Dog keeps drinking pool water - safety issue?

[V___25]

For the life of me, I cannot keep 2 of my dogs from drinking the pool water. They love to go on the first step and drink the water even though there is always a bowl of fresh water 20 feet away on the deck.
Is there inherit health risks to my dogs? yes, the pool is properly sanitized - ignore my pool math logs, they are a mess. They love to be outside (husky mixes) and I can't be out there with them every second and I don't want to keep them inside all day either. Thoughts?

 

[dBsooner]

Why use the little drinking bowl, when they have a gigantic one that appears endless?

I’ve heard that a few drinks swallows here and there aren’t a big deal. But prolonged drinking can cause irritation to the gastrointestinal tract, including stomach discomfort and vomiting. It can also cause esophageal problems like irritation and possibly erosion.

So at normal balanced levels, it’s not as harmful. But at elevated Cl levels, it could be worse.

The only thing I knew to do was keep plenty of fresh, clean drinking water close so they may want that instead.

 

[Kaylee34]

I had the same problem with mine. About all you can do to completely stop it is cut off access to the pool. A combination of discouraging pool drinking and ensuring constant fresh cold water has really helped. I bought a stainless steel goat waterer. They make heated versions as well. Dog likes it, water stays fresh and easy to clean. Bowl sweats in the summer so the water stays cool.

Any feed store should have them or try Amazon.

 

[IceShadow]

I've heard that borates can be dangerous for animals to drink, but if you haven't added any borax or boric acid then you shouldn't have those.

 

[V___25]

Thanks.
I haven't added either. I do have a box of Borax but I've never opened it.

 

[IceShadow]

One box in a 23k pool wouldn’t matter too much in any case.

 

[PoolStored]

I've heard that borates can be dangerous for animals to drink, but if you haven't added any borax or boric acid then you shouldn't have those.

There is no known risk to dogs from borates at 30 to 50 ppm, unless it is their ongoing, sole source of water.

As noted in the thread Are Borates Safe to Use?, the issue isn't toxicity resulting in death, but rather what it would take to get to first symptoms which for male dogs is reduced testicle size. That was at 29 mg/kg/day and the No Observed Adverse Effect Level (NOAEL) was 8.8 mg/kg/day. So for a 14 kg (31 pound) dog this is 123 mg/day which at 50 ppm borates (ppm Boron) is 0.4 liters (1.7 cups) of water every day that would be at the NOAEL. That's still a lot of water unless they are using the pool as their water source.

 

[Kaylee34]

I thought about doing borates but decided against it. Even though I know the risk is low, a large double coated breed can easily drink a gallon or more on a hot day especially if they're active dogs. Not worth the worry for me. The goat waterer has been working well. The water stays cooler so the dog prefers it over the pool.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

My pool has had, at times, over 60ppm borates. My dog drinks from the pool all the time. She is fine. That said, we discourage her drinking as much as possible and we always keep a large bowl of fresh water right by the entry steps so she can drink from that.

The bigger concerns for dogs, or any animal, would be sodium. Pool water has very high sodium levels in it from all of the chemicals that are added. Pretty much any chlorinated disinfectant will be sodium based and SWG pools have high TDS which is mostly sodium. If a dog drinks large quantities of water from a pool, borates or no borates, their kidneys have to work overtime to excrete the excess sodium. That will leave them very dehydrated. So it is vitally important that if a dog has been around a pool a lot during any given day that they have access to lots of clean fresh water and that they can easily go outside to pee as they will need to urinate a lot.

Ever wonder why you need to pee a lot when spending a day by the pool?? It's not totally the fault of the margaritas and beer ... its because you also tend to take in some pool water and the sodium you ingest needs to be gotten rid of ....

 

[V___25]

Thanks everyone, appreciate the help as always. The big dog doesn't drink it quite as much as the other little stink (the one who chewed my robot cable!) but I will continue to discourage her from drinking it and try to find a shaded spot to keep the water bowl closer.