Hot Tub With Your Dog? Is It Possible?

Browsing through YouTube, you see a lot of videos wherein dogs enjoy swimming in the swimming pool. Now, you wonder if you can spend such quality time with your pet, only this time, in a hot tub.

Hot tub with your dog? Is it really possible? Let’s find out!

The internet is a confusing place to search for information. However, I did my research, and I found three main concerns that tell me NOT to put my dog in a hot tub.

1.  Too Hot!

A hot tub earns its name because you are supposedly soaked in water at a high temperature. The warm massaging stream of water can be a relaxing experience for you, but the opposite can be said to your dog. Most hot tubs operate at 102-degrees Fahrenheit as a minimum temperature level, which is too hot for dogs and can lead your pet to suffer from heat stroke.

Even without soaking in a hot tub, you can instantly feel the dogs’ body has a slightly higher temperature when you touch them. Thus, it is common sense that putting them in a hot tub will make their body temperature even higher, especially since they can’t sweat like humans. Sweating is our body’s reaction to cope with the stress caused by the heated water.

2.  Too Small to Swim

Another main concern why dog hot tub therapy should be avoided is that dogs don’t like to be confined in a small space. In the case of swimming pools, there is enough space for them to swim and roam around. Unfortunately, hot tubs are meant for relaxing soaks and not for swimming.

Most often than not, when dogs are put in a hot tub, they attempt to jump out of the tub. This lead to either an accident involving your dog or another person inside the hot tub or scratches on your tub’s finish.

3.  Harmful Chemicals

Just like the swimming pools, hot tubs need maintenance and regular cleaning. Hence, it is not at all surprising if sanitizing chemicals are used to make sure the water remains crisp and clean. These sanitizing chemicals can cause harm to your pet like excessive drying and hair loss.

On another note, putting your dog in the hot tub is not good for the tub either. Here’s why:

4.  Scratches Here and There

Since a hot tub has a rather small space, it is indeed possible for your dog’s nails to touch the floor and walls of the hot tub. They can even claw your hot tub’s lighting, the stainless water jets,  as well as the other parts.

In a nutshell, expect to have scratches here and there.

5.  Hair Everywhere!

Remember when I mentioned earlier that the sanitizing chemicals used in hot tub maintenance can cause drying of skin and hair loss to your dog? Well, there is another problem that links to that one.

Apparently, all those loose hair from your pet can get inside your hot tub’s filter, and guess what happens? Yes, that’s right! All those hair will clog up your tub’s filtration system. And this can even lead to a much bigger hot tub issue like a hot tub filtration repair.

6.  Contamination

So the chemicals in the hot tub water can harm your dog; but did you know that letting your dog in the hot tub can also contaminate the water? How? Just imagine all those flea repellents and other treatments you put on your dog’s hair and body. These can make the water dirty and can initiate the transfer of bacteria.

I don’t know about you, but I certainly don’t want to soak in a hot tub with fleas in it.

Conclusion

Spending time with your beloved pet is a fun and exciting experience. However, certain limitations also need to be set, not just for your safety but as well as your pet’s safety. Avoiding dog hot tub therapy is one of these limitations.

So, to answer the question, “Can my god go in the hot tub?” the answer is a NO. It may not harm your pet on the first try, but it can certainly affect their overall health in the long run.