Hi all, we are off to Cornwall for 2 weeks this coming Sunday, and it will be Jessie's first seaside trip. We are all very excited and also in a way a little anxious to see if our hard work on recall will work on the beach with hundreds of balls and toys being played with by other people. We will see!! My question today is about shampooing - we currently only tend to shampoo her down if she has rolled in something smelly, which to be honest is not that often, but I wasn't sure whether we should shampoo her after each day in the sea? Is sea water something that you would want to wash off with shampoo or not? Many thanks
We went to Cornwall at Easter and I didn't wash Chepi after each swim but I think I rinsed her paws to avoid salt in them. I had to research carefully about which beaches were open to dogs and when. Cornwall tourist board has a very good site with this info on. Also Chepi drank quite a lot of sea water which have her the runs! Have a great time!
I hosed mine off each time after going in the sea on a recent seaside trip. They seem to stay wet for a lot longer if you leave them salty, and it makes their hair feel horrible. I didn't bother to shampoo, though.
We don't bother hosing Bob, unless he's particularly smelly. We go to the beach loads of times. Once he's dried off a quick brush brings his coat back to life again.
I wouldn't bother. We live by the sea so Molly's in it almost every day and hasn't had any skin problems.
I rinse Charlie with fresh water after swimming in the sea. Keep an eye on the water quality for your dog as well as yourself. Although lots of the beaches in Cornwall are fabulous, the cleanest ones often have dog bans. The others have variable water quality, some particularly after heavy rain if rivers or streams drain into them. This is another reason why Charlie gets a good rinse after swimming in Cornwall. Luckily he doesn't drink seawater. Providing fresh water can help stop them drinking seawater and I think it helped that always, when he was a pup, we had fresh water on the beach for him. You can find general information about water quality here: https://www.cornwall.gov.uk/leisure...know-if-the-water-quality-is-good-on-a-beach/ Some bays have streams from farmland draining into them, with all sort of chemicals - I avoid those completely with my dog. Surfers against sewerage has excellent information: http://www.sas.org.uk/map/ and a great app available. For example, today on Par beach - just about the most popular dog walking beach on the South Coast - SAS says: Date: August 13, 2015, 14:48 SAS POLLUTION ALERT Sewage is currently discharging and diffuse pollution is impacting Par. This can have a serious impact on water quality.
