Pet Safety Systems For Swimming Pools | Pro-Active Pet Owners Guide

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Pet Pool Safety: Your pet is part of the family and needs to be protected around a pool just like any other family member. Finding a beloved pet in distress or worse in your pool is not an experience nobody wants to go through.

There’s a number of proactive measures you can take to avoid this and we’re going to take look at some of the ways you can ensure your pets wellbeing. A pool accident involving your pet is devastating for everyone in the family so taking pet safety seriously really is worth investing a little money in.

What Pet Pool Safety System

PRIMARY BARRIER

Depending on where you live you might have more than just your pet falling in the pool to worry about. Over the years the pool owners of the United States have discovered pretty much every critter that walks, crawls and flies in their pool. From bears having a dip through deer, racoons, moose and even the odd wandering alligator has showed up.

So if you are lucky enough to live in an area with the roaming wildlife then you might want to consider a primary barrier to secure the pool. It’s certainly going to keep your dog safe and keep out some marauding wild animals too.

There is a number of easy to install options. Primarily a pool safety system for children they’ll work just as well for pets and as a deterrence for some wild animals. A determined Grizzly bear ? Maybe not, he’s going to go anywhere he wants, anytime he wants. Find our in depth article on pool fences here >>

ESCAPE STAIRS AND RAMPS

Depending on the type of pool access stairs you have with a little training your pet might be able to use them to safely climb out of the pool un assisted.

But unless your dog spent its early years in a circus then it will find a pool ladder an impossible challenge. That’s when installing a set of pet stairs or a ramp is a great idea. There’s a few different styles and designs to pick from and depending on the size of your pet you might go for one or the other.

A ramp is especially handy to allow small wild critters an exit route out of your pool.

Fitting a set of pet safety stairs does require a little more effort to install them but many owners choose to fit them nevertheless. There’s a few different systems on offer they all generally require an element of drilling to secure them to the side of the pool.

WEARABLE POOL SAFETY FOR PETS

These really popular pet safety systems are activated on contact with water. A small sensor is worn by your pet and a remote alarm is activated if it enters the pool.

What’s nice with the system we have highlighted is it can be expanded to work with an unlimited number of sensors. If your friends or family bring their pets to your home you can simply attach a sensor to them too. It does give a comforting level of pet security on a really “personalised” level.

These really popular pet safety systems are activated on contact with water. A small sensor is worn by your pet and a remote alarm is activated if it enters the pool.

Probably more suited for excursions into the countryside where there’s an element of danger from water, a life jacket is another wearable for pets. Many pool owners actually use them on older animals to allow them exercise in the swimming pool without exhausting themselves trying to stay afloat.

GENERAL POOL ALARM

A widely used pool safety system that monitors the pool for movement, once detected it will sound an alarm. This is a general alarm of course and not pet specific, its motion sensors will activate when anything enters the pool.

Of course children are our main priority and this alarm will double as a safety sentry for them as well as your pets. Whilst certainly not a drawback if it’s left activated in the pool you can be woken up anytime a good sized critter dives or falls into your pool during the night. The highlighted alarm has sensitivity settings and an automatic reset aft three minutes.

POOL COVERS

More of a winter solution rather than a something to drag on and off in the summer. It is an important primary safeguard in your general pool safety armoury though.

They come in all shapes, sizes and colors and there’s a couple of types available a tight mesh that allows rainwater through an impermeable polypropylene material. Correctly fitted they’ll easily keep your pets safe and some can even keep the most determined bear from enjoying a winter dip.

We’ve highlighted an in-ground cover here but there’s plenty to choose from for above ground pools too. We have written an article showcasing all the seasons best options here >>

Cat and Dog First Aid

CPR

It’s obviously beyond the scope and expertise of your editor to advise on emergency actions to take in case of a near drowning incident. However pet CPR can be performed as a last resort if you ever find yourself in the dreadful position of an un responsive animal in front of you.

The American Red Cross have written a detailed guide that you can find here >>. It’s worth reading so you’ll know from experts in advance the steps to take if you need to.

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