Poolguard / official source verified
Poolguard PGRM-2 In-Ground Pool Alarm
A deck-mounted in-ground pool alarm that sounds when something enters the water, offered as an official alternate beside the PetStep pool ramp already in this directory.
Visit official brand pageLast verified October 3, 2026 ET
What it is
The Poolguard PGRM-2 is an electronic pool and spa alarm that sits on the pool deck with a sensor in the water. Poolguard's official alarms page says it is built to detect entry into the pool by children, pets, or intruders, and that it is certified by NSF International to the ASTM F2208 safety specification for residential pool alarms. The maker says it stays in alarm-ready mode while installed, sounds if it is removed from the pool, and has a sleep mode for when the family is swimming, with an automatic wake-up and self-test when it goes back in. It runs on a 9-volt battery with a low-battery warning, and an in-house remote receiver with a stated range of up to 200 feet. Poolguard says the horn is 85 dB at 10 feet, the alarm covers pools up to 20 by 40 feet or 800 square feet, and the unit is designed to detect intrusions similar to a one-year-old child. Treat those statements as the maker's own wording, checked against the live official Poolguard page on 2026-10-01 ET and re-checked with the official PGRM-2 manual linked from that page on 2026-10-03 ET, not as independent test results.
Why it matters for a light-coat Lab puppy
A ramp gives Theo a way out of the pool; an alarm tells the people inside that he went in. A Lab puppy can reach a Florida pool in the few seconds nobody is looking, so a receiver that sounds inside the house is a useful second layer beside exit training. Whether a given puppy is heavy enough to trip the sensor is not something this page can promise. Poolguard frames detection around a one-year-old child, so test it with the actual dog under supervision before relying on it; that testing advice is Theo's own inference, not a Poolguard statement. The maker's own test in the official PGRM-2 manual is to push an object of appropriate volume and weight off the deck edge at the farthest location from the alarm, and the manual says: "A four (4) gallon jug of water or 3-one (1) gallon jugs of water tied together are ideal for testing."
Not this
An alarm reports that something entered the water; it does not get a dog out or keep one from drowning. It does not replace a code-compliant barrier, secured gates, a trained exit route like a pool ramp, a properly fitted life vest, or an adult actively watching Theo around water. The official PGRM-2 operating instructions manual on poolguard.com states, in the maker's English wording: "POOLGUARD IS A SAFETY ALARM SYSTEM AND NOT A LIFE SAVING DEVICE." The same manual continues: "This device is not intended to replace any other safety consideration - i.e., adult supervision, lifeguards, fences, gates, pool covers, locks, etc., and some devices may not detect gradual entry." Those words are quoted from the official PGRM-2 manual PDF linked from poolguard.com/alarms/, re-verified 2026-10-03 ET, and are not paraphrased as a test result. Theo's own inference, not a Poolguard statement: that gradual-entry caveat may matter when a dog walks in down steps or a ramp rather than falling in. The ASTM certification and state-code statements are Poolguard's own claims and are not repeated here as tested results. The alarm must come out of the pool in sleep mode during swimming, so it protects nothing while it is out. This listing covers only the PGRM-2 in-ground pool alarm described at https://poolguard.com/alarms/. It does not cover Poolguard's floating, above-ground, door, or gate alarms, dealer listings, referral links, or tracking URLs. PetStep remains a separate directory seed for the same gear type. This page is an official alternate, not a ranking.
Official sources
Direct brand links only. Theo's Coat & Kit has no affiliate relationship or checkout attached to this page as of the verified date.