Why Dog Pools Are Never “Balanced”

Clients adore their dogs, and many let them swim daily. We get real about what that means for your route: higher bather load, stubborn scum lines, clogged filters, and chlorine that seems to vanish overnight. Instead of fighting the habit, we show you how to build a resilient service plan that keeps water safe, controls algae pressure, and protects your margins without overpromising on crystal clarity that won’t last.

We break down three levels of dog use—from paw-dipping to full-on pack swimmers—and how each one shifts your approach. You’ll learn the practical deterrents that actually work when owners want fewer swims, like blocking step entry with a lounge chair or adding mesh barriers, plus the safety caveats around blankets and nets. Most importantly, we map out a chemistry toolkit tailored for canine-heavy pools: borates around 50 ppm to stabilize and slow algae, enzymes to chew through oils and reduce tile line buildup, and phosphate remover to cut algae fuel. If you’re considering mineral systems like PoolRx, we explain when to install them and why timing matters to avoid hair discoloration under high chlorine.

 Expect shorter lifespans for cartridges and grids, tighter cleaning intervals, and messier tear-downs that justify premium pricing. We show you how to present these changes to clients with transparent scripts that align expectations, normalize extra charges for chemicals and cleanings, and keep relationships positive even when the water can’t stay showroom clear.

• defining levels of dog usage and impact
• simple ways to block step entry when owners agree
• setting a realistic visual baseline for water quality
• borates for stability and algae resistance
• enzymes and phosphate remover for oils and clarity
• timing mineral systems to avoid hair discoloration
• higher chlorine demand and on-site cal hypo
• accelerated filter cleaning and replacement cycles
• transparent pricing for added chemicals and labor
• resources for more training and support

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Chapters

• 0:00 Dogs And Pool Routes: The Reality
• 2:15 Coaching Program And Credentials
• 2:35 Dog Tolerance To Chlorine
• 4:21 Three Levels Of Dog Usage
• 5:56 Preventing Dogs From Entering Pools
• 7:16 Setting Customer Expectations
• 9:23 Enhancers: Borates, Enzymes, Phosphate
• 11:58 Chlorine Strategy And Extra Chemicals
• 13:38 Filters: Cleaning And Replacement Schedules
• 16:23 Pricing, Transparency, And Wrap-Up
• 17:46 More Resources And Sign-Off

