Look who thinks the pool was set up just for him. He starts out by taking a drink from outside the pool, which is bad enough when you consider the drool factor. But then he just walks right in like he owns the place. Next he's jumping around and splashing, wagging his tail and ready to play (with his rather sharp toe nails). Not exactly what we had in mind.
It looks like the puppy is going to have to be gated off the deck this summer, and he's not going to like that one bit. How else is he going to stay cool and bark like a crazy dog every time someone dares to walk through his yard (you know, on the public sidewalk)? It's necessary to scare the people walking (and often their dogs) and to annoy the neighbors, apparently.
Otherwise, the kiddie pool is going to stay covered in muddy paw prints and dog hair, and that was not the plan when we rearranged the deck this summer. Buster playing in the pool was a small issue last summer, but usually only when the cover that came with the pool wasn't put back on soon enough. Unfortunately, said cover tore (possibly from a big puppy stepping on it) and no longer exists.
Perhaps if we're nice puppy owners (or slightly crazy), we might invest in one of the really inexpensive plastic pools to keep on the concrete deck below. Buster can keep cool this summer without ruining the kids' pool for them, and the neighbors (hopefully) will avoid crazy barking dog (who, of course, barks on cue as I type from the currently still accessible deck). Win, win.