Okay, reminder time - last year I think someone posted a portable pool that they had for their dogs.

I can't get one of the plastic pools in my jeep and I'm not going to try to carry one on top ( can I think of all kinds of problems trying that! )

Does anyone remember what the pool was -or- does anyone have a smallish pool that will stand up to their dogs?

Quick look for "Portable Dog Pools" found this.  Does anyone know how it would stand up to a dog's claws?

(( Stupidity, the title of a thread must be at least 10 characters. "Pup pools" was only nine ... argh!!!! ))

The one by cool pups has a lot of reviews saying that it's holding up well to dog nails. If this one is of similar construction to that one then I wouldn't think it would have any issues unless you have a digger. Frankly, I think something like this would hold up better than the hard kiddie pools over time as long as you prep the ground it's sitting on so no rocks or sticks give it issues. What I run into with the hard plastic ones is that the flexing of them walking on them over time causes cracks. Something with some more give such as this may actually hold up better.

Weird on the title length. Could have swore we've had threads titled "Hello" before.

Okay, I broke down and decided that I'd get the pups a pool and see what they did with it.
Took it out of the packaging and it looked like this:


Now, if you'll ignore all the stuff in the background ... I unwrapped it and set it up with a little help from a friend.


I brought each dog out in turn and what I got was:  
Sasha actually stuck a toe in it and then proceeded to ifnore it.


Sky wasn't even having that much to do with it.  Acutally had to drag over her to get her into this picture ... she was not impressed.


Avalanche was actually better than I expected, he stuck his nose into the water ... and then just sniffed around it.


Avalanche did more than I expected, he's shown nothing but disdain for freestanding water since day one.  I had no idea what Sky would do but if push came to shove it was a toss-up whether she or Avalanche liked it least.
Sasha was the surprise, she's willingly gone wading in mud puddles ( some down here call them ponds but they're mostly mud and only a foot or so deep ... so mud puddle ) she decided that she'd rather drink from the stale water that I keep out back for rodents and whatever ...

Why don't I buy my guys toys, etc ... they just ignore them!!!!

Oh that's a cool pool! I like that you can fold it back up and it has a drain!

Mishka loves a pool but he plays with no toys so I feel you on that.

I like the concept of them. I have a feeling I would get about the same reaction. It would be a giant water bowl. Think the sides would be taller than mine would care to crawl over.

Individually or as a group - "I don't think so!" Well, that was a $45 mistake!

What does surprise me even more is that I haven't seen any of the birds - or anything else - visiting it. I have a couple of roadrunners who drink from the water jug I keep on the porch and quail and doves who drink from the water bowl that I keep out back. Hmm... come to think of it, I haven't seen any of the quail who live around here at all - they also tend to stay 'hidden' when it gets this hot, so that's not a really big surprise.

It's too close to the trailer to invite coyotes - which is fine by me. I'll give it a few more days and if it continues to be unused by one and all I'll drain it and pack it up again.

Al - try putting a bubble source ( I use a hose submerged but I also have unlimited water - you probably have an air compressor?) My guys love digging at bubbling water. Or float something in it - tennis balls maybe?

Or - how about YOU sitting and splashing?

Oh i bet Finn would LOVE this!!! he is a water dog from what we can tell so far, have not gotten him near a water source yet. We had a plastic one but it blew away in a storm. i see on amazon they are about $40.... how long did it take to fill up?
i also wonder how about how tall the sides are. how about building a platform up to it so they can get into it better

@amymeme The first contest is to get them near it! With our current heat, I *have* been seriously considering seeing how far the sides would sink if I were to get in it. We've been running 100+ for about the past couple of weeks and it's beginning to look inviting, even if it is only 4' across.

@jbealer That's about what I paid for mine, give or take a bit. Since the nearest faucet is only gravity feed - no pump behind it - I'm guessing about 1 hour to fill. The sides are 11" tall and any of mine could easily step over it. Well, okay maybe not Sky but she's bouncy enough that she could easily get in if she were so inclined.

I was looking out earlier, I have a family of quail - 2 adults and maybe 10 chicks who are wandering around it - but also have two cats who are wandering around the quail.... hm .....

