Let your dog play in the water, but …

Our tawny tail loves the water. Since he figured out how to swim, it’s always a problem getting him out of it, may it be the sea, river or lake. He enjoys it a lot, finds swimming fun, even dives in for an interesting looking stone and loves to fetch sticks, balls – anything you throw for him to catch really. So we let him play and enjoy in the splashing, but after some experience we now keep an eye on him. Problem no. 1 is he sips on water while swimming – and when we are talking sipping on seawater, it’s time for sickness and diarrhea.

What’s to expect?

There are quite a few things that can go wrong when your dog is going for a dip in the water. So before our first summer holidays in Istria and as a first time dog-owner, I read few articles and got familiar with the most common issues to come across. Dehydration is an obvious one, it’s caused by consuming too much salty water and as explained, it results in vomiting and diarrhea. Because of the salt in seawater, your furry friend can also be itching and scratching – allergies are a real deal and a lot of dogs are allergic to parasites and bacteria in the water. Another one to mention is the Canine heartworm disease caused by the filarial worm transmitted by mosquitoes living near seas and oceans. The list goes on so I recommend being informed and always paying attention to your dogs behaviour.

A “broken” tail.

We still struggle with biting/snapping at seawater and are frequently reminding Oto not to sip while swiming. We’re doing better every time. Up to now we also didn’t notice any signs of allergies and are giving him the medicine to prevent Canine heartworm disease on a regular basis this summer. It was the tail that got us most worried so far. After swimming on the first day in Dalmatia and taking a nap afterwards, he woke up with a liveless tail, no longer able to wag. Dog Limber Tail Syndrome also know as “cold water tail” or “broken wag” is a condition a lot of sporting dogs are particularly prone to. Caused by climate changes, exposure to cold weather, swimming etc., it’s a painfull thing for the dog – luckily, in most cases it resolves pretty quickly. Our tawny tail was wagging again after two days of rest and didn’t “break” anything else for the rest of the holidays.