How to deal with weak pasterns? - Page 4

beetree

See boltipo, I couldn't have told you that cos I'm a non-swimmer !  Sounds like really useful practical advice from Bee.  Happy swimming !

Thanks! I forgot to ask how much time could she be in the water with me without a break. Now we usually play fetch in the lake for an hour a day with breaks.

Use your common sense and take into account variables such as water temp, tides and waves. Usually when you have had enough your dog is ready for a break, too. If they keep heading for the shore, let them, and take that as their clue for a break. If it is real hot they will dig a nice pit to get to the cool sand below for a rest. Remember to discourage salt water drinking and provide plenty of their own fresh water. A frisbee makes a quick easy lapping bowl for a thirsty dog. Rinsing them off in fresh water after your beach day is a must!

BUMP

And another question :D . I heard about a lot of dogs suffer from beach diarrhea. How can this be prevented? I will provide her fresh water at the beach but will that be enough? I asked my vet about it and if there are any pills that I sohuld give her while on holiday but I didn't get a clear answer... She won't just drink the salty water and I'm not planning to throw any toys in the water for her because she would swallow some of the salty water. For now I'm planning only swimming with her but I think she would swallow some of the salty water(even in small amounts) anyways...

I think it varies from dog to dog, but none of mine have been sick or had diarrhoea after visits to the sea shore, even when (like my last one) they were ball mad. I put this down to the fact that they have all had the sense not to drink too much salt water ! Although Taz didn't usually go right into the water for the ball, so may never have ingested much that way either. Possibly those that do try to drink the water are youngsters exploring tastes for the first time; maybe yours is old enough to escape that happening, although bearing in mind her earlier upbringing it was a risk. If she definitely isn't trying to drink it now, she probably won't take in enough to upset her tum just by grabbing her toys out of the water. Hope not, anyway ! There are a variety of soothing things you can give (eg charcoal) if it does happen. Watch out for her exploring the taste of other things though (seaweeds, and the odd dead whelk, spring to mind). :-)

In case your dog does get a case of travel or what you might be calling, "beach" diarrhea, there are some things you can do. This link just about covers all you might need to know and deal with the situation. Hopefully you won't have that experience!   http://thebark.com/content/vet-advice-treating-your-dogs-diarrhea

Weak pasterns and cow hocks are conformation defects.
To tell the truth, there isn't much that can be done to fix them.
The best way to fix this is for breeders to be careful and not use dogs that have these traits, or produce them.

Sure Kim but as you point out on the other thred, these 2 are not hugely bad cases anyway. Certainly with Boltipo's bitch, her muscles and tendons could well have been weakened by her having been tied out for the length of her puppyhood, and now Boltipo has rescued her she has definitely improved because she has been exercised properly. Once you have the dog in front of you, there's no harm trying to do the best you can to improve the condition, even if better breeding in the first place could have prevented it.

Hi! We are back from our vacation. Unfortunately her paw got hurt during our walk the day before our departure. She had a small wound but it could have gotten bigger if she had to run and chase balls on the sand. It didn't seem to bother her, because she wasn't limping or sth but I gave her a rest for the first two days. The waves were too big for her most of the days but there was a claen river on the beach with no rocks on the bottom and she swam a lot in it. In the last few days she was able to swim with me in the sea.