Should all dogs learn to swim even if they hate getting wet?
Pet safety tips for private and public pools, and dog beach activities
“I'm worried about that little black dog,” the lady said aloud at the dog park. “I know she's got to be hot, and I want her to get in the pool.”
Although her daughter was standing nearby, the comment was said loud enough for me to hear from at least 20 feet away.
Meanwhile, my Hound mix Junee was darting around like Rosie from “The Jetsons,” collecting all the balls at the dog park and putting them in a pile. I counted six. While other dogs were interested in playing Fetch, Junee was playing a game of Hoarders.
But there was one place I knew she was not going: the water fountain area with dogs splashing around in a plastic pool. Although Junee is a short-haired dog whose fur will dry in about 30 minutes on a rainy day, she is not a fan of getting wet. She will happily sit for a shampooing to avoid that wet dog smell after the rain, but being the four-legged version of Cullen Jones or Simone Manuel is last on her list. I have joked that she both physically and literally acts like a black girl in the rain. With us, it's a fresh relaxer. With her, it's damp fur that blocks her from sitting on my couches and spying on the neighborhood.
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So going out of her way to get wet for fun is slim to no chance. Two women at the dog park told me their pets also dodged the pool until their dogs accidentally ran in the plastic tub while chasing a ball or another dog. Junee, on the other hand, has backed away from wet dogs who shake their fur out, reacting the way I did to anybody coughing during the COVID-19 pandemic. (I don’t know why, but these wet dogs love to splash in the water and then immediately run over to me to be petted. It has happened so many times with dogs I don’t know to the point I’m starting to think they’re telling each other to do it.)
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I learned to swim when I was 6 years old and make a point of doing laps on every vacation. Yet, I have never been phased by my dog showing no interest in pools. I once watched a guy complain about his dog “being a bitch” for running away from the pool. Then again, this was the same guy who loudly complained about an Indian couple being “Dog Karens” for not wanting their dog to play with his (very lively) dog, so he was not the best example my own dog could observe for fun in the dog pool. (I do like his dog, although he always tries to lick the sunglasses off my face.)
In all the times I have visited dog parks, I have only seen one person ever clean it. Coincidentally, same guy who complains about Dog Karens. Am I cheating my dog out of dog pool fun? Should I have taken her closer to the dog beach I used to hike on so she could enjoy Lake Michigan as much as digging in the sand? Am I doing her a disservice by not pressing the dog swimming issue? And how do people with home pools keep clumps of hair from clogging it and ruining everyone's swim?