Pooch Pool Party
September 1, 2016 10:44 PM   Subscribe

The last day of the summer swim season in Idaho isn't a day for people; the parks department in Nampa turns their waterpark over to dogs only, giving them a chance to splash and play. Thanks in part to the funds raised here, the parks department recently opened a pond in their oldest dog park. Nearby Boise has followed suit with a day at one of their outdoor pools. But that's not the only place a dog can play in an aquatic environment... posted by Homeboy Trouble (40 comments total) 33 users marked this as a favorite
 
There's a pool a few blocks from me. Uncovered, only open in summer. Necessarily very heavily chlorinated. But every September, before they drain at the end of the season they host a Dog Dive and it's gr8.
posted by figurant at 10:54 PM on September 1, 2016


WELCOME TO OUR PPOOL.

NOTICE THE EXTRA P IN POOL?
IT'S BECAUSE OF ALL THE GODDAMN DOGS.


posted by Atom Eyes at 11:41 PM on September 1, 2016 [11 favorites]


This post is going to give my wife a squee!zure. I hope you are happy.
posted by BrotherCaine at 11:45 PM on September 1, 2016 [6 favorites]


puppers are the only good and true thing in this terrible world
posted by poffin boffin at 12:10 AM on September 2, 2016 [20 favorites]


ok also cats and tacos but that's it
posted by poffin boffin at 12:10 AM on September 2, 2016 [14 favorites]


There's an excellent moment in the pond link where one dog does this epic jump off the little concrete pier and the crowd is all "ooooooh!" and then someone else throws a ball and the dog just trips and faceplants into the water and the crowd is all "ahhhhhhh".
posted by mannequito at 12:12 AM on September 2, 2016 [1 favorite]


Dogs are so good and everything that is not dogs cannot hope to be as good as dogs. Yay dogs!
posted by corb at 1:07 AM on September 2, 2016 [5 favorites]


On Hampstead Heath there a number of swimming ponds - The Ladies' Pond, the Men's Pond, and of course the Dog Pond.
posted by Major Tom at 1:16 AM on September 2, 2016


This is an excellent FPP with many grade A water puppers.

I'm reminded of a summer day a few years back when Mr Fish and I went to a small lake/pond in a park for an impromptu picnic. This guy tossed a stick into the water for his big ole chubby chocolate lab, and I obviously expected said pupper to bring the stick back to his guy.

Chocolate lab did not bring the stick back. Instead, chocolate lab retrieved the stick, then started swimming lazy laps around the lake, stick in mouth, absolutely content. I don't know how long he was swimming laps for, but he was still there when we left at least half an hour later. His owner didn't seem too concerned, so I'm guessing it was part of their regular routine.
posted by nerdfish at 2:00 AM on September 2, 2016 [8 favorites]


Part of why I love Prospect Park is because a corner of one of the ponds has been set up as a permanent "Dog Beach" - a patch of sand to make the beach and to offer a slope into the water, and a fence stretching from either side of the beach into the water and then about 20 feet out from shore so the dogs can't take off across the lake. Whenever I pass by there are the dog moms and dads, and at least five extra people,who've just come to watch.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:56 AM on September 2, 2016 [2 favorites]


How could you do this to me. I have so much work to do today.

So... much... work.

yaaaay swimmy dogggggssssss
posted by theatro at 5:08 AM on September 2, 2016


That no-swimming dog is just too cool for pool.
posted by sutt at 5:10 AM on September 2, 2016 [2 favorites]


Having grown up just outside of Nampa (Caldwell specifically), I always considered the area to be a Simplot-Walmart corporate wasteland dotted with the smell of rotting sugar beets, pro-war bumper stickers and Pentecostal churches.

But I see the dogs, and I see the people who love the dogs, and it restores in me a bit of faith in humanity. Thank you for this.
posted by Philipschall at 5:34 AM on September 2, 2016 [1 favorite]


Oh god. The corgi. Perfection.

