Akita Pool

[EddieWalker]

Keep an eye out for heat stroke symptoms.

Symptoms of Heat Stroke

The hallmark symptom of heat stroke is a core body temperature above 104 degrees Fahrenheit. But fainting may be the first sign.

Other symptoms may include:

Throbbing headache
Dizziness and light-headedness
Lack of sweating despite the heat
Red, hot, and dry skin
Muscle weakness or cramps
Nausea and vomiting
Rapid heartbeat, which may be either strong or weak
Rapid, shallow breathing
Behavioral changes such as confusion, disorientation, or staggering
Seizures
Unconsciousness

The only symptom that I've noticed is the confusion. I'll forget what I'm doing, or why I'm standing there. Sadly, this also happens first thing in the morning, or in the middle of winter when heat is not a concern. But it is the first sign when it's hot out that I notice, and it's when I start planning on calling it a day.

A few years ago my dad was helping me remove the engine from the dump truck. He was using the impact wrench to take off the bumper. It was in the mid 90's with high humidity, which is normal for our summers. He kept telling me that every bolt was stripped and that we had to cut them all off. I think he tried a dozen bolts with the same results. I thought that was odd for every single one of them to be stripped, so I took a look and instantly realized that he was using a socket that was several sizes to big for the bolts. He was too hot and not thinking clearly, or able to realize that the socket was too big. I sent him inside to the AC.

 

[mike69440]

Looks good. Yeah, this heat is something -- I didn't even try to work outdoors today. Took care of a couple indoors projects instead. I find as I get older I have much less resistance/tolerance for heat and dehydration. I'll start feeling lightheaded when bending over and getting up, and lose focus, which I think are all a sign of lowered blood pressure from dehydration. Used to be I'd skip over those less severe symptoms and keep going until I hit the more severe symptoms of muscle cramps, etc.

I could not live in the heat. Just mid 80's knock me out working hard. This weekend we picked up off the fields and loaded the barn to the rafters 800 hay bales. Friday , Saturday, and Sunday. The last 200 or so we had help. At that point we were useless.
Speaking of muscle cramps, well let's not speak of them. I'm on my second banana today and tried to drink as much liquids I could wash down. Hate being old.

 

[KubotainNH]

Neat project and pretty dogs. Salt water pools are so much easier to maintain when everything is working correctly. I'll 2nd the vote for checking out Trouble Free Pool, they got me to where I am now with my pool. Now I'm a pool snob and dislike other people's not so clean pools.

Something you may want to research is if the other chemicals used in most pools will mess with their beautiful fur. Mainly thinking of the stabilizer (CYA). There are natural ways to adjust the PH that are listed on that website.

 

[bindian]

I'm on my second banana today and tried to drink as much liquids I could wash down. Hate being old.

After cleaning up after getting hot, I have a spoonful of mustard. If I got too hot, I take another spoonful of mustard. No cramping and I feel much better. I don't let the mustard touch my tongue on the way down.

I even keep a bottle of mustard at the hangar for nights I get too hot.
hugs, Brandi

 

[Otto Syracuse]

After cleaning up after getting hot, I have a spoonful of mustard. If I got too hot, I take another spoonful of mustard. No cramping and I feel much better. I don't let the mustard touch my tongue on the way down.

I even keep a bottle of mustard at the hangar for nights I get too hot.
hugs, Brandi

I have heard that drinking pickle juice helps as well.

 

[dragoneggs]

Just happened on this thread... 'cool' project Eddie. I will be interested in your filtration/monitoring/dosing, etc. part of the system.

 

[clemsonfor]

The kids are going to miss the ditches. They loved playing in and around them!!!

View attachment 516218

im surprised she lets them play in the dirt. Seems like repeated play in that red mud would stain their white paw tips and it be hard to get out for shows.

 

[EddieWalker]

im surprised she lets them play in the dirt. Seems like repeated play in that red mud would stain their white paw tips and it be hard to get out for shows.

