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I know we have talked about contaminated water before and the risks for humans, but I haven't seen anything mentioned about dogs drinking the water. Well, about a month ago I hiked Cibecue Creek and brought my dog along with me. Stupidly, I let him drink from the Salt River. I just found out a few days ago that he has Giardia. It is an intestinal bacteria that dogs can get from drinking from streams, etc. 200$ later I found this out the hard way. Now he is on antibiotics and will hopefully be fine. So if your dog starts to act lethargic, throw up after eating or stops eating completely, he/she may have Giardia. Just wanted to let those who didn't know....

Have fun out there!

Hey Kristyn--Sorry to hear about your pooch

Are you bringing him/her June 8?

Because dogs are instinctive scavengers, their digestive systems are able to tolerate stuff that would make a human deathly ill; however Giardia is one bug that can cause dogs real problems. It's not really a bactteria, but a protozoa and can really raise hell with humans.

You wouldn't believe the stuff my dog drinks on a hike. I'm so surprised he's had no problems so far. I've heard you can get your dog a vaccination for Giardia which I'll check into at the next vet visit.

I'm fairly certain you can't vacinate agains a protazoa - but there are pre-treatments you can take that can lessen the impact of the bug if you are going into an area that is known to have giardia present.

Let us know if you find out anything different.

Health care for pets is something we don't usually take into consideration. But for those of you who love your animals and take them on frequent hikes, possibly consider getting health insurance for your pets. It is available and not terribly expensive. It can help curb the effects of that $200 hit for the unexpected problem or two.

Fritzski wrote:You wouldn't believe the stuff my dog drinks on a hike.

Not to mention Rusty's steady diet of every lizard he can catch! :roll: :roll: Think Rusty's stomach must be as tough as his heart and that's awfully damn tough!

My dog is feeling a bit