Question

My dog likes to sneak drinks out of our swimming pool. Will this hurt him?

Answer

The occasional drink of swimming pool water won’t hurt most dogs. However, it is not recommended. The concentration of chlorine and other chemicals in the water is low enough that your dogs would have to drink quite a lot for it to be dangerous. People sometimes swallow pool water on accident too, with no serious consequences.

You can keep your pups’ trips to the pool to a minimum by making sure they have lots of fresh water both inside and outside and by keeping the pool fenced off or covered when you aren’t swimming (unsupervised pets around pools are at risk of accidental drowning). You can also watch your dogs for diarrhea, constipation, vomiting, or other signs of stomach problems. If their health and behavior seem fine, then their little chlorine habit is probably not a problem.