One of the problems with Akita's is they blow their coat. Summer time is a bad time to show them since they are losing so much hair. My wife bathes them about every other week, and brushes them out a couple times a week. Dog hair is something we just deal with. They have a very large doggy door, and the amount of dirt they bring into the house is amazing. She sweeps several times a day, and I've gone from changing the air filter in our AC unit from once a month, to once a week, and now twice a week.

Once it cools off and they start showing again, they will get their bathes here, but then again at the show either the day before, or that morning. I think a big part of why there are so many women at the dog shows is that they all love washing their dogs!!!! It's non stop.

 

[clemsonfor]

I eat that much mustard on sandwiches! I love it. I also love pickle juice and will drink it just cause when I think about it, which is not that often, usually if I get a pickle. But I will drink it after lots of exertion for that reason.

Does it help? I cant say, I still feel like I did something the day before but because every day is different I cant compare it to if I didn't drink it?

 

[EddieWalker]

20 foot long 3/8's or #3 rebar is bent, tied and resting on chairs. I put a temporary piece of rebar all around the pool to keep the upright parts in position. Then my wife wanted something to stop the dogs from diving on to of the rebar to impale themselves. I guess Akita's do that kind thing?

 

[bindian]

I guess Akita's do that kind thing?

:confused3:
When I put the new fence up on the neighbor's property line, between every post I tied orange steamers, until their horses got to know where it was.
hugs, Brandi

 

[EddieWalker]

We put streamers up on the electric fence around the vegetable garden. Each one, one at a time, tried to eat the streamers!!! The zap was pretty good, but they are a stubborn breed and by my reconning, each one has been zapped at least three times so far. Turns out that the streamers are just good for us humans to avoid the hot wire, Akita's prefer the challenge of outsmarting electricity.

One of the things Akita's are famous for is their stubbornness. Another is doing what they want to do regardless of what you are telling them to do. And just today, I learned that they like to east sand paper!!!

 

[17 Oaks]

Eddie, you guys at the Houston World Series of Dog Shows couple of weeks ago, big 5 day show???

 

[aczlan]

And just today, I learned that they like to east sand paper!!!

Perhaps they heard it was a good colon cleanser? That way they could get clean from the inside out...

Aaron Z

 

[EddieWalker]

Eddie, you guys at the Houston World Series of Dog Shows couple of weeks ago, big 5 day show???

No, we didn't go. Currently the latest version of the dog flu is running rampant and we feel the danger to our dogs is too high right now. It's extremly under reported, but if it's something you are looking into, there are reports about it all over the country. Here in Texas, San Antonio has closed their dog parks. Austin went from 3 reported cases two months ago to 120 cases last month. We know of three different Akita's that have passed away this year from it. The H3N3 vacine is the best that's available, and all our dogs have had both shots, taken one month apart, but it's not 100%.

We have just learned this week, that one of the ladies at the show, with dogs in another group, has dogs at her home that are infected. She went to the show anyway, with exposed dogs, that very likely infected dogs at the show. This is just one example that has come out so far. People are taking risks that we will not take.

Multiple dog shows this year have had over a 50% decline in dogs due to fear of the flu. They have gone from being Majors with at least 8 females registered, to only two or three showing up for a meaningless single point to the winner.

To add to the dog flu, kennel cough has mutated and become a concern. This is really recent information, so it's not clear what to do about it just yet.

The only way to be sure our dogs are safe is to keep them home, and not allow any of our friends to come over with their dogs. Isolation until it goes away.

Canine Influenza

Highly contagious dog flu spreading across Austin-area | KXAN.com

dog flu Archives | Steve Dale Pet World

Canine Influenza Virus 217: Beyond Two Show Dogs

 

[Steppenwolfe]

View attachment 516847

20 foot long 3/8's or #3 rebar is bent, tied and resting on chairs. I put a temporary piece of rebar all around the pool to keep the upright parts in position. Then my wife wanted something to stop the dogs from diving on to of the rebar to impale themselves. I guess Akita's do that kind thing?

Do yourself a favor and ground that steel... never can be too careful. Are you forming and pouring, or shooting the concrete?

