Too much salt water

[Heather Martinez]

Teddy got sick yesterday. His first time being sick! On Saturday, I took him to Fiesta Island dog park and he had a blast! He swam for the first time. Before he only jumped through the water but this time he went out a little deeper and had to paddle back in. But I did see him lapping at the water. I gave him plenty of fresh water after playing but he came down with diarrhea that afternoon and evening. I wasn't too worried until I woke up Sunday morning and he had vomited all over his pen. I gave him a bath and got the pen cleaned up and he just lay on the floor, lethargic. He had diarrhea three times before 9am and at 9:30 I took him to the animal hospital. I was terrified he had an electrolyte imbalance from the salt water. They did a blood test and his electrolytes were fine and he wasn't dehydrated. He got a shot for nausea and I took him home where he slept for most of the day. At 8pm I was able to give him some water, and a little plain chicken and white rice, which he ate happily. Today he's still a little low on energy but mostly back to his old self, with no diarrhea since yesterday morning. I am so thankful he is okay.

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

Oh boy, what a scare.  This isn't the first time I have seen illness following drinking sea water.  It seems dogs don't differentiate between salt and fresh water and this can cause huge problems.  I am so happy Teddy is on the mend.  I wonder how you can prevent this happening in future?

[Mimi Linna, Lilly and Lolly]

oh Heather..how scary..

[Cathy w/Shiloh~Cody]

So sorry to hear about your dog. I am in Florida and they have dog park beaches.

I wonder what if anything you can do to keep this from happening? Did vet have any ideas?

I thank you for telling me so I know in case I am ever near one of those dog parks.

[Jane Smith]

Poor lilttle guy.  I remember throwing up as a kid after taking a wave in the mouth while in Ft. Lauderdale visiting my grandparents.   Salt water is just plain nasty.  I'm glad nothing more is wrong with him.

[Heather Martinez]

Thank you everyone, I just so happy he is okay!

I have read some other discussions on here about giving the dogs very frequent breaks every 10-15 minutes and having them drink fresh water and rest during the breaks. I did not do this because Teddy is very hard to catch in the dog park. He's working on come and he will come running in my direction when I call, but letting me catch him to take a break is not easily accomplished yet. He will not be going swimming again until he can reliably come to me when I call so that he can get fresh water every 10-15 minutes. 

The vet also mentioned that the salt water was probably a shock to his system since he is still very young (9 mo) and hasn't ingested much salt water before. He's been swimming twice before, but he spent more time playing on the sand and less in the water those times. So when he is ready to go back in the water I will start with a short play session and work up to longer to get his body used to it.

[Nancie & Gracie Doodle]

We take Gracie Doodle to Dog Beach in Ocean Beach and throw her ball in the channel. She will swim out grab her ball and take a gulp of water at the same time.  She does this over and over  It isn't happening as much now but she used to get diarrhea as we would be leaving the beach.  It was like a huge waterfall and she would have two or three bouts of it and then be fine.  By the time we walked her a few blocks to the dog wash she was over it.  We never had the vomit issue though.  My neighbor said that salt water causes this on most dogs.  She has two Springer Spaniels and one it does and one it doesn't.  Her dog actually will drink the water and she has to tell her NO.  Gracie does not drink the water but takes it in when she is grabbing for her ball.