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Tuesday, April 28, 2020

What's Up with Kona?

Damn! This dog used to love diving in the pool, playing in the pool, chasing tennis balls....

Suddenly, she doesn't want to go into the pool. When I put on my bathing suit, she used to get excited. Now she just looks at me. When I call her to come, she lies down on the kitchen floor and refuses to come out the door.....

I'm not going to push her or drag her into the pool...

She seems fine in every other way, i.e. appetite, walking, pooping, etc.  Don't know what's gotten into her with the pool.

The only thing I can think of was several weeks ago when she was playing in the pool, fetching tennis balls, she swallowed some water and vomited, quite a bit... found out later the pool tech had used muriatic acid the day before, but when I called the pool company, I was told this acid dissipates quickly and shouldn't have caused that kind of reaction.

Other people seem to think this acid should not have caused any reaction 24 hours later.... And I don't know, because she was acting cautious about the pool before that incident... I had to "lure" her to the pool with tennis balls...

I did tell them (pool company) to let me know when they put chemicals in the pool, so I know....  but still now Kona doesn't want to go into the pool at all.

And I am missing this one little joy in my life: playing with Kona in the pool.

Any ideas?
The way she was! I do miss this!

8 comments:

Rhonda said...

I would put her on a float raft. So she is on the water not in the
water. Until she gets over her fear of the water. Show her there
is nothing to be afraid of. Let me know if that works. Rhonda

Anonymous said...

I've never had a dog, but all I can think of is that she was "traumatized" by getting sick that time. Years ago, my parents' cat who was indoor only, got out of their house when they opened a side door, and they couldn't find him until late that night. After that, any time he was in the room with that side door and they opened it, he ran in the opposite direction. Guess he wasn't too happy about his time in the great outdoors.

Anyway, maybe with some more time Kona will "forget" what happened and want to enjoy the pool again.

Good luck,
Lynne in CT

Anonymous said...

Is it possible Khona is having ear problems? Ear infection or something similar. when i was a kid I had to stop throwing sticks in the water for our black lab because it was causing ear infections, It was not a chemically treated pool though and sooo long ago.
Hope Khona decides to enjoy the pool again soon.

Anonymous said...

Sorry . Kona not Khona.

Stephany in Iowa said...

I'm not sure about Kona, but let me just put this out there...Kona may be sensing something else, not even related to the pool. You might check the chemical levels, possible mold or mildew, or anything around the pool. I've heard of dogs sensing all sorts of problems, but not having a way to tell us.

And, I wish my dog would learn that tossing a ball requires that the ball be returned.

Diane said...

Thanks all for your comments:

Rhonda, I've had float rafts in the pool before and she does not like them at all.

Lynne, I think you are right about her being traumatized after she got sick....

Stephany, the pool company just checked the chemical levels in the pool a couple days ago and they were cleaning it up with some sort of gallon container of ? and scrub brushes and I went out to ask them what they were doing and they said the pH was off --- and this was after Kona refused to go in the pool... maybe the problem is fixed now? But how to get Kona over her fear?

And Kona is prone to ear infections, but I've seen no evidence of that lately......

So I've been trying to walk her longer in the a.m., did 1.5 miles today! So at least if she's not swimming she's getting some exercise...

Linda said...

We had a visiting dog for a few days and we needed to keep them separated. We let them have turns in the kitchen where food was. My dog is pretty spooked I think because we kept yelling at one dog or the other to get back. It is 6 months and our dog will come into eat on one side of the room and then literally backs out of the room and refused to go all the way in. We have tried all sorts of things but nothing is convincing him the floor isn't made of lava or something Basically no good advice out of me. hug

J.L. Murphey said...

Diane, Kona just came through a bad stint with vomiting and almost dying. She's traumatized with the pool. Give her time. Her will to play will win out. By nature she's a water loving dog. Maybe take her to the beach and let her romp in the surf for a little bit. She may return to the pool yet.