Mikki: She’s up to something…
Human: Finally she is no longer shying away from the water!
Mikki: I tell you she is up to something…
Human: Fine… let’s zoom in…
Donna: I’m outta here!
Human: You think?
Human: STOP DRINKING THE SEAWATER!!!
Donna: … *lap, lap, lap*
Can dogs drink seawater?
The simple answer is No.
A dog that drank too much salt water can start to vomit and also become dehydrated. And even if Donna appeared fine that day itself, she did experience the next day a very, very mild case of “beach diarrhea” – – Sigh~
This type of diarrhea occurs because the salt water has caused excess amounts of water to accumulate in your dog’s intestines… Beach diarrhea has the following characteristics:
– A liquid consistency
– Urgency and frequency
– Causes your dog to strain to evacuate
– Contains blood or mucous
source: vetinfo.com – The Side Effects of Dogs Drinking Salt Water
Thankfully it was mild, all she did was release a splat of runny stuff a couple of times, rather than solid poop on the grass. I couldn’t pick that up, I’m sorry. D:
But why did Donna suddenly start lapping at the sea water non-stop? It was almost as if she was hypnotised! D:
It seems all that running around has caused her to lose water. And because there wasn’t fresh water in her immediate vicinity, the sea water appeared the best option to her doggy mind that is telling her that she needed to drink.
I had to admit that fresh water was not readily available to her. We did not leave out a giant bowl of water that she can go drink from by herself. But prior to starting to drink the sea water, we did offer to her as much fresh water as she wanted.
But perhaps that just was not enough. The water loss started to kick in and the sea started to wave and say “drink me, drink me” at her. And she did.
So lesson learnt.
Here’s what we could do better the next time round.
- Leave a giant bowl of water on the sand where the playing dogs have easy assess to
- Ensure periodic time outs (every 15 minutes) so the dogs can rest and rehydrate in the shade. This is also a good time to practise “staying calmly” :P
- If doggy doesn’t want to drink, perhaps a fun and yummy ice block from an ice cooler bag can do the trick.
- Always supervise the dog
As we are always keeping an eye on her, we managed to get her out of the sea pretty fast once we realised the mischief she was up to. This probably meant we saved ourselves from the more painful and disgusting symptoms that could come with beach diarrhea, or worse, a visit to the vet.
Yay! :D
References:
– http://www.vetinfo.com/dogs-drinking-salt-water.html
– http://www.examiner.com/article/pet-care-101-can-you-prevent-your-dog-s-beach-diarrhea
– http://www.pawnation.com/2012/05/23/is-salt-water-poisonous-to-dogs/
– http://houseofsandanddog.com/puppy-tips/what-to-do-when-your-dog-drinks-salt-water/
Kuruk
Salt is yummy Donna! Wooooowooooo, Ku
weliveinaflat
Hello Ku, to welcome you back, we got a new haiku, but its kind of gross. Enjoy!
welcome smell-come-poo
rain come, no smell, so not cool
haiku in the loo
:P why did this only come to me now… when the bad poetry contest is already over. Why??
Kris Israel
Thanks for referencing http://houseofsandanddog.com :-) We live right next to the beach and our pups give your article 4 paws up!
weliveinaflat
Thank you Kris :)
1st World Dog
Still looks like lots of fun at the beach Donna…. but yeah salt water ain’t the best.
weliveinaflat
You are spot on :D
rubytheblacklabrador
Ruby did that too the first time. I think they somehow learn to keep their mouths closed and it never happened again…
weliveinaflat
Really? I’ll be glad if that happens with Donna. She seemed to be having the time of her life wading into the sea and lapping continuously at the water. If I didn’t go in after her, maybe she’ll have reached Australia by now! D:
rubytheblacklabrador
will let you know when she arrives…
weliveinaflat
Sorry, she is staying at home. :P
rubytheblacklabrador
Grounded then?
weliveinaflat
LOL no! Just no cross-border escapades!
Sonel
Oh dear me … LOL! Even though she wasn’t supposed to drink the salt water I just adore the shots Mrs. P. She looks so cute there in the water. I have a little cooler bag (the one they use for 6 packs beer) and when we go for a drive I always put in 2-3 bottles of iced water for Simba and his one water bowl. They tend to dehydrate so quickly and as humans we sometimes forget that. I learned the hard way too. When we go for longer drives I always make sure I have a small towel in the car so when it gets too hot, I wet the towel and throw it over him. He loves that.
Please give Donna a big hug and kiss from me and have a great weekend. :D xxx
weliveinaflat
Thanks for the tips Sonel! Now I know what I should get! :D *Hugs*
Sonel
Glad you liked the tip Mrs. P. :D *hugs*
Jo Danehy @ The Sundog Drift
I have experienced the lovely beach diarrhea more that once. Maisie once drank water from saline Mono lake in the Ca. desert. She got pretty sick. I’ll never let that happen again.
weliveinaflat
Oh dear, sorry to hear about Maisie. But that’s a good point about the saline lake. It could have similar effect to seawater so its not just drinking seawater that we should be aware of :) Thank you for takig the time to write! Happy Sunday!
ILoveDogs
Fresh bowl of water or not, somehow I suspect Maya would try to drink seawater too. Glad you’re okay Donna.
weliveinaflat
I just hope Donna would do that again with freshwater available the next time we go! What is this hynoptic effect of the sea on dogs? Must be the waving…
Abby
Despite the seawater-induced gastrointestinal distress, those are beautiful photos! Thanks for sharing!
weliveinaflat
Thank you Abby and it is my pleasure :)
scarlybobs
Hahaha we have experienced a few episodes of beach diarrhea since moving to the seaside :P
weliveinaflat
Ah, I hope it wasn’t too bad! I have to assume it is poor Zoey with the runny poo problem, I don’t know why she leaps into mind first. :D Maybe it’s the new seafood as well? :P
thatjenk
That second-last shot is great – the sky looks awesome!
Also, good information – I think Moses had a little bit of “beach diahhrea” on our recent trip to the west coast. We tried to keep him hydrated, but he just had to taste-test the seawater that first day!
weliveinaflat
Thank you, I took a lot of wide shots with 2/3 sky that day for that reason :P I hope it’s a one-time taste test for both Donna and Moses and they will be content with that and never do it again! :P
2browndawgs
Yikes! I would think the salt would be the problem. Our dogs try to drink pond water or puddles on occasion (Freighter being the worst offender). We discourage this because they can get intestinal parasites and lepto is a concern too. We provide drinking water but monitor the amount because we don’t want bloat either.
Nice pictures of the mischief maker. :)
weliveinaflat
OH yes, the mischief maker decided selective deafness is best in that situation. She has on occasion, although not much, stole a sip from puddles formed from the rain. Hopefully since these, being newly formed puddles, would not have intestinal parasites? I’m not sure I would know even if she has them, unless something bad comes out of the poop consistently. The issue have blot has not occurred to me, I guess because unlike when she was binge-ing on seawater, she actually does not drink as much water on normal days. Good views, if not for the mischief maker that is a stark black blob of seawater drinking animal in the center of it :P
2browndawgs
We have the vet test stool samples on our dogs once a year. They are hunting dogs and get into lots of things out in the field. We also deworm once a year (but I don’t think that is necessary for all dogs).
weliveinaflat
Donna is largely an apartment dog and doesn’t get into anything :P Even when outside on walks she is closely monitored since she is right beside us, so generally I guess we would have less worries in that department (I hope!)