[justine]

Abbey's not too much of a swimmer, but as I posted before, she's been getting more interested in water this spring.

There's a pond/swamp thing right behind my apartment building, but I'm hesitant to let her swim in it. It's stagnant and has lots of "lovely" floating things in it. Abbey loves to try to run into it and romp around, but I don't know if she should really be in there.

Obviously I would never let Abbey swim somewhere where she could get hurt, like in a busy lake with lots of boats or somewhere with alligators!

So the question is, are there any places that are off limits to your dogs or do you let them go in any kind of water, no matter how nasty it looks?

 

[Kate3jays]

I definitely avoid stagnant water and any fast moving water with an under current, obviously like you said anything with too much water traffic too.

It is difficult sometimes when they spot the water before you and they are off and in it before you can shout No!

 

[Dawson Creek Girl]

This year we will be trying out new 'water' areas as we moved to Alberta last fall.
Bentley wasn't very old last summer.... and being 'nervous' of new situations he didn't venture near water all too much. I 'm sure this year will be different.... but I don't trust either of my labs to 'swim' alone... so they will be tied to a long rope... one held by dh and one by me this summer.

 

[georgie]

I avoid small stagnant ponds. We also don't take them to the river, the current is fast & too many boats. We try to find large ponds & quiet lakes. 1 But we are lucky, Abby's breeder has two large & 1 small pond on her property, so that is where we usually go.

 

[BauersMom]

I let Bauer swim in our pond (it is beyond the invisible fence boundry so he can only swim when we allow it), friend's ponds, and lakes. We haven't encountered water that I wouldn't let him swim in, but I wouldn't let him swim in stagnant ponds or ponds that have been heavily treated.

 

[sandyriver]

I let my boy swim in water that I know contents of.

In the summer months I stay away from warm shallow lakes as they are ones that can get algae blooms....blue algae is toxic to dogs and you don't always see it in the water.

I also try to stay away from areas that have too much garbage in it as I don't want him to cut himself.

I let him swim in a lot of river back water areas so the water is still flowing but very slow. I also let him swim in large lakes or ponds that I am familiar with.

Best is to just ask around your neighborhood and your local vet might know of safe areas.

Also check lakes throughout the summer as they might be fine one month and not the next due to higher run off polution or algae blooms. I let Sandy swim in a lake that I deemed safe but the lake was warmer then usual and he ended up getting a rash....but the vet treated it and he recovered just fine.

 

[Garth]

There's a pond/swamp thing right behind my apartment building, but I'm hesitant to let her swim in it. It's stagnant and has lots of "lovely" floating things in it. Abbey loves to try to run into it and romp around, but I don't know if she should really be in there.

Mine don't go into the water because they have their own dog pool in the back yard for when it's hot. There's a river around here where I'd never let them swim because for years, it's been used as an industrial waste dump & god knows how many toxins are in it. Same goes for stagnant water. You never know what could be in there.

The other place I keep them away from is crocodile infested waters. In this country, crocs are protected & I'd probably be thrown in jail if the dogs killed one - especially my Pug.

 

[justine]

Mine don't go into the water because they have their own dog pool in the back yard for when it's hot. There's a river around here where I'd never let them swim because for years, it's been used as an industrial waste dump & god knows how many toxins are in it. Same goes for stagnant water. You never know what could be in there.

The other place I keep them away from is crocodile infested waters. In this country, crocs are protected & I'd probably be thrown in jail if the dogs killed one - especially my Pug.

When I lived at home we had one of those, but now it's not possible since my balcony isn't big enough for a kiddie pool. Well that and I'm sure my neighbors below wouldn't enjoy getting water dumped on them!

Abbey went into the nasty pond, with just her paws, then I yelled at her to get out of there. It doesn't move and there is all sorts of weird stuff floating, so I'm not taking my chances!!

Yeah, you gotta watch out for those pugs... I've heard stories!

 

[kaznalf]

I dont let him swim in the big river, its too big, deep and I know they can swim but apparently that water has 2 currents and one of them sucks you down so we stick to the baby river off the side

 

[patm]

We don't have much water right around us. The dogs can "swim" in the little ephemeral streams on our property - muddy but very 'clean" water, they like to swim in the neighbors little "pond' that is basically carved out of a larger stream. Other than that I mostly take them to a wildlife resevior several miles away. There's some boats on it, but they have to go slow, and we stick to the dock area where we just do some throwing of dummies. I would LOVE to have an area where we can all swim together.

 

[HersheyK's Dad]

Better to answer where I don't let her swim, since she is allowed almost anywhere the water is likely to not be poluted.

Dog Park ponds after late June. They get really scuzzy and we have had reports of dogs getting sick from those ponds in July through September.
Any water that appears to have algae present. Not smart enough to be able to tell blue vs green algae.
If the shore line is just too muddy or yuck. She does have to come through it to get back in the car.

 

[Snowflake]

As much as my dogs swim and play in water, I definitely have limits for them.

They can't swim in a small stagnant pond
They can't swim in a smelly pond.
They can't swim in a pond that has debris in it.
They can't swim in a pond where I've seen a lot of fishing....at least at the parts where they people have been fishing.
They can't swim where there's not an easy exit from the water.
They can't swim in rivers near the mouth where the current is swift.

Actually, we avoid pond altogether unless it's a spring-fed pond. We like lakes. No, let me rephrase that....we LOVE lakes!

 

[Shelbz]

For Shelby it is a pond, there is one at one of the parks we frequent, it is disgusting, people do fish in it and often leave the fish out and they die, so i avoid it as much as possible, but a few weeks ago she went straight for it along with retreiving a dead fish
Once i got her back to the car, dried her off as much as i could, but the drive home was sooo bad, the stench was so bad, couldn't get home fast enough!

We do have a river nearby that she loves, took her yesterday since it was nice outside, I'll have to post up some pics sometime this week.

 

[Clanceycanuck]

I'm lucky I live on a bay of Lake Simcoe. Lotsa places to take them swimming.

 

[adopetedlabsinoklahoma]

I have taken my dogs to the golf course with there permission of course after dusk and it is still light enough for them to swim and me see them, and one of my boys will dive for balls if he sees them and brings them out we just give them to the greens keeper to do with what ever they do with all those things. but they keep them clean and never garbage. Just an idea. good luck.

 

[Dukesdad]

Duke and Freckles both love to swim every weekend at our dog park. Our ponds are large and deep and aerated to keep the water moving. They are also constantly monitored and the maintenance chief told me they have always maintained a lake quality water which is safe. The ponds are constructed so that no surface run off enters the water. In almost fours years now I have never had a problem.
Here is my favorite photo of Duke diving in.

 

[lkb987]

We always let our dog swim in our back yard since we live at the lake. Sometimes we take her out to an island to let her swim though.

 

[AngusFangus]

LOL! We were at the lake last summer and it had been raining a lot. I noticed a green scum on the water. Before I let the boys off the leash, I called my vet on the cell phone and told them I was at the lake with the boys and there was a green scum on the water and had they ever heard of blue-green algae or treated a case of it?

I think they thought I was truly out of my mind.

We looked for another place on the lake without the green scum.

So yes, I'm a little particular! I'm sure that surprises no one.

 

[Di]

I take Sammi to the river too swim at least twice a week. I try to keep her out of stagnant water, and keep her on lead if the water is swift! If she goes rafting with us she always wears her life jacket

 

[zoesmom]

We have the ocean, but I won't let Zoe swim if there's "brown water" which usually happens after a storm.

The water in your sig pic looks wonderful!