Funny, NOT Funny...close your gates!!!

[PoolStored]

Made my rounds to water some hanging plants. Keep the watering can under the sink by the pool. Walked out the gate (where I'm standing to take pic) to get to the other side of the house to water plants. Thought nothing of it. When I was done watering, I came back to this. Given the water pattern, I'm guessing a dog ran into the pool in the shallow end (small water pattern), got itself free from the cover (rumpled cover), used the steps, shook off the water and trotted away. I always keep my gates closed when I'm not around, left them open when I went to water the plants.

Stuff can happen QUICK. Stay safe out there and keep 'em gates closed!

(NOTICE: Yes, I know that gates can have springs. Mine do but are not turned "on" at the moment as the gates are new and we are waiting for pins & stops. Spring loading will damage the gates at this point.)

 

[Texas Splash]

That's kind of scary.

 

[PoolStored]

That's kind of scary.

Yeah, no question. I'm glad I was there, if the dog hadn't have gotten out, I hope I would have returned in time. I only have a few plants to water, couldn't have been open for more that 5 minutes max. The more odd part is that I didn't hear anything (granted I was on the other side of the house).

 

[kimkats]

Good lesson for us all. Glad they got out on their own.

 

[HermanTX]

We had friends that lost a dog to a very similar situation, but it was their house, and they had a grass section fenced off (for the dog) from the pool area and the fence gate got left open somehow and dog was found under the pool cover unfortunately.

You are right - things can happen fairly quickly and need to have gates, fences closed at all times.

We have a large remote-controlled gate across our driveway and found we left it open overnight after we did some late evening gardening. My wife is overprotective on locking doors and gates and somehow we missed this after gardening last night. First thing I did was check the pool when we saw it was open. Plus, I checked the camera as we have one on the pool area.

Pool owners take on a more responsibility and must be diligent.

 

[Kaylee34]

Very scary! This is one of my worst fears with having a pool. Glad this turned out well.

 

[Andy49]

I am wondering if they make ‘Dog Log’ similar to Frog Log. My daughter’s dog is pretty old and they come over frequently.

 

[kimkats]

Why yes they do!!! We have the scamper ramp for our cats. If you have a small dog it will work. There are some great DIY ones for larger dogs but they also sell them.

 

[Newdude]

The presumed dog (because a large enough racoon to move that much cover would have left it in 600 pieces) was lucky to roll out the right driection. He could have just as easily become an underwater burrito.

Solar covers are inherently very dangerous to anyone / anything in the pool area. We become numb to the danger quickly but the danger never goes away.

When my dog was trapped with 500(?) gallons, his cocoon weighed 7.481 lbs per gallon, plus the 120 lb dog. Swap his weight for a 40 lb toddler and the weight doesn't change much but the utter panic sure does.

 

[Flying Tivo]

Solar covers are inherently very dangerous to anyone

Im glad i live were i dont need a cover, and wouldnt buy it either for this same reason. The first thing i did when letting my dogs use the pool, was to always aim for the stairs. The 2 large dogs instantly knew were to go, the little one not so much, but now they know.

 

[dfwnoob]

The first time we ever used the solar cover, it took 6 hours before the dog tried to walk across it. Never again. Fortunately, we don't really need it down here, we only threw it on because I thought my pump had died and it was the middle of winter.

 

[mgtfp]

We have friends whose dog died in the neighbours' pool under the cover. Dog disappeared one day. Took a while until the neighbours found the dead dog under the cover in the pool. I think it happened in winter when the pool is not used.

 

[Lake Placid]

Up front I will say I agree whole heartedly with the spirit of the post and yes I love animals and truly wish no ill will to any of them…NOW FOR MY RANT

My property is two tiered in the back yard. The lower level is fenced in on all sides by standard 3ft chain link fence with no gates accessible to the adjoining land behind me. 3-5 feet inside this fence, I have a nearly vertical 7 foot tall stone retaining wall that encompasses the back side of my entire elevated back yard. On top of the retaining wall is a 4 foot tall vinyl picket style fence in my avatar. This fence surrounds my elevated back yard and adjoins on the sides with 8 foot vinyl privacy fences, appropriate self closing locking gates etc that ultimately adjoin the house. My back yard is nearly hermetically sealed.

One of my neighbors has a beagle that routinely (multiple times a week) escapes his confines at all hours and runs around the neighborhood howling like only a beagle can do. I have watched this dog dig under my chain link, scale the retaining wall, wriggle under the vinyl picket fence and run around my yard howling his stupid little beagle howl while depositing gifts for me to pick up. This has happened on multiple occasions…..and I’m locked up in the back like Fort Knox….

………………….Is it bad of me after reading this thread to think to myself…hmmmm maybe I should invest in a solar cover for my pool….?

 

[Newdude]

The first time we ever used the solar cover, it took 6 hours before the dog tried to walk across it.

Mine took 6 seconds. WooHoo a SHORTCUT !!!!! He was coccooned instantly with a few hundred gallons of water and it took me a good 10 mins to get the ridiculous heavy dog burrito to the stairs. If his head was under, it would have been a horrible day in front of the family.

It took 10 minutes and 6 seconds of owning a solar cover to enact the 'no child or animal allowed in the fenced in pool area with the solar cover on', rule.

 

[red-beard]

The presumed dog (because a large enough racoon to move that much cover would have left it in 600 pieces) was lucky to roll out the right driection. He could have just as easily become an underwater burrito.

Solar covers are inherently very dangerous to anyone / anything in the pool area. We become numb to the danger quickly but the danger never goes away.

When my dog was trapped with 500(?) gallons, his cocoon weighed 7.481 lbs per gallon, plus the 120 lb dog. Swap his weight for a 40 lb toddler and the weight doesn't change much but the utter panic sure does.

There was a Lethal Weapon movie where this happened.

 

[JamesW]

He was coccooned instantly with a few hundred gallons of water and it took me a good 10 mins to get the ridiculous heavy dog burrito to the stairs.

Just grab the cover and begin pulling it onto the deck.

20 seconds is all it should take.

 

[Newdude]

Just grab the cover and begin pulling it onto the deck.

20 seconds is all it should take

The cover wouldn't budge. I had to jump in and push him 20 ft to the stairs. Luckily for me it was the shallow end so I had leverage, and it was still difficult. If I needed that leverage in the deep end, I never would have gotten it.

The kids witnessed it and saw the look of fear on the dogs face. They saw me struggle to save him. They never once questioned or tested the nobody by the covered pool rule.

 

[TexEdmond]

There was a Lethal Weapon movie where this happened.

Also "Unbreakable" by M. Night Shamylan. Scary as heck just thinking about it.

 

[TexEdmond]

If I needed that leverage in the deep end, I never would have gotten it.

Homey, if that's gonna happen in the deep end it's likely 2 bodies they're retrieving.

 

[IceShadow]

My neighbors have an autistic child who's about 7-8 years old. At least once, we've found him over by our front door / patio area, just hanging out, after he slipped away on his parents.

They've asked us to make sure we keep the gates to our backyard pool area shut, and wow do we ever make every effort to make that happen.