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She fell in the pool!

4K views 26 replies 23 participants last post by  Lizzie'sMom 
#1 ·
Gucci fell in the pool on Tuesday morning, first time ever! She will be 6 in January and I am posting this for those who have pools and *think* their dog is trained to stay away (like me) I think what happened was her top knot fell out during the night and when my husband took her out to pee at 6:30, she just couldn't see and fell in the pool. He was not outside when it happened but we generally wait around at the door and sometimes start coffee or tea in the kitchen (we let her out the kitchen sliding door) and he saw the pool waves and ran out there and got her out.

When he woke me up by telling me she fell in the pool, my heart dropped and I was in a total adrenaline fear state until I realized she was okay, but even then, I was rattled...

NOt 30 minutes later, my son drives his car into a tree and totals it on his way to school :( What an awful, awful day Tuesday was. (he is okay, apparently the power steering quit working or the car cut off, we aren't sure but he said the steering wheel locked completely up and he couldn't move it, shifting into 2nd gear and accelerating during a turn...manual tranny)

But I guess back to my original scare, I never in a million years thought she'd fall in, she would cautiously sniff at the pool, but stay a foot or so back and stretch in to sniff the pool, so just becasue you have a grown up dog, that's not a guarantee of anything.

I'm just grateful she's okay and am looking forward to closing the pool this weekend.

Kara
 
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#4 ·
So sorry to hear about your son and Gucci! I'm glad they are both ok. Pools always worry me and its a good reminder and warning to people who have them.

My clients little old dog fell in his pool last year. Unfortunately, the outcome was not good. She was old and they think sleepy when she fell in:(
 
#5 ·
sorry for your bad day . The scary thing about pools is that even if the dog can swim, they cant' get out of a lot of pools, and if no one can pull them out ,they can get exhausted and drown. There are adaptations you can use and then train them on how to get out.
 
#8 ·
That is scary!!! It is good they both are fine, I guess you had trouble sleeping after that. This is the first time in my life we do not have a pool, it is also the first time I am not paranoid about a dog or child falling in and getting hurt while I was not around. We always have had a special dog ramp, in the old days they were costly and were part of the pool, today you can buy plastic ones that are not hughly expense. Two of my dogs dock dive so I do not take them to the ML's house anymore...they have a dock on a lake and my girls will just jump in, there is no way to get them out without going in Yuck!

I hope your son is not traumatized from his ordeal and Gucci stays away from the pool.
 
#9 ·
Wow, what a rough day . The good news is they are both OK. We bought a pool cover the dogs can walk on (and they do). In the summer, we actually put them in the pool on really hot days (our pool is peroxide, not chlorine). Buzzy hates it, but we walk a few feet out and make sure he "swims" back. He can swim, he just hates it. I know that if he ever falls in, he knows how to get out. We will do the same with Oscar and show him the steps to slowly acclimate him in and teach him how to swim back in case he ever falls in (it take just a second to happen). We did this with my Bichons growing up- and one day my sister was running around the pool with them, tripped over one and he went flying in to the pool- it was nighttime and it was chilly (just before the pool was getting closed). She was a teenager and froze. The dog sunk to the bottom of the deep end, then realized what happened and swam to the shallow end. By that time my sister got it together and was able to get him. Scary, but teaching them really helped.
 
#18 ·
Rosie hates the pool, but I put her in it when she was a puppy and called her to the steps. She learned real fast how to get out. But she does hate it. I have taught my chickens how to get out also. My poor MIL got all excited last year trying to get a hen out of the pool. I hated to tell her that the hen could swim like a duck and knew where the steps were. It may seem cruel to put one in the pool and make them get out by themselves, but drowned dog is worse. But the really good news is that your son is fine. I couldn't imagine losing one of my children. Actually it was a really good day if you will think about it.
 
#19 ·
I've also given my Havs "swim lessons" which they don't appreciate but makes me feel better that they'll know how to get out if they accidentally fall in the pool. In fact, during a particularly exciting chase a month or so ago Kiki and Kai ran out the kitchen door and Kai ended up taking a dip by the pool steps. Naturally this event occurred about a day after I had given him a bath.
 
#20 · (Edited)
Thanks everyone!

I have given her lessons a handful of times and showed her where the steps were at, but she was trying to get out where the deep end skimmer was (NOT GOOD)

SOme freinds of mine lost their dog this year, French bulldog, fell in the pool and drowned while they were out of town (They put a doggie door in so they could go in and out as they pleased) they now bought one of those gate things from Frontgate, like a huge xpen to put around the pool, we will have to do something this year, I am going to look into the plastic ones, maybe that would be easier for her to remember to get out if this ever were to happen again.

Just goes to show you that you still have to keep an eye on them even when they are 5-6-7...10 years old they still need to be watched and protected like toddlers

I have a pic of my son's car; If I would've snapped a picture of Gucci wet after the incident, she was sitting on the bedroom floor looking up at me with these sad/ ashamed/ embarrassed eyes, like not sure if she was in trouble or not because my husband was so upset and I was so upset and I know she sensed the fear and adrenaline...but overall, I'd say she was just embarrassed. (And yes, I do think dogs feel embarrassment and more emotions than happy and fear, atleast Gucci does)

He says he feels dumb and that he thought only 'dumb people get into wrecks", sigh. He's certainly not dumb and the most cautious driver out of my 4 kids that drive, so that's no guarantee either.

I'm just glad my oldest son got home from Virginia Tech yesterday un harmed and safely, its funny how after bad things happen, you really start to appreciate the little 'good' things that you may take for granted otherwise...Thanksgiving day lesson!!

Kara
 

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#24 ·
Kara I'm glad your son is okay. I'm also glad your husband noticed the ripples in the pool . Does Gucci ever swim during the summer? I mean do you know if she know how to swim? I bet dealing with a wet dog first thing in the morning wasn't fun either. Glad your fur and human kids are okay.
 
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