I got a above ground 15 ft x 36 inch soft sided pool yesterday from a friend that came with pump and chemicals. All the chemicals have either "step 1" or "step 2" all the way to step 4 written on the front. The bottles instructions are very confusing. I can say they are HTH chemicals. I wish they just said, "this is the bottle you use first, use this much for this size pool, then use this one and so one. There are lots of abbreviations I have no clue about and I "tested" the water with a test strip but had NO idea how to read the dang thing! I need help please!!!! I also have a puppy who loves the water and I want her to be able to enjoy it along with me. I have heard mixed things about chlorine and dogs. I would like to get your take on that as well. So far there are no chemicals in my pool and its day 2. I need to put them in ASAP I am sure. Thanks for your help and feed back! Did you go through this when you go a new pool as well?