My dog doesn't like water. Or snow. Or grass. Or other dogs, really. Or balloons. What I'm saying is my dog wouldn't be into any of this but I am and I think I need a real dog.

in addition to my already awesome dog, what am i a monster?
posted by cooker girl at 5:47 AM on September 2, 2016 [6 favorites]


My boyfriend and I just (4 months ago) got our first ever my-own-not-sharing-because-i'm-a-grownup-now dog*. We live on the east coast, and a couple weeks ago we took her to the beach for the first time (bay, not ocean.) The waters were super calm, it was low tide so you could walk out about 50 feet and it was just at hip height. I'd been so excited because up until then I'd been carless, so I could only take her on adventures within walking distance. If it was up to me she'd go everywhere with me. But apparently she hates car rides.

She also hates the beach. We spent hours trying to coax her into the water. Finally she got in, and loved it, until there was a wave (and by wave i mean a small bump in the water with 0 white cap). When it was time to go she refused to walk across the sand, so I had to carry her (and all my beach stuff) all the way back to the car in 96 degree weather. And then she refused to get in the car. I've never been so exhausted.

Needless to say she is my pride and joy and i love literally everything about her. We're not going on a beach adventure again. But a couple days later i took her to a dog park and she performed phenomenally, with every dog there. Even the high strung/nervous/aggressive ones. She'll be an excellent big sister someday.

*Pitbull mix, 11 months old, named beetle as in beetlejuice after her black/white alternating toenails. Obligatory
posted by FirstMateKate at 5:52 AM on September 2, 2016 [7 favorites]


I watched every video listed here. Thank you. These made me laugh.

A few months ago I had some work assignments in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, at the Franklin & Marshall campus. There is an incredible dog park there. So I'd get to my assignment about 20 minutes early and just go to the dog park and sit there and watch all the dogs run around for 15 minutes. One time a guy kind of gave me the side eye and asked "so which dog is yours?" and I said "oh none of them, I'm just watching." For a half-second I felt kind of embarrassed, but nearly immediately the two high-school aged girls to my right said "hey so are we," and the old lady sitting to my left, reading a book, chimed in, "that's really the way to do it, same here." The guy looked at all of us quizzically and then just sort of smiled and left.
posted by (Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates at 6:14 AM on September 2, 2016 [11 favorites]


Thanks for this post. I've been having a tiresome week and all these cute pups have helped cheer me some. They are just so adorable! I wish I could be as happy as dogs always seem to be.
posted by FireFountain at 6:14 AM on September 2, 2016 [2 favorites]


ok also cats and tacos but that's it

have I got news for you
posted by neckro23 at 6:33 AM on September 2, 2016 [2 favorites]


We have a pool. My chow, the first time she saw the pool, hopped in and hung out like a mermaid. My other giant dog is afraid of all things in the wilderness, where wilderness equals grass, bunnies and mockingbirds. She circles around the pool when we are in it, convinced that we are in mortal danger. She's a silly.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 6:39 AM on September 2, 2016 [1 favorite]


Our Akita, Bailey has been swimming once. She didn't care for it and took a solid 36 hours to totally dry out. But there is no reward better than being able to play with other dogs.

My city's public pool is pretty awesome, but I checked and they don't have a dog day like this here. :(
posted by VTX at 6:58 AM on September 2, 2016


The dog mermaid video is way, way too short. I would like a refund, and a longer video of people petting seals please. Thanks.
posted by Aizkolari at 7:09 AM on September 2, 2016 [1 favorite]


I'm just glad I'm not the one cleaning all that wet dog fur out of the filter.
posted by fairmettle at 7:14 AM on September 2, 2016 [1 favorite]


I have a similar situation to SecretAgentSockpuppet.

