Refreshing Paws: Marshall Pool pooch plunge

Some dogs dived right in. Others needed coaxing.

Tessa, a 5-year-old St. Bernard mix, was led into the Marshall pool by a staff member. The dog had a panicked expression as she reluctantly walked down the ramp and into the water for a few yards. Then she turned around and quickly paddled her way back to her owner, Kim West of Vancouver, who was cheering her on from outside the pool.

“Yay! Good girl. You did it,” West said as Tessa scrambled out of the water. West said she brought Tessa — “the love of my life” — to the third annual Pooch Plunge on Sunday at the Marshall Community Center in Vancouver as part of a mission to improve the dog’s swimming skills.

Tessa enjoys swimming in rivers and lakes, but the dog recently had a scare while trying to get out of the water near Dougan Falls, northeast of Washougal. Tessa was at the pool Sunday because “I wanted her to be able to get in and out of tight spots,” West said.

Meanwhile, Cody, a 2-year-old golden retriever, had pool swimming down. He tuned out the other dogs at the pool and focused on a game of fetch with owner Nikolas Yang, 16, of Vancouver. Yang hurled a chew toy into the water, said, “Go get it,” and Cody was off.

The dog struggled to lift himself out of the pool with his front legs, so Yang pulled him out by the collar.

“He loves the water, and he doesn’t get to swim much,” Yang said. After an hour of fetch in the pool, Yang predicted that Cody would go home and sleep for about four hours.

The opportunity for dogs to swim in the Marshall pool comes only once a year, just before the pool is drained for maintenance. The event had five time slots, with up to 50 dogs allowed in the pool during each swim. By about 2 p.m., nearly 150 dogs had taken the plunge.

“It’s popular. It’s fun,” said Karen Krohling, assistant pool manager. “We have a lot of dog lovers on our staff.”

Dog owners weren’t allowed in the pool, but about five lifeguards were stationed in the water to help the dogs if they needed it. Once inside the pool’s building, the dogs could go off leash.

“It’s a little bit of a free-for-all,” Krohling said.

Many dogs took a break from swimming to mingle or play alongside the pool — after shaking the water from their coats, of course.

Outside, there was even more to do. Food trucks and vendors selling pet products and pooch-inspired art lined the sidewalks around the center’s baseball field. Police gave K-9 demonstrations, and community groups collected donations in honor of a Vancouver police dog named Ike, who was killed in the line of duty last week. The money raised went to the Vancouver Police Department’s K-9 unit.

For Fitzy, a 3-year-old golden retriever and poodle mix, the Pooch Plunge marked a milestone: her first swim. With the help of a lifeguard, the dog stood on a board as it floated out into the water. With some encouragement, Fitzy dropped into the water. She clumsily thrusted her left front paw into the water, then her right, as she hurried toward the edge of the pool and her owner, Ingrid Murphy-Kenny of Vancouver.

“I’m so proud of her,” Murphy-Kenny said. After a couple more dips in the pool, Fitzy seemed overwhelmed by the experience and her surroundings, but “I think that she could learn to enjoy herself (in a pool),” her owner said.