Dakota likes pools but not with walls that tall. I know for a fact that he would not jump that high to get into a pool. The cheap, plastic baby/toddler pools that have the really low walls he would not hesitate to get in. Maybe it's the wall height for yours, I know that would be the issue for mine. Kind of like how he won't jump a baby gate. That and he doesn't like deep water, he's happy with a water level below the knee and something he can step in easily.

I'd be scared to use that pool. It's cardboard wrapped in a durable plastic...but huskies can make quick work of 'durable' things. I've seen pics of those things ripped apart by dogs. I nearly bought one just like this, but I find a kiddy pool is great.

Toys work great to get their interest in the pool. They don't know they can or are supposed to interact with it. If it's just sitting there, it's just a piece of furniture. Throwing a couple toys in entices them to take a dip.
Food too. I make frozen treats with carrots and hotdogs. They go nuts for these things. Toss one of those in the pool and they'll go for it.
Use a sprinkler to fill the pool. My dogs love sprinklers for some reason.

<< laughing >> You and I have, obviously, very different dogs.

Toys are not an inducement to my dogs for anything!  Upon occasion I can get Avalanche to play fetch with his jolly ball or a large rope toy - but those are rare times.  The other two - I get the "You threw it ..." with no interest in getting it.

I've tried frozen treats (as well as just plain ice) and my guys - all three of them - turn up their noses at anything icy.  If I put ice in their drinking water, they wait till it's melted!  For no particular reason, I think part of that is the temperature difference, today we're about 110f; personally when it's this hot I don't want something *that* cold.  A cool drink is a lot more refreshing than something icy.

I've used a sprinkler for my garden (before it got burned out) and my impression is that the hiss from a sprinkler too closely resembles a snake - they'll look at it and back away - far away!

I'm thinking about taking a treat out when I take Sasha out this evening - she is food motivated and if I give her one and toss one into the pool she might go in after it.  I"ll let you know later ...

Kiddie pools - minor problem, the nearest place I could get one is 150 miles away and there's no way I could fit one into my jeep and on the roof is definitely out.

As promised, ETA: When I took Sasha out this evening I took some treats along. I gave her one so she'd know what I had in my hand (as if her nose hadn't already told her!) then tossed one into the pool. The first one I tossed she could get from the edge, so I tossed another into the middle of the pool. She stepped right in, got the treat and stepped right back out. She managed to get all four legs wet up to about her "elbows" but even if it felt good, she wasn't interested.
I did tease her a bit by tossing a couple of pebbles into the pool - which of course didn't float - she went 'nosing' for one of them till she got water in her eyes ... shook her head and decided she'd had enough.

we picked up a plastic pool yesterday... finn chomped on the water and walked in it but that was it. maybe if his friends are over it will be more fun

Two things stand out in that picture to me that would make my dogs avoid it.
When it's at the lower fill point in the 2nd picture, the sides are really tall which can be intimidating. When it's completely full, the depth of the water can be an issue.

I'm not talking a big kiddy pool, I'm talking the smallest ones. I fit 2 in the back of my forester, so they should fit in the jeep.

But as with everything, each dog has it's own personality. Our older dog loves the lakes and rivers in our area. He goes swimming and loves getting wet. He won't interact with the pool. Rorschach (the husky) hates being anything more than ankle deep in larger bodies of water...but put out the kiddie pool and he'll go nuts. He'll run around in circles, jump over it, dig in it, lay down in it. He'll take breaks from playing to run back to the pool and rewet himself. The 5 year old won't play in the water in the backyard if the husky is out because the husky is a big klutz and will just run him over.

Okay, replay topic time. Avalanche ans Sky still have no interest in the pool at all. Avalanche has made a water bowl out of it a time or two but has no interest in getting in it - even when there's a treat floating in the middle of it, he waits till it drifts around to him. Sky has even less interest than
Avalanche ... if that's possible.

Sasha however goes and stands in it every time she wants out. She was standing in it and started to set and if I could say she had a surprised look on her face when her fanny hit the water I would! I'm thinking that I need to keep her out of it till the sore on her leg heals though. It's above the water line but I think I'd rather not have it getting wet ...

Beautiful day today - even if my bank account is taking a pretty drastic hit with the water pump - it's only in the mid 80's now, compared to 122 last week, with a nice breeze.