My 11 months old Mal just learned to swim, and now she LOVES launching out over the waves to get to the tennis ball when we are at the beach. The problem is she must injest alot of salt water because she has some pretty explosive bathroom problems afterwards if you know what I mean. Is this bad for her? Is there anything I can do to help her? Should I just limit her trips to the beach?

There was a simlilar post in 2003, but the poster didn't seem to get much in the way of answers. Hopefully someone here can help.

Thanks,
-Nate & Mina

Hi, I live by the beach also and my dog has injested a lot of saltwater too, and has been unable to control himself. I never really found an answer to why but all I know that if the drink salwater that they have a hard time controlling their bladder.So I limit the amount he takes in if any. I don't think there is anything specifically you can do to prevent the bathroom issues other than what I mentioned above. I don't believe there any risk to injesting saltwater.

The challenge with toxicity lies in the quantity of whatever is being ingested. Seawater can be harmful (even fatal) to dogs and people if very large quantities are swallowed, especially if dehydration is already a possibility. Lots of fresh water readily available may not prevent diarrhea, but it sure will help dilute the sodium to less harmful levels... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

Anne

Saltwater is a natural laxative hence the clean out. My brother takes his 11 year old dog to the beach three to four days a week and she has never had any issues with it. Do take plenty of fresh water along for the dog to drink and maybe not over due it in one day. My brother does rinse her skin and coat off afterwards to get the salt residue off of her so she doesn't itch.

Here in CT where I live the local town beaches are off limits to the dogs after March 31st, so since it was finally warm enough to take them there & let them go into the water I took my dogs about 5 times in the last 2 weeks before they were no longer allowed to go. They both spent most of the 1 1/2 hrs that we were there in & out of the water chasing their toys & each other & running in & out playing in the water. They would drop their toy in the water & then fish it out consuming plenty of water I'm sure. I offered them plenty of fresh water after their salt water time, after drying them off & crating them. I did not find that they had any blatter or bowel issues after that. My dogs are on a raw diet, don't know if that makes any difference or not.

My dogs love to swim in the ocean as well, and they both squirt out the rear end 3-10 minutes after they get out of the water every time.

It doesn't seem to affect them, and I just give them plenty of fresh water.

Thanks to all those who responded. I have some pics of her if anyone wants to see. The links are below.

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/semiok45/Mina-House1.jpg
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/semiok45/Mina-House2.jpg
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/semiok45/Mina-Beach1.jpg
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/semiok45/Mina-Beach2.jpg
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/semiok45/Mina-Beach3.jpg
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/semiok45/Mina-Beach4.jpg
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/semiok45/Mina-Park1.jpg
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/semiok45/Mina-Park2.jpg
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/semiok45/Mina-Park3.jpg
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/semiok45/Mina-Park4.jpg

Great action shots at the park! She's got big ol' ears like my Mal. I wish he would show some interest in frisbee, although I take him to a lot of disc golf parks, so maybe that wouldn't be such a hot idea having the crazy dog move everyone's discs around. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

i been taking my dog to the beach twice a week now & teaching him to swim. We have both found the whole experience to be quite bonding and therapeutic. He "talks" to me while playing in the sand. I have no idea what he is saying but he barks in a seemingly communicative way. Its a different bark from his "alert / defense" bark or his "play / prey" bark.

Two weekends ago I took him to a fresh water mountain stream instead because it was closer to my house than the beaches. He got full of mud and his ears were really grimy after too. I gave him a bath and when I cleaned out his ears, his right ear flopped and stayed down for quite some time. I was very nervous that I had broken his cartilage as he was just 4 1/2 months old. My breeder told me his ear was probably irritated by the cleaning solution and thats why it flopped, I was told "to give it a week and the ear should come back up".

So about 5 days later his ear was still permanently flopped. I was real bummed out, convinced I had broken his cartilage. Anyway I took him to the beach that day and he got in there and went swimming again. I thought I was imagining things but immediately during and after the beach time his flopped ear started to go erect sporadically.

I took him to the beach two more times since then and every time he went swimming his ear would show more rigidity until after yesterday's hour+ long romp his ear is back up almost 100% of the time. A quick inspection of the interior shows it very clean, no dirt or grime. The ears are now cleaner than when I cleaned them myself.

I don't know about the salt water in other areas. For my dog I drive about an hour to the other side of the island to find a protected cove with clean water. There are closer beach accesses to my house but either the surf is too big or not enough currents nearby to keep the water clean enough for my puppy. The ideal location has powerful enough currents so the water should be crystal clear with no rubbish in the water or residential runoff possibly stagnating in the nearshore area. A outer reef to keep the shorebreak under a few inches is mandatory because I don't want the dog to get worked over or sucked out into the shorepound. It's not that hard to find the right combo. A little local knowledge may help if you are not that ocean savvy. Ask a local surfer or fisherman if you dont know where to go.

Anyway I am real happy his ears came back up!