Archived Message

ORIGINAL MESSAGE:
by Jennifer

My dog Hudson and I spent this past weekend by the pool. It was quite hot and humid but I was still stunned when he jumped in pool behind me! He seems to be a natural swimmer ans spent the rest of the day in and out of the water; at one point he climbed onto raft I was on and took a break resting on my back. Does anyone else have a swimming maltese? Hudson was by the pool all last summer and never indicated any interest in the water. We also have Golden Retreivers who are always swimming - they weren't on the pool when Hudson came in - but I'm thinking he gained confidence from watching them.

DISCUSSION:

Hi, Our maltese Chewy is out with us each summer at our pool. He rides on a big tube with us. We have plenty of pictures. He really doesn't like to get wet but he can swim very well. His brother, Benji did the same as yours when his family visited us. It was amazing! He just jumped into the pool after his masters.

A few words of caution:
Make sure you provide them with some shade and water. They can sunburn. If he looks uncomfortable put him in the air conditioned house.Don't allow them to swim to often in chlorine water. It will dry their skin. Otherwise enjoy.All we have to say to Chewy is " to the pool ". Open the door and he is waiting at the gate.Rennee
-Renee

Just to add another major note of caution. Please if you have a Maltese and a swimming pool visit this site in the archives: www.serve.com/maltese/archives/195.html The stories there are tragic but valuable lessons. Even if your Maltese swims like he has fins there are risks.
-Carina

Buster loves the lake! His favorite pastime is to lounge on the floating lawnchair with me, dangling his little paws in the water. Now my Mother's maltese, (Who lives on the lake) does not go in the water,(unless there is a dead fish to checkout!).
-Patti

Thank you for the warnings - having only had Golden Retreivers it never occurred to me that Hudson could be in any danger. We do have steps out of the pool - our next lesson will be to ensure Hudson knows where they are !
-Jennifer

We never let Princess or Pentium in the swimming pool. I am concerned about the effects of chlorine in their beautiful eyes. Does anyone know if this will affect them in any negative way?
-Chuck Norman

I, too, have a swimming Maltese ! This little one came to me as a retired breeding bitch. I live in Hopkinsville, Kentucky which many of you may have heard about on CNN due to our bout with some very serious flooding this past spring. I had only had her about 2 weeks when this flood happened. Fortunatly our home was not flooded on the interior but due to the way it is built it became an island( we made the news ! aaugh !). So, the only way to get out of the house was to put on your hip boots and wade right in. I was coming home from the grocery store and had to make multiple trips from the car to the house to unload every thing.The water had begun to recede and was only about 2.5 feet deep at this point, prior to this we felt like we had a tributary to the Mississippi flowing around us. About my 3rd trip across,my son,who was taking the things from me on the porch, opened the door to the house and out popped Bubbles,our new ( 9 years old new )family member.He called to her and she came to him and as he reached for her she spotted me,up over my knees in filthy, muddy ,ice cold water. My son yelled and I looked back to see a tiny black nose and two GIGANTIC black eyes peeping above the scummy water.White ears trailing behind,she had charted her course and set sail, full steam ahead! This little fur woman was moving! I swear she was leaving a wake ! I thought maybe I'd been trapped in that house too long with those teenagers and dogs - I HAD to be hallucinating- Maltese DONT swim and besides,I'd only had her 2 weeks ( okay, 2 weeks of 24/7 spoiling) she couldnt be so bonded to me that she felt she had to rescue me ! I was wrong on all counts. Even Sam, the worlds largest Labrador,stood stunned as he watched this scene.After a warm bath , and a drink(for BOTH of us;hers didnt require a corkscrew though) everyone recovered.Out of her 8.0 pounds we have decided that 7.5 is all heart. Since "the great rescue" I am only allowed out of her sight when she is confined to the dogs room.Thankfully everything was fine,but we do have a pool and because she is in full coat she is not EVER out there without me(like she would anyway!) As for chlorine on thier coats I should think it would be harmful as chlorine is very drying to both skin and hair,not to mention that it turns natural( and bleached) blondes lovely shades of green. The moral of this story, boys and girls ,is this: Do not EVER be fooled into thinking they wont do something just because WE think they wont -so WATCH THOSE BEASTIES !!
-Belinda

I don't have a swimming Maltese, but I do have one that wanted to walk on water, and DID! I was visiting my sister and she had a blue cover over the pool. While I was there watching her, she just decided to check this *new smell* out and, you guessed it, started walking on the pool cover! She is only 4 lbs so the tarp didn't move much, just enough to get her paws wet. But, you can bet that that was the fastest run and dog pickup that I have ever made! Watch out for those little ones near water! (P.S. she hates talking a bath).
-Teri