We are considering installing an inground pool in our back yard. I've always had a pool since I was a kid and when in college, my father had a pool company, so I've probably installed 60 or so ingrounds. My question is for those that have a pool and a dog that swims in it. I'm fearful that their nails/claws will easily tear the liner and cause lots of repairs/patches in short order. I would love to do a small one-piece fiberglass pool, but the prices make it cost prohibitive at this point in life. While researching on the interwebs, I've found numerous DIY sites and I'm currently going down a rabbit hole of natural stone pools and stone/concrete pools.
If anyone has a dog that swims around in the pool, please let me know how the liner holds up.
Thanks
My dogs weren't allowed to swim in the pool. Not because of liner issues, but because of what all that hair would do to the filtration system.
And I would suggest trying it out with an above-ground pool. My family got tired of it after 3 years. Summer 4 it got used 6 times, in total. It was no longer worth the care and feeding. Being able to pull it down, fold it up, and put it in storage was awesome. Not having spent $30k on a hole in the ground no one used was even awesomer.
We have a Pebbletec pool so the dog swimming isn't a big worry. I don't really see how the liner would get messed up if we had one though, he doesn't really touch anything except the stairs. Make sure to train him so he knows how to get out, ours would panic and flail around trying to get out. Had to drag him in with the leash, and then guide him up the stairs a few times and then he was good to go.
Also make sure to have a fence, our dog has open access to the backyard but if there wasn't a separate fence we'd have a wet dog running inside all the time. Also keep an eye on him when he gets out. Our dog is completely house trained and never has an accident - unless he's been in the pool. He's not allowed back inside until I see him pee once. I think he drinks too much water swimming around with his mouth open and he ends up with a sudden urge in the house...
Our dog loves the pool, and I mean loves the pool. So much to the point if my wife gets her pool bag he flips out. Spedracr is right though, they do tend to drink a little of the water so be prepared to let them out of the fence to go pee a time or two. Our dog gets the zoomies after a few pool laps and has to run it out. I put a sock over the skimmer basket while he swims and usually leave it on for a while afterwards to collect some of the dog hair. Here he is with his favorite toy floppy fish. He likes it when we toss it out and he goes and gets it.
Our in-ground concrete pool has a brick coping and currently sits at 4 layers of paint over the concrete. Our 2 dogs, 25 lbs and 35 lbs, don't leave any marks that worry my wife or me. The 500 lb sand filter handles the environmental crud as well as any dog hair without complaint. Concrete pool and oversized sand filter FTW.
I know it's a higher initial spend, but our pool came with the house and rehabbing it from a swampy mess was fairly easy, leading me to think it's a better investment if you really really want a pool.
