I took Twiggy and Jake to the beach last Saturday thinking they'd have a lot of fun.  Unfortunately there were too many people at the beach to let them off lead so I walked Twiggy and gave Jake to someone else to walk.

Fast forward to early Sunday morning Jake was acting WEIRD. Just not his normal self. He vomited 5 times, was drinking a lot of water, acting very restless/not wanting to lay down, stretching awkwardly, couldn't move very fast (nothing more than a slow trot--wouldn't chase the squirrels but just stare at them from off the deck) and his abdomen was slightly distended and hard to the touch. I took him to the e-vet at about 8am thinking he was bloating or something equally horrible was happening. He looked just awful.

His xrays, vitals and blood panels were normal at the e-vet and the only thing weird was that his right kidney was enlarged and pushing down on colon.  He also got sub-q fluids, injectable antibiotics, pain, and anti nausea meds.  $650 later and no real definitive diagnosis.

I found out late Sunday night from the person walking him that he was apparently drinking a lot of sea water even though we had fresh water available.

Took him to my regular vet today and she said he was 100% and that the saltwater was likely the culprit.

So we're sticking to fresh water trips only from now on!

Are your posts always so condescending?

Based on my experience of having my dog drink the nasty water found in Galveston, TX and seeing how sick he was afterwards, I will not be taking him back there.

Oooh! I can answer that one myself! Yes, they are. Either condescending or contentious or both. see 'n' spots knows everything, just ask him & he'll tell you.

You are fortunate to know when to see the vet.  Probably saved your dog's life.

Folks need to be careful everywhere they go.  There's lot of goodies in fresh water too.  Lepto and Giardia, yum!  Lepto at least has an effective vaccine and your vet should be putting any GSP on it.  The Giardia vaccine is not so great.  We had a nice bought of it run through our seven dogs, and I got it from cleaning.  Nothing like beaver fever on a road trip.

Dogs also pick up a nasty little bug from eating bird poo.  The name escapes me right now.  Seagulls and Canada Geese carry a bunch of it.  The dogs look like they are sniffing around the grass, when they are actually consuming poo.

Porcupines will set you back $300-$500 per trip to the vet here.  A broken quill left under the skin will cost another $600 or so.

Anyway, there are dangers all around for active dogs.  Knowing about them and taking corrective action is important.  There's just no fool-proof solution.  I certanly wouldn't take a known sea water drinker to the beach.

We take our girls to the Texas coast just outside of Victoria, TX on one of the bays (near Port Lavaca and Port O'Connor).  My folks have a beach house there and we go down for long weekends and to let the girls swim in the ocean and run on the beach (they love to get after the sea gulls).  They actually learned to swim there.  They go nuts when they know where they are headed.  We had to watch them at first, especially Halo, as they did try to drink the water, but after a few corrections they got it.  Halo, on her first day at the beach, did consume more of the water than made me happy, but the only reaction she had was watery squirts for about an hour.  So, maybe there was more in the water than just salt.   We also do not go on holiday weekends as the crowds are awful. 

If you go back to the beach, one thing you could try would be loading the dog up with a quart of baited water before letting them out. That way they'd be well hydrated and hopefully less prone to gulping down major quantities of sea water. Maybe. Perhaps. Fingers crossed. We're talking GSPs here after all, lol!

Dog breakfast at our house is a cup of dry kibble floating in a quart of lukewarm water. They seem to slurp it down eagerly.

Somer, I'm sorry for your bad experience at the beach.  I hate it when I'm boogie boarding and swallow a little bit of water... I can just imagine purposely imbibing it!  Glad he's feeling better though. 

I take mine to surfside and bryan beaches which are by Freeport, Tx.  The beach is only 15 minutes away from my house and it appears cleaner than Galveston usually.  My pups aren't sure of the water yet so they don't go past their knees.  Soon enough I'm sure, especially with the new pup who apparently loves water, or so I noticed by his previous owner telling me he jumped in the swimming pool right before he left to meet me. 

Phyllis - I'm going to try my best to get up there for that show.  I'm looking forward to seeing you and the pups again too!  Good luck on that gas thing.  I just got a new car yesterday so it's a little better on the mpg.  A little less room for pups, but still plenty.  I guess that means 3 is my limit!   

 -J

The way I see it is there are always going to be people in this world who have  "done every thing, seen every thing & talk with BIG words,[ makes them feel bigger ] & are VERY opinionated. I guess we just have to put up with it. I am with unohoandwhy, Somer, & 90% of everyone else on this board that thinks it use to be a lot more fun to post on here when every thing we wrote was answered by 3 paragraphs of why we are wrong.  I just want to go back to " hahaha my dog is funny, I get an answer like " he sure is"

"he sure is"

enjoy your day.

-J

OMG

MY tongue is raw from biting it.....post after post after post

I'm with Tucker, Jdavis & UNO.......as well as all the others....

Renee'

First, if I upset anyone with this post I apologize in advance as it is not intended to single anyone out.  I do have to speak up though and say maybe we should all be a little more forgiving and a little less ready to judge about what another "means" in their posts.  I haven't been a member long and I have read lot's of posts on this forum, and some can be easily mistaken.  In our love and enthusiasm for this breed we are all a little guilty of wanting to share what we know (I am certainly guilty here).  Those who have owned GSPs longer have more experience and we should take that for what it is (I have only had shorthairs for 5 years and welcome all the various opinions).  We don't have to and shouldn't agree with everything, but we don't have to be petty in our posts.  Sometimes the written word is hard to decipher when we don't have the benefit of looking someone in the face and seeing what they mean.  So, I think we ought to all try to be a bit more patient and give people the benefit of the doubt, and accept what the others post for what it is, there experience and opinion.  If you don't agree with it fine, say so but do it nicely.   I think in the end everyone would benefit. 

This post is not aimed at any one individual, you don't have to agree with it, it is simply my opinion. Again, I apologize in advance if anyone is offended.