Will salt water hurt/damage my dogs eyes?

[squirtle]

My dog has decided he can dive under water and retrieve stones - and not neccessarily from being thrown, just ones he can see at the bottom of the pools of water left when the tide goes out.

The water is up to the top of his shoulders - he is a spaniel - and he goes under water with his whole body and looks about for stones.

It looks soo funny to watch especially when his ears kinda float outwards.

Though last night he stayed under for longer and i panicked a bit.

[alfieblue]

Hi squirtle! Am no expert but my spaniel loves the sea, we have never had any trouble with the water hurting him in any way. I have friends who have spaniels and they are of the same mind. They all love the water!!!We always make sure that he never goes out of his depth and yes, pebbles etc are retrieved. We have friends with a spaniel who is 8-9yrs old and he will dive into pools, the sea etc - they have never had any problems - he is fit and healthy!

Had to chuckle about the ears!!! Our pup looks a cross between dumbo and sweep when he's enyoying his swim!!! Perhaps the ears keep them afloat!!!!

:o)

[squirtle]

Thanks for that Alfieblue

He loves water especially the dirty, swampy stuff....then he gets in the sea and washes all the dirt off, then its home for a shower as he is full of salt and feels sticky.....

He too won't go out of his depth and thats why he prefers the deeper rock pools...........

Do they have no fear spaniels or are they just completely nuts?

[amonty1144]

The salt won't hurt him but showering him off is the right thing to do.
My lab loves to get stones as well, i think it's a gundog thing.

[squirtle]

I don't know why because any other time he isn't bothered about stones.............i take a ball on a rope with me and give him a good run about when we are out, and he always takes it into the pools and just flops into them, even if its only about 6 inches deep, he lays in it. If its deeper he drops the ball, however one of the 2 i take floats and the other doesn't, so thats where he learned to stick his head under.

Normally its a quick in and out but last night he was staying under for few seconds.........caught it on video on my phone..............keep watching it for amusement.

[alfieblue]

Hi you two!!

Lol! Glad my dog is not the only water mad dog!!!

They love it so much and a good clean up is all they need - shower etc.

Lots of dogs seem to like the pools etc. Ours met a crab for the first time in his life!!!! Luckily it was small and scuttled away under a rock! Don't know who was most surprised - pup or poor crab!!!!

Oh yes!!! Spaniels are def a touch loopy loo - but so much fun!!

The lab sounds as if he's having a grt time. Are there any dogs that are not keen on water?

Our lovely collie cross that we had years ago wasn't that keen - would dip a paw into the water then run back to safer ground!!! He wasnt keen on the sea but would go into fresh water pools. Perhaps the tide worried him!

[leelapops]

Hello squirtle, I get the feeling your dog's eyes will be fine. Spaniels would live in water if they could, by the sounds of it!

alfie, funny you should mention that...Our Collie isn't a swimmer really, but when we go to the beach, he runs like a greyhound along the shore, chasing the waves as they break!

x

[lankeela]

Talking of greyhounds, I had a black one called Scout who was due to race one night. To give him a quick loosen up, I, took him on the beach which was quite deserted and let him off, and instead of running along the beach, he ran straight into the sea and kept going out towards Holland! After much screaming and yelling I managed to get him to turn round and swim back towards the shore. After that he steered well clear of the water. I don't know who was more shocked, me or him!
Would love to say he went out and won that night, but no such luck.

[garner]

I have two terriers and they are the same, they adore any type of water..sea...river...pools and dirty ones as well.Mine are oldies and it's never done them any harm to date.

[squirtle]

I was worried the salty sea water would sting his eyes - but i guess he'd stop doing it if that was the case.......

My sisters westie will swim in the pools but he too doesn't like the actual tide, although he is funny as when he does 'fake swim' as i call it, he goes deep enough so it looks like he's swimming but really his paws are still touching the bottom....

We had an terrier who dies 3 years ago at the ripe old age of 17 1/2 and when he was young he went into the tide when it was fully in after a 2 litre plastic pop bottle which still had some pop in. He would'nt let it go but seemed to be struggling swimming back in with it (probably wasn't buti freakde out) so i waded in fully clothed up to my shoulders and grabbed him and the bottle he was still clinging to.....

It was a nice calm day so didn't feel i was at risk - although my mother told me i was foolish.....

I always said to her if he'd have fallen into a river i'd have gone in after him..............

Anyone else feel like they'd risk it to save their pooch?

[squirtle]

I should probably check for spelling mistakes before submitting - sorry.

[leelapops]

Hey squirtle, my dad always warns me about going in after my dog, but there is no doubt that if he was struggling, I would get in and swim like heck to get him!

x

[squirtle]

Glad i'm not the only one putting their dog first....i get criticised for it by my family who think i make too much fuss.
Like if he jumps up to greet people,( i do tell him to get down all the time - but he pays no attention )- my sisters husband get so mad with him and is rough with him.....which means i get annoyed with the brother in law.............and the quiet family meal turns into one with an atmosphere you could cut with a knife.

[alfieblue]

No probs squirtle - I would do anything for my pup. He can be a little so-an-so and we are still training, but love him to bits. I find that when we have visitors, that they wind him up!! I tell them to turn their back on him when he jumps up and ignore him, but they wont do it!!! It works when done, but there has to be consistency!!!

Ho hum!!! We will get there eventually.

If pup thinks he has found a weak link - then he makes the most!!!!

And yes, I would help him, whatever the difficulty! He's loyal, loving and trusting. And I am the same to him - I took him on - and he's part of my family - much loved. :o)