Salt Water Ingestion

[Inevitablue]

Each morning my dog swims at the beach, and being an ACD she likes to chase the waves. Now she does this with an open mouth so is invariably ingesting some salt water. She vomits the salt water up within 10 min and is physically fine. I think she must be learning to not swallow the water, as the amount coming back up is becoming quite minimal.

So, one of those things I have to weigh up the pros and cons. She absolutely loves it, and it's part of the reason I live here, daily beach walks.

I know milk acts like a stomach lining protector. What do you think of my idea to give her a drink of puppy milk prior to our walk? Could it be of any benefit?

She has never had diarrhea from it, so I gather it's not passing as far as her kidneys.

[covejack]

Hi there, I used to walk my dog to the beach and she used to swim non-stop in rock pools for about half an hour. She also continually used to bite the surface of the water, on our walk home she used to do water fountains out the back end She never suffered any adverse affects, she is 10 years old now and still loves the beach

[The Spotted Devil]

My ACD was exactly the same except that she never learned not to ingest salt water It would run straight through her, poor lass.

It didn't seem to do her any harm though - she survived after eating compost (very bad!!!), eating a whole box of snail bait (yep, including the box ) and lived to the ripe old age of 17 years. The night before she was put to sleep due to acute symptoms of liver cancer, she stole and devoured an entire loaf of bread, bless her

[bjazld]

Have the same problem with one of mine.....She loves to swim but ingests so much salt she bloats. She also spews and sprays lol...But has never become unwell post swim, now i just limit her time in the water, She swims in the pool at home but doesnt injest the pool water....so not sure why its so appealing with the sea. ??

[Inevitablue]

Thanks for your replies guys.

I found an article where a dog died on the way home from a swim at the beach. Acute salt water toxicity. The dog had been swimming all morning

[Nekhbet]

that would have to be pretty extreme. Take yourself something like Recharge for greyhounds, it's an electrolyte replacer and can help them get rehydrated especially after exercise and ingestion of salt water which can cause dehydration.

[becks]

Thanks for your replies guys.

I found an article where a dog died on the way home from a swim at the beach. Acute salt water toxicity. The dog had been swimming all morning

That very nearly happened to a DOLers dog.

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

One of my dogs had violent diarrhea after drinking salt water!

[Tilly]

We had a small dog go missing (many years ago when I was a child) and he was found on a golf course drinking salt water. When we got him he could barely walk straight, he was vomitting and had the runs. Plenty of rest and fresh water and he recovered quickly.

I would be more concerned with dehydration after running around and swimming and then vomitting for any significant length of time. Ensure they get access to fresh water ...

[Inevitablue]

It's never more than a 10 minute play in the waves, and then a very short walk home.

It's been suggested to me that the milk might reduce the emetic effect of the salt water and allow it to pass right through her. It's probably much better if it is vomited out, instead of getting to the kidneys

[AussieDog]

I took my ACD to the beach for the first time a couple of years ago. Unbeknown to be the effects of salt water (which she drank heaps of) i put her back into the work car and on the way home she proceeded too throw up and "splatter" everywhere. It was such a pleasant experiance for us both.