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 1:02

Hey, welcome to the Pool Guy Podcast Show. In this episode, I'm going to talk to you about dogs on your pool route, specifically dog swimming in the pool, some cautions, and some things that you can do, of course, to service that pool still, even if dogs are using it on a weekly basis, which is of course annoying. I'll go as far as saying that at the beginning here. Are you a pool service pro looking to take your business to the next level? Join the pool guy coaching program. Get expert advice, business tips, exclusive content, and get direct support from me. I'm a 35-year veteran in the industry. Whether you're starting out or scaling up, I've got the tools to help you succeed. Learn more at swimming poollearning.com. I'll start off by saying that I do love dogs. I treat them really well on my pool route. They get treats. I had various dogs for many years, and so nothing against dogs themselves or owners that love dogs and let them use the pool. It's something that we just have to deal with because there's no way to convince anyone that their dog is causing any kind of problem. You probably see them in stores and like little baby carriages, and you know, people really take their dogs seriously to a level that uh other countries kind of frown upon when they see Americans with their dogs. There's some countries that actually eat dogs. I mean, it's pretty crazy the polar opposite from one side of the world to the other. And it's something that you're just gonna have to deal with in pool service that there's no way to change the customer's attitude. You shouldn't waste your time or breath even trying to change their attitude about their dog using the pool as something that's not good for the pool. I don't know if it affects the dog, to be honest with you. They have a really high tolerance for chlorine. I had a husky that would drink out of the pool for it's a I had a salt pool with borates in it, and would drink out of the pool every day, wouldn't affect it at all. I had a water dish there, but it just like drinking out of the pool, or she liked drinking out of the pool, and it's one of those things where it's unavoidable. So I think they do have a high tolerance for chemicals and chlorine, and it doesn't really affect them to the same level that it will affect regular humans using the pool, I should say. We probably don't have quite the tolerance that they have for a lot of things, and it's something that is part of pool service in Southern California, where you're gonna have some pools that have usage by the dogs. Now, at what extent are the pools used by dogs? Sometimes dogs just take a dip in there to cool off, and what's gonna happen is you're gonna have some added mess to the pool where there'll be more dirt in the bottom or the filter may get dirtier and there may be more dog hair in the pool. Not necessarily does the dog need to get into the pool to have dog hair everywhere in the pool. I've had accounts where the gardener or landscaper shows up and blows all kinds of debris into the pool without you know you even having the dog swimming in the pool. So that's really not a factor in some cases where you have dogs directly in the pool. You actually have the dog hair and everything getting blown into the pool itself there. And so dog swimming in the pool, I'll categorize it in three different categories. One would be the occasional swimmer or dog that just stays on the steps and dips its feet in. There's several dogs that do that, they'll just go into the first one or two steps and go back out of the pool. They won't actually go into the pool, and then you have category number two, which is one or two dogs swimming in the pool on a continuous basis. And that's you know pretty typical. You'll have one dog in the pool and it swims ever so often. The pool is actually fairly manageable at that point with one and two. When you get to level three, is when you have a lot of problems and you have three or four dogs using the pool on a continuous basis. And believe me, there are those accounts out here where several dogs are using the pool all summer long. Now, there are some ways to prevent the dogs from getting into the pool, of course. They can put a fence around it, a mesh fence around it, they can cover the pool, and you with the like the Spider-Man safety net. I don't I don't think you would want to put a solar blanket on the pool that could be dangerous for the dog. They may not understand that, but you can put like a Spider-Man mesh cover, which I don't like by the way, or put a mesh fence around the pool, and it's it's something that can be done to stop them. Something really simple that can be done to stop the dog from getting in the pool is to put a launch chair, lawn chair or wood across the step area. Most dogs, now there are some dogs that will jump in the pool. I've had a few of them. Very rare that you'd have a dog that jumps in the pool. At least I only had one Labrador on my route that did that. They would get in from the step area. So if you block off the steps, the dog is not going to get into the pool in both situations. And easy solution for the homeowner, sometimes they'll tell you that, oh, I have no way of stopping the dog from getting in there. Just say, oh yeah, if you put a launch a launch chair, a lounge chair across the step area, the dogs won't go into the pool. And that's usually the case. So if the homeowner actually doesn't want their dog in the pool, there are active measures that can be taken to stop the dog from swimming in the pool or drinking out of the pool, also. Now, let's just get realistic here and talk about those pools where the dogs are swimming, and the homeowner really likes the dog swimming because they feel they're cooling off and someone's using the pool at least. And I get it. Sometimes they don't even use their pool. I've had many accounts where the homeowner themselves never used the pool, but the dogs use the pool. So they feel kind of some vindication that yes, I invested all this money, the kids are grown and moved out, and the dogs are using the pool now, so don't bother me about the dogs. Well, in that case, you have to bother them somewhat about the dog swimming in the pool because there are there is a level of service that you're providing, and there's a cost associated with dogs in the pool that you cannot absorb. So let me touch on both of those. The level of service you're providing is that you're cleaning the pool, trying to keep it algae-free, swim ready, I guess in some cases for humans if they ever use the pool. And so at this point, it's really difficult to achieve the first part of your service, which is keeping the pool swim ready. Because if you've had pools at multiple dogs swimming in the pool, you know that it's impossible or virtually impossible to keep the pool clean. There's dog hair in there, the water's cloudy, there's possibly algae forming, and there's a lot of dirt in the pool, especially if the dog walks through the planters, walks around in dirt areas, the dirt level is increased in the pool. So that part can't be achieved theoretically with a pool with many dogs swimming in it. So the customer has to be aware of the fact that your pool, their pool is not gonna look the way their neighbors' pools look when they don't have dogs swimming in it. So clarify that with the customer that you're gonna do your best to maintain the pool, but at some point they have to understand that the quality of the water is going to suffer because of the dogs. And I've really never had a problem with any customer realizing this. They're like, Yeah, yeah, I understand. I yeah, I under I see how the pool looks, the dog in there, I get it, don't worry about it. And that usually is the case, so you have to actually let the customer know, because if you don't communicate that, they're gonna think that you're not servicing the pool correctly. There was another customer, not one of my customers, but someone in my group, not dogs, but ducks, and I could probably do a whole podcast on ducks eventually, but she had ducks in the pool, and they were like her dogs, so she was feeding the ducks, they were swimming in the pool, making a total disaster of it. And the pool company informed her, or the pool guy in my group informed her that this is you