[chowder]

This may be an odd question, but are there any specfic health concerns that you have actually dealt with from letting your dog play in ditches or creeks ? We live in the country and walk Rocky on a 16 foot leash and there is nothing he loves better then to wade in the ditches filled with water, the deeper the better. There are a lot of deer, raccoons, and fox, that run around here at night so I am sure he is getting all kinds of wonderul smells from all that water. I know about the possibility of giardia, but has anyone actually had that happen or is it just another thing to worry about and be overprotective about?
He hasn't had any fleas all year which I think is because he eats so well and has a natural immunity (he eats Orijen puppy) and I have had more ticks on me then he has had on him so fleas and ticks are not a concern from the water and fields, even though the vet always asks me if I've used the Frontline on him (and I say NO).
I don't want to deprive him of his doggie pleasures in life but if there is something of a real concern to his health, then I can keep him out of the water and on dry land during the walks. At least he would be cleaner!

 

[RawFedDogs]

I also live in the country and walk my dogs through the woods and next to a swamp which they love to go wading in. We've been here for 5 years and never had a problem. We also have lots of wildlife around. I walk my dogs twice a day and they are always off leash. During the warm weather, I usually get a couple of ticks a week on me but very rarely one on the dogs. Occasionally they get fleas ... maybe once a year ... maybe none in a year. I always give Frontline when I see a flea and that one dose is usually all thats needed.

Let them have fun. Dogs living in the country have a so much better life than city dogs.

 

[chowder]

Glad to hear I'm not the only one picking ticks off myself! I'm thinking they should make a frontline for people. I'll go ahead and let him keep playing in the ditch water and snuffling all his deer tracks and mud puddles and mole holes since you haven't had any problems. His newest thing is hunting moles and bringing them up on the deck for me. He's the most 'doggy dog' I've had in a long time and he has such great fun doing it that it would be a shame to stop him. It's a good thing we live in the country. I haven't let him off leash yet because if he saw a deer I'm not sure I'd ever get him back. I had one dog take off after a deer and it was two days before she came home again. Rocky is really fast and at 8 months, his recall is not perfect if he see's something like that. Maybe when we retire and get our 500 acre woods on a mountain he can finally run all he wants!