PET LOVERS: Let your dog enjoy your pool too.
By: Bassel de Jaroueh, Owner at Casa Pools

Most, but not all dogs can swim. The best time to encourage a dog into a swimming pool is when they are young. Most dogs LOVE to swim.

Many pool owners ask many questions about dogs and swimming pools.

Here are some tips we have from where enjoy swimming with your four-legged friends.

First and foremost, Cleanliness and Hygiene is what matters.

What is the best type of chemical to use in my pool if my dog likes to swim?

Someone said  �A dog in the pool is equal to 20 swimmers in the pool.� While this may or may not be true, keeping your pool properly chlorinated is a must. Only 0.5 ppm of free chlorine will kill the E. coli bacteria in six minutes or less. So always keep an eye on your chlorine level set to pool standards of 2 ppm�4 ppm.

The proven way to sanitize swimming pools is with chlorine. Without chlorine and its benefits the world would not be where it is at providing clean, drinkable, life-sustaining water.

The key to chlorine is proper management. The nasty odors you may have experienced, as well as the itchy red eyes, are in fact not a result of too much chlorine, but rather the opposite. Combined chlorine and chlorinates is the enemy, not chlorine by itself. Chlorine's effectiveness is very much affected by other factors such as pH, alkalinity, hardness and temperature.

"Fiberglass pool does not impact water balance because there's no mineral exchange with the water," says Casa Pools. "Once you set the pH and alkalinity in a fiberglass pool, it remains far more stable."

Another tip is to use a skimmer sock to catch dog hair and remove it from the pool. This can help cut down on clogs and cleaning time of the filter. As always, it is important that your filter runs the required turnover, given your region and swimmer load.

"There's very little opportunity for anything to stick or grow on the wall or the floor of the fiberglass pool," explains Casa Pools. "Concrete surfaces, or even vinyl, will tend to hold dirt a little bit more. Fiberglass Pool cleaners have an easier time removing dirt and cleaning the surface, you don't have to brush the pool as often and your chemicals don't have to work as hard."

Colorful floating toys are also a fun addition to the pool. Both dogs and kids love a good game of fetch, so why not move it into the pool?

Labrador watching the installation of a Fiberglass Pool.

Dogs are important members or the family and love to be part of the group. With these tips, you can make pool time fun for everybody.