My Beach Bum Doodle swam solo on Wednesday. Somewhere between dragging the umbrella and beach chair to the car I realized Jaxson and I have never had a true “Mommy and me” adventure.
He’s 19 months old now, and the beach sounded like the perfect destination for my #dolphindoodle…
THINK ABOUT IT –
I spend quality time with Harley every week when we travel to the MUSC Children’s Hospital. We hang out for hours together and always end our work day with a little ice cream.
So Wednesday was Jaxson’s day.
Their interests and approach to water play is distinctly different –
- Harley is a “hokey-pokey” wader – he sticks his left paw in, he sticks his left paw out #yougetthepicture
- Jaxson prefers the dunk tank method – #allin…
Taking Jaxson by himself allowed him to enjoy all the waves he wanted…
The Isles of Palm Beach is never really crowded. Leashed dogs are welcome all day long providing they remain on a leash.
I use an extremely long leash at the beach. Jax has plenty of running/swimming room, yet I still have access to him…
His energy is endless…
He couldn’t get enough of those waves, but I sincerely believe he liked playing in the water with the children the best…
We took many breaks under the umbrella, drank multiple bottles of water, and ate plenty of fruit (blueberries and sliced apples).
He didn’t want to leave, but I didn’t want to keep him out there in the sand and sun too long.
There are no photos of cabana girl me dragging my stuff because my dear sweet nephew carried most of my gear. #whataman
Jax slept snored all the way home. He and Harley greeted one another as if it had been years and he ate a hearty dinner.
Despite my efforts to keep him hydrated, giving him plenty of breaks between water romps, he still ended up with a mild case of beach diarrhea.
WHAT IS BEACH DIARRHEA? –
Beach diarrhea is quite different from the average diarrhea your dog gets from eating something he should not have. Typically, dog owners report beach diarrhea to being a very liquid, projectile diarrhea that seems to just shoot out of the dog’s rear end. This form of diarrhea happens quickly and is caused by the salt water pulling fluids from the intestinal tissues (osmotic effect). It can be diagnosed based on the history of the dog being at the beach and can be confirmed by having the dog evaluated for hypernatremia ( a sudden increase in sodium). Source: pethelpful
Since he’s that “all in” swimmer, I haven’t quite figured out how to prevent this from happening. He’s not actually “drinking” the water, but I am sure when he’s diving, weaving and bobbing in and out of the water he’s “consuming” it.
We’re on a bland diet of spaghetti and ground chicken right now. No treats, a little rest and plenty of fresh water.
As much as he loves the beach, I don’t want him to suffer each time he goes. I need a consult with the Doodle Doc to map out a remedy.
For now, we’ll give the beach a break and rely on our memories…
Have the best weekend ever – I am – I’ll tell you all about it Monday!
July 29, 2016
How wonderful! These pictures are the best. Surfing Doodle for sure! Enjoy your weekend!
July 29, 2016
Deirdre – he is too comical for words. I’m having a great weekend, w/o doodles too! Will tell you all about it on Monday. Take care my friend!
July 29, 2016
Did Jax ever leave the water!! Thanks for the information – I had no idea that could happen.
July 29, 2016
I made sure Jaxson came out and rested all the time. He had his umbrella, towel, and cooler full of water. He would rest for a few minutes then he was up and at it again. He’s part dolphin.
July 29, 2016
Hope the poop shoots are over quickly. Looks like a great way to stay cool in this gawd awful heat. Happy weekend!
July 29, 2016
The poop shoots “shot-out” only once and that was after dinner when we got home. The real problem came the following morning, Jax threw up some, and rested most of the day. I love taking him to the beach, but I don’t want him to suffer each and every time we go. Got to check in with the Doodle Doc on this one… Have a great weekend my friend 🙂
July 30, 2016
Wow! What a fun day!! I had absolutely no idea that there was a such thing as beach diarrhea. Poor Jax! Hope things are better now. Since he enjoys the beach so much, I wonder if there is something you can do to prevent that from happening. Is it mostly goldendoodles or can any dog get it?
July 31, 2016
Jeanne, seems most dogs get it because of they like to “bite” at the waves. There’s so much salt in the water I imagine it’s like a laxative. It comes out fast like he’s peeing, and it only happens once, a few hours after we’ve left. Seems fairly common.
July 30, 2016
Living on the North Sea coast with new tourist dogs every week, we saw the beach runs all the time. It normally comes on very fast and goes away pretty fast too. Katie and I started drinking salt water as young pups, so our systems could handle it just fine, but for most it causes almost immediate runs. Jaxson will recover. So nice to see him having so much fun.
July 31, 2016
You’re right the beach runs only come once. He had a blast, and was back to normal later the following afternoon. He seems to vomit too (only once) the following morning. But he loves to dive into those waves, so I guess we’ll just have to deal with the rest of it 🙂
July 30, 2016
Aw, poor Jax! Hope he’s feeling better now. But glad he had fun beforehand! Hope the DoodleDoc has some good ideas for you.
I’d never heard of “beach diarrhea” either; but then, Callie and Shadow were never at the beach.
July 31, 2016
Haven’t heard from Doodle Doc yet. Jaxson is back to his normal self. A little beach diarrhea (only once) after dinner then he throws up the next morning and by dinner time he’s back to normal. I’ll let you know what the vet says…
July 30, 2016
LOVE IT! 🙂
I love that you and Harley share some ice cream to cap off your therapy days with him. I also love that take the time to spend one on one with Jax, your water dude. Lol. What a guy. Looks like he’s loving playing with that little girl. 🙂
July 31, 2016
Here’s my plan Lindsay. Harley gets me on Tuesday afternoons and Jaxson has me on Wednesday mornings. I’m trying to get them accustomed to that kind of schedule because I will soon start training Jax as a therapy dog and I am not allowed to bring them both at the same time. They will have to have there own schedule. I want them getting used to being with me one on one.
July 30, 2016
Hey Harley, I know all about beach diarrhea. My mom calls it “peeing out of my butt” haha. Gross, I know. But a day at the beach is worth it, right? Swimming in the ocean and biting the waves is THE BEST!!!!
Woofs and wags to you, my friend! ~ Kona
July 31, 2016
That’s quite the colorful way of describing it LOL Does Kona throw up a few hours later? That’s what happens to Jaxson.
July 30, 2016
Oh, it looks like he had so much fun, I bet he thinks it was worth it! I hope you get it figured out so he can have more fun at the beach.
I think it’s a great idea to give dogs their own outings, especially when they have different ways of playing. Cricket loves diving into her pool, but when it comes to swimming in a lake, she doesn’t care for it. So she stays home when Sheba goes swimming. Luke is still getting used to swimming so I take him separately too, so we can get him used to it gradually.
July 31, 2016
I hope to do it more often with Jaxson. Not that I want to separate them, but when it comes to the ocean, he’s truly a one of a kind in my house. Why drag Harley when he doesn’t really like it? He and Doodle Dad stay home, lounge on the sofa and chill out. I try to take Jaxson on Wed mornings because Harley’s still resting after pet therapy on Tuesday. So I’m trying to make this our new routine.
July 31, 2016
DolphinDoodle, LOL! Looks like a glorious day at the beach! Absolutely beautiful pictures!
I so wish Ruby enjoyed the water. She doesn’t. AT ALL. Because she doesn’t like water, guess I’ve never heard of beach diarrhea.
July 31, 2016
Well, count yourself lucky. The diarrhea (for us) isn’t the worst part. It’s the vomiting several hours later. Because he loves to dive, I can’t get him to understand that he’s not to ingest any of the water. I can’t wait for Doodle Doc to tell me if there’s a remedy for this. #staytuned