know, this is gonna be a problem, and she told them, Don't worry about it, I don't really care how the pool looks, and I I love my ducks, and you know, do the best you can, and that's it. And so that's actually pretty nice. You get to the pool, and it doesn't really matter how the pool looks. I guess it's nice. I don't think it's that nice with ducks in there. Same thing with dogs, the customer has to have a realistic baseline of how their pool's gonna look every week with the dog swimming in there. I've cleaned pools before where I finally cleaned it and the dog gets right back in, it's messy again. So it sometimes is futile, futile to clean the pool to a level, you know, where it's actually clean all the time. The second part of that is the cost involved with maintaining a pool with dog swimming in it. It's going to cost the customer more money because there is more involved in keeping that pool somewhat semi-usable or clear. And I would recommend implementing these things on a pool with dog swimming in it. Number one, I would add borates to 50 parts per million so that you have at least that protection against algae forming in the pool. I would also, and it also will allow the chlorine to last longer, I would also add a pull rex to the pool. Now, you have to time the pull rex plus when you're adding it to the pool. Add it like earlier in the season than you would normally add it if there's humans using the pool. I say this because if you have the pool at a high chlorine level, which typically you're going to do with dog swimming in the pool, and I'll touch on that in a minute, the pull-rex reacts with high chlorine, or the copper at least reacts with it, and it could actually turn if the dog is like a Labrador with light colored hair, it could turn it greenish and tint. So be strategic with the pool RX to add it before the dogs are actually really using the pool tremendously. And there is an off-season for dogs, thankfully, that there is a water temperature that they don't like, and use that like February, March to add the pool RX, and then that's gonna give you an extra additive protection. And of course, utilize phosphate and enzymes also. So you're gonna use all three enhancers that I recommend in that pool to really help you with that with the dog swimming in the pool. So the enzymes are gonna really help with the scum line that kind of builds up on the tile from the dog swimming in the pool. But of course, go back to point one with the customer, realistic expectations of how clean the pool actually is gonna look. Let them know that that scum line is something that may build up over time, regardless of what you're doing to the pool, brushing the tile, putting enzymes in. The dogs have a lot more oil in their skin, and there's a good potential that you're gonna have a lot more of that dark black buildup on the tile line. But the enzymes will help somewhat to keep that from you know forming quickly, and it may make it less noticeable. Let me touch on the chlorine in the pool, and this is something that you're going to have to let the customer know that since the dogs are swimming in the pool, and you can use the old kind of urban legend that you know one dog is like 10 people swimming, just go ahead and tell them that, and you're gonna need more chlorine in the pool to maintain that pool. And they should be okay with purchasing a 50-pound bucket of Calhypo that you keep on the job site that you can add to the pool to shock the pool, and it's something that you're gonna have to understand that dogs in the pool equals a higher price for service, which means that they're gonna pay for more chemicals, trichlor tablets, calhypo. If they have a salt water pool, you're still gonna have to kind of boost it with some chlorine as well, because the dogs really destroy the chlorine level in the pool rapidly. So let the customer know that there's gonna be extra charges, of course, for the borates, for the pull RX, for the enzymes and phosphate remover, and for the extra chemicals in the pool. Most people will be okay with that because they love their dog swimming in the pool. I really haven't had anyone push back that I can think of when I'm charging it for extra chemicals for the pool to help keep it stable. And then, of course, on the flip side of that is the fact that you're gonna have to really treat the filter differently than filters on your pool route that don't have dog swimming in them. What I mean by that is that if you have cartridge, if you have quad cartridge filters where the dogs are swimming, typically I would change those out every three years. That's kind of my baseline. Every three years change out those cartridges. If you have dogs swimming in the pool, I would change those cartridges out every year and a half. You accelerate that because the cartridges do get worn out, they do get a lot more oil in them, and a lot more hair and dirt and grime gets in there. And you're gonna be cleaning these also more often than you normally would clean a regular pool without dogs swimming in them. So typically the quad cartridge filters the four cartridges are clean every six months. But if dogs are swimming in the pool, I go to every three months cleaning those filters. Extra money for you, a little extra work for you. But the customer understands this because you're gonna explain to them that it requires more filter cleanings with the dogs in the pool. Same with dietomation filters, you can backwash them to a certain point, but you're gonna have to break them down probably every four months and clean them off and put them back together with fresh DE. And I would say that the elements probably will last a little bit less, also. So instead of going three years changing the elements, go two years with the filter grids and a D filter and the sand filter. Of course, you just want to backwash it whenever you need to. When the PSI goes from 20 to 30, backwash the sand filter. But the filter is also a factor, and you really need to be aware of the fact that they're gonna need more filter cleanings, and sometimes you're gonna open up the filter, and it's gonna look like there's a dog living in that filter. There's so much hair in there. So be aware that the filter cleaning is gonna be messier, more time consuming, but you're getting extra money because you should be charging for the filter cleanings, and with the extra cleanings, you're gonna actually get extra money on those dog pools. And it's all about educating the customer of how the dog affects your pool service. You're not going to be able to keep the pool clear, and they're gonna have to pay extra for the chemicals you're using in those pools. As long as you're clear about it, transparent, and the customer has these expectations of how the pool's gonna look, what you're gonna do at the pool, the extra work you're gonna do, the extra money for the chemicals, they should be fine with it. And again, I really haven't had much pushback when I implement these things with the pools. You can gradually do the enhancers if you want. You can start with borates, and then you can try the pool rex if you need to. But I would not say that you would not want to be adding enzymes and phosphoryl removers. You want to do that for sure, and the pool rex would be optional because with the borates and the enzymes and phosphoryl, that may be enough, but I always like the pullarx anyway, as extra insurance with the dogs in the pool, and it doesn't hurt really to use it. It's something that's going to just make your job easier. The last thing you want to do is to not implement these things and then struggle with the pool, have algae, have constant cloudy water. It's gonna be somewhat cloudy anyway, but it's going to be much easier if you really tackle everything up front and let the customer know that it's gonna be a different kind of pool service with the dog swimming in the pool than if they were not swimming in the pool. Looking for other podcasts, you can find those on my website, swimming for learning.com. Go to the banner, there's a podcast icon, click on that, and there'll be over eighteen hundred podcasts you're to listen to at your leisure. And if you're interested in the coaching program that I offer, you can learn more at poolguidecoaching.com. Thanks for listening to this podcast. Have a great week, and God bless.