I have a pool that has steps facing the back door to my house. My crazy 110lb hound dog just climbs in the pool and sits there. She'll get on rafts, fetch things, and so on if people are out, but mostly she just jams out on the low step with her schnoze up out of the water and contemplates whatever dogs think about (butts and food, I suspect). She also tries to swim out and "save" people when they get in the pool in fear we're all dying. Seeing a dog that large paddling out and pulling a kid on a raft back towards the steps is golden.

My other dog is a high strung border collie and won't even go out in the rain. She starts screaming and flinging herself all over the place. I have to take her to the vet to get her bathed because it takes at least three people to hold her down. She skirts the pool almost touching the house to get into the yard for fear a kraken will arise and drag her down, I suppose.
posted by syncope at 7:15 AM on September 2, 2016 [4 favorites]


There was a temporary pond in Prospect Park after Irene which led to a singularity of doggy joy.
posted by whuppy at 7:27 AM on September 2, 2016


So much wet dog smell. So much funny fuzzy doggies.

I will never not watch that Corgi video. So majestic!

My chihuahua mixes are all completely baffled by the rain. Doesn't help they live in a drought intense period of LA history. My Chi/corgi mix is such a princess that she won't step on wet grass without grousing about it. Our terrier that we lost a little while ago had a chance to live with a pool - he hated it. Every time we'd get him into the pool he'd paddle about for 2 seconds trying to find the exit ramp and immediately beeline for it.

Meanwhile, my childhood Springer, it was all you could do to prevent her from frolicking at every moment in the Florida rain.
posted by drewbage1847 at 8:34 AM on September 2, 2016


A dog in a pool takes the next step in evolution.

Think I first saw this on the inimitable We Rate Dogs twitter (spoiler: the baseline rating is 10/10).
posted by praemunire at 8:43 AM on September 2, 2016 [3 favorites]


Our local splash park also opens up the weekend after Labor Day for a dog swim. We take my mom's dog and it is complete chaos, but also the highlight of his year. Last year we strapped a Go-Pro on him - I shared this video with the park, mercifully the only one without a butt-sniffing component.

If I had all the money I'd open splash parks for dogs everywhere.
posted by Preserver at 8:45 AM on September 2, 2016 [2 favorites]


This is probably the thread to report that one of the sororities on campus is raising and training future service dog puppies and so there are THE NOBLEST PUPPIES wandering around in their Future Service Dog vests trying so hard to be good but this is a giant college campus and so they get distracted, but then they are ashamed of their distraction. I just stood in line behind a black lab puppy who knew he should sit with his paws between his nose and so he wagged his tail a lot and gave his lady adoring puppy dog eyes. They are such good doggies!
posted by ChuraChura at 8:54 AM on September 2, 2016 [16 favorites]


ChuraChura, is there a facebook page or a blog or a YouTube channel one could subscribe to to see these noble puppies in action?

Asking for a friend.
posted by cooker girl at 9:00 AM on September 2, 2016


I will ask around!!
posted by ChuraChura at 9:10 AM on September 2, 2016


I've had A Day, and this post has given me a small, content oasis of respite.

(I have no dog to contribute pictures of, as is customary, but my wee python Jarvis likes to stick his head in his waterbowl and then wander around with a tiny water droplet beard. It is intensely cute. I've never caught this on camera, but here are some alternate examples.)
posted by pseudonymph at 9:11 AM on September 2, 2016 [1 favorite]


I have a shih tzu that would barely leave the house when we lived in town, but now we are way out in the country with our own beach I can barely keep her in the house. She hears the wolves at night and barely reacts at this point.

Beside the beach is a tall tree that has fallen in the water and only has the top inch or so above the waterline. She loves to walk to the end and just survey her domain. Despite doing this daily for six months, last autumn she did her usual walk to the end of the tree, saw a pile of floating leaves and clearly though they were dry land - lo, an island had magically appeared! She took a huge flying leap to claim her new domain and was utterly shocked to find herself immersed. I was freaking out as she was under the water for ages, but she popped out and swam around happily as she is wont to do. We like to go for canoe rides and if she sees us leaving the dock without her she will just swim out to us till she catches up. The she spends the whole trip going from side to side looking at everything. This summer she has been getting very comfortable on the raft and I am actually going out today to get her a standup paddle board.

Seeing her go from a lapdog to this great outdoors-dog in her old age has been remarkable.
posted by saucysault at 9:52 AM on September 2, 2016 [10 favorites]


She also hates the beach. We spent hours trying to coax her into the water.

my first pupper was initially outraged by the very existence of the beach, he didn't understand that the water was a thing that wasn't EATING US HORRIBLY when we swam. it didn't help that the beach he first saw was really kind of a rocky lagoon where you jumped right into deep water with no gradual deepening and no actual sandy shore. so we leapt into the water for swimmy funtimes and peaches stood on the closest rock to our mysteriously floating heads and barked hysterically for about 10 minutes, piddling himself with terror, before valiantly throwing himself into the water to save us. he savagely bit the terrible human-eating water so many times and i almost actually ended up drowning because i laughed about 500 gallons of the mediterranean right into my lungs.

what a good pupper
posted by poffin boffin at 10:06 AM on September 2, 2016 [7 favorites]


Our dog is a desert dog (the local pet shelter picked her up while she was roaming the sand wastes here) and is unsettled by rain. But snow? SNOW IS GREAT! FLUFFY AND FUN AND GOOD! *RUN RUN RUN*

Our local pool has the last day of its outdoor pool set as pooch plunge, but I'm not sure if our dog would take to water, let alone all those other dogs. She is quite sure people need more licking, and little people need the most licking, but other animals (and cars) are to be chased off and possibly destroyed, if she can catch them. After being told she can't attack our cat, she's not sure her position in the house, and oscillates between ignoring the cat (they've been within a foot of each-other, on the floor, relaxed!) and suddenly deciding she should catch the cat, in her mouth. Our goony Australian Cattle Dog/ Pit bull mix.
posted by filthy light thief at 10:50 AM on September 2, 2016 [1 favorite]


im tearing up at my desk because of these doggos they are so good and precious

we unexpectedly had to put my roommate's very sweet old hound dog genevieve to sleep a few nights ago and seeing all of these happy pups is making me feel a lot better
posted by burgerrr at 11:04 AM on September 2, 2016 [1 favorite]


The dog in that first link after the break is CLEARLY looking at something yummy.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 12:12 PM on September 2, 2016


this makes me so so so happy. A+++ FPP
posted by alleycat01 at 2:17 PM on September 2, 2016 [1 favorite]


The biggest city owned outdoor pool does the same thing in Yakima.
Everyone who has a dog looks forward to this. I think it's nice.
posted by Katjusa Roquette at 3:53 PM on September 2, 2016


We have a huge outdoor dog park on the bay here, but I haven't taken The Boss there yet because many people bring poorly-socialized and poorly-trained dogs there, and it's a great place to get bitten. But I really need to get there on an early morning at some point, to find out if The Boss knows how to swim: I've had her for ten months and haven't had a chance to find out yet...
posted by suelac at 4:58 PM on September 2, 2016


I looked around my city's website to see if they offer this. They don't so fired off an e-mail to the parks dept asking them to confirm that they don't do this and ask if they could please start.

They replied:
Thank you for the email suggesting that we offer “Dog Day” at our pool before it is drained at the end of the season. We are currently in the process of hiring a new Aquatics Supervisor, and once that person starts I will discuss the pros & cons to this type of activity. Our maintenance personnel are good resources as well, and they will be consulted too.
I sent them a link to this post since it has some info that they might find useful even if they only show someone a video and say, "Come on, how can we NOT make this happen?"

Any residents of Bloomington, MN, I think the odds are good that your pooches can do this at the end of next season.
posted by VTX at 2:40 PM on September 13, 2016 [1 favorite]


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