 

[Redlands Okie]

Most times i see shot concrete sprayed the rebar is several layers and really close together. I assume your pouring. If your pouring i am curious if you are putting a liner in afterwords ? Concrete cracks and cold joints etc etc and the leaks from them. Or is it a just does not matter deal ? I am just curious and watching and learning. Looks like you have a interesting project on your hands

 

[EddieWalker]

Do yourself a favor and ground that steel... never can be too careful. Are you forming and pouring, or shooting the concrete?

I read about bonding a pool online and think I'm OK with the rebar being pounded into the ground. The pool is 16 feet long, and my 20 foot lengths are not long enough to go from end to end with the bend, so on the side closest to the porch, where the stairs are going to be, I pounded into the ground 8 lengths of rebar that tie into the short bend on the long lengths.

 

[EddieWalker]

Most times i see shot concrete sprayed the rebar is several layers and really close together. I assume your pouring. If your pouring i am curious if you are putting a liner in afterwords ? Concrete cracks and cold joints etc etc and the leaks from them. Or is it a just does not matter deal ? I am just curious and watching and learning. Looks like you have a interesting project on your hands

My plan is to pour 2.4 yards into the forms and create a pad. The rebar is 16 inches apart. Then after the pour, I will build up the walls and stairs using cinder blocks. The blocks will then be filled with concrete. After that, I will let it cure for about a month or so while I focus on the porch. Then I will paint Redgard onto the inside walls, steps and floor. Redguard is a kind of paint that is used in bathrooms showers that makes everything water proof. It's also listed as being used for swimming pools on their website.

When I lived in Indonesia, cinder block was used all the time for pools and fountains. Searching online, I found quite a few links on doing this too.

After the Redgard, I will be using a special thinset mortar designed for swimming pools that adds another layer of waterproofing. Same thing with the tile, it is denser then regular ceramic tile.

 

[17 Oaks]

No, we didn't go. Currently the latest version of the dog flu is running rampant and we feel the danger to our dogs is too high right now. It's extremly under reported, but if it's something you are looking into, there are reports about it all over the country. Here in Texas, San Antonio has closed their dog parks. Austin went from 3 reported cases two months ago to 120 cases last month. We know of three different Akita's that have passed away this year from it. The H3N3 vacine is the best that's available, and all our dogs have had both shots, taken one month apart, but it's not 100%.

We have just learned this week, that one of the ladies at the show, with dogs in another group, has dogs at her home that are infected. She went to the show anyway, with exposed dogs, that very likely infected dogs at the show. This is just one example that has come out so far. People are taking risks that we will not take.

Multiple dog shows this year have had over a 50% decline in dogs due to fear of the flu. They have gone from being Majors with at least 8 females registered, to only two or three showing up for a meaningless single point to the winner.

To add to the dog flu, kennel cough has mutated and become a concern. This is really recent information, so it's not clear what to do about it just yet.

The only way to be sure our dogs are safe is to keep them home, and not allow any of our friends to come over with their dogs. Isolation until it goes away.

Canine Influenza

Highly contagious dog flu spreading across Austin-area | KXAN.com

dog flu Archives | Steve Dale Pet World

Canine Influenza Virus 217: Beyond Two Show Dogs

We were in Houston and understood the show was just over 600 dogs short in attendance this year. Many classes only had one dog, many none. It was light attendance for sure. Talking to vets and others they are optimistic that by next year it will have passed. Not all dogs get it so they are looking at their ability to resist and come out with some newer vaccines is my guess.

Here is the pool I built at our place in Scottsale. The entry is at ground level so our little dogs and their short legs can just walk in. I found the black bottom and blue sky would reflect and they see different from us so they were hesitant to walk in and had to be carried in...defeating the purpose of the walk in or 'beach' entry. On a 'idea' I rocked the entry, suddenly they had no problem walking in on their own.


Pool with beach entry


Added rocks on the beach entry to take the glare/reflection on the water and let the dogs just walk in, WORKED and they loved it, would use pool on their own...