A dog owner has revealed what happened when she bought a doggy paddling pool for her pooches to splash around in – and it didn't end well.
Some may say water is like marmite to dogs – they either love it or they hate it. But they can change their minds depending on what vessel the water comes in.
Writer Bethan decided to give a water pit a whirl with her American Bulldog/Staffy dogs Phoebe and Frank.
Usually, the sea is a big nope for them, but streams get a paws up. She even struggles to get them into the bath without peanut butter.
And dog Frank won’t drink his water from his bowl if it’s above 13 degrees celsius, but Bethan says the hose pipe and watering can both get tails wagging.
Nonetheless, Bethan decided to try a doggy paddling pool. She ordered the Chad Valley water and sand pit from Argos for £20.
She said: "It’s really two pools, because you get two halves which you can store on top of each other.
"They’re roughly a metre square, so the perfect size for our American Bulldog/Staffy crosses.
"We filled the pool with the hosepipe, with both Phoebe and Frank watching very intently from the edge.
"They were keen to chase the water spurting from the hose, which has always been a favourite pastime."
But once the paddling pool was filled and left to warm up in the sun the dogs had absolutely no interest in taking a dip.
Bethan continued: "In a bid to tempt them, I threw a handful of treats into the pool, which Frank craned his neck to reach rather than placing a paw into the tepid water.
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"Some of the treats sank to the bottom of the pool, and the pooch even went so far as to snorkel to get them – but still wouldn’t get into the paddling pool.
"I rolled up my trousers and hopped in myself, splashing the water to see if I could entice them, but to no avail. I had no other choice but to lift 25kg Frank into the pool where he stood frozen still unsure of what to do."
Once in the water, the dog didn’t seem to hate it and wasn’t in a rush to escape, but also wasn’t exactly the picture of a perfectly happy pooch enjoying a paddle.
Bethan says Phoebe still won’t even go near the pool for love nor money (nor treats or toys).
"We’ve tried launching her favourite toy across the garden and into the pool, we’ve tried throwing in treats – but there’s no hope of catching her to place her in.
"I guess I knew buying the dogs a paddling pool was a gamble, but I’m still hopeful that as the weather warms up, they’ll take refuge in the cool water and learn to love it. If not, I’m sure I will."
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