[Cooper&me]

Quincy is my first water loving dog. We have a pond in the back of the property that he is enjoying now. In the summer it kind of drys to a swampy mess.

Anyway I was thinking of getting one of those little plastic pools for the front. That is so ugly looking so then I thought what about one of those fish ponds?

Anyone ever built one? Way expensive? Hard to do? Could the fish and dog co-exist? I do not have to add fish?

 

[Heidi's Mom]

Heidi has one of those blue plastic kiddie pools that she enjoys when we go to my dad's. At home, though, I just take her to one of our lakes to swim/play.

I guess you could build him his own pond. I don't think it would be hard to do. Unless it was really huge, there's no way that I would put fish in it.

 

[jeff]

Not too hard to do if you don't mind alot of digging. We used the liner instead of the pre-form so the digging would not have to be so precise. You won't want the liner type since your dog will be getting in it. I also would not advise putting fish in there because of the dog.

 

[K9Kaos]

We get a plastic kiddie pools.

They're pretty inexpensive, and seem to last thru the summer
(except when the girls get totally crazy jumping in and out - they've cracked two or three...

)

I like the pool because I can empty it when I don't want the puppers getting soaked...

 

[DHau]

I vote against a fish pond because of the mosquitoes that could breed in it and all the other bad bacteria that goes with it. I like the kiddie pool because you can dump it and put in fresh water.

 

[Cooper&me]

I kind of looked around the internet. I have a feeling it will be a huge expense.
Are shepherds natural swimmers? So far he has not gone in too deep. I hope he swims.

 

[big_dog7777]

I can't let this thread go without a Caddyshack reference. "Pool, pond... pond's good for you". I vote for the kiddie pool too. You can put in a really nice pond without spending an arm and a leg, but it's a lot of upkeep and impossible to balance looking good (aquatic plants, fish and everything that comes with that) while being a place for Quincy to frolic. Add in the time or times that he will get into it when you don't want him to and the kiddie pool looks even better. I have one for my two, it cost $20 and I can empty it and hide it so it's perfect.

As far as natural swimmers, it depends on the dog. I've seen GSD's that thought hey were labs, and some that just liked to walk in shallow water. Once weather warms enough for you to go swimming with him he'll get the hang of it.

 

[RubySlippers]

I vote for the pool too! We get Ruby one when it's hot. She inevitable will chew on it or it will crack from her romping, then we just toss it out. You can get a small plain blue kind for under $10. The larger loud colored ones are more expensive. I like the ones we get because they are easy to empty and put away and no one cares if they get messed up.

We can't do a pond because the raccoons would come and eat the koi. And Ruby would wreak havoc of the koi and plants if the varmints didn't get them. Plus we are worried about mosquitos and heartworm- so no ponds for us.