool tarp/cover issue. We actually have a 5 foot fence with a gate entrance surrounding our pool. Not just for keeping the dog out but also to attempt to keep wandering kids from falling in. I think in our neck of the woods it's an insurance risk to not have your in-ground pool fenced.
> 
> Not having a pool cover is not an option for us since our pool is lined and the water capacity would take several days to refill if we opt to drain the pool.


Completely understood, my fence around my yard and pool is 6 foot privacy fence and there are 3 gates - they all have locks on them at all times - even in the winter time.


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## Karin (Jan 4, 2008)

We had a pool when we first got Heidi and on her very first day, as she was running around our yard, she slipped and fell into the pool. She didn't know how to swim and was flapping around with straight arms, totally panicked. Luckily, she was close to the edge, so we grabbed her and pulled her to the steps.

Since then, we always supervised her when she was outside (the pool was not positioned in a way that it could be easily fenced). It was a pain, but I always worried that she would fall in. We did that for nine years until we moved last year! Our next house will not have a pool. That's great that you put a fence right away.


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## AJT (Jun 20, 2012)

Ribrustler said:


> Completely understood, my fence around my yard and pool is 6 foot privacy fence and there are 3 gates - they all have locks on them at all times - even in the winter time.


Ahhh..yea the temporary fence would do the trick. Would it make sense to do an underground fence system? I don't know if you would want that type of collar on the dog...

I just realize spring will be around the corner and all those **** little birds love bathing on top of the tarp...grr.


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