You should teach your dog how to get out of the pool, regardless. This is advice from California where pools are common and many pets are drowned when they fall in accidentally when nobody's around. And they will fall in. I haven't heard of skin irritations being a problem, but it's a thought. Den-Den likes to swim. I rinse him off well . . . don't want him turning green! Don't know if that would happen, but a lot of blondes do. Course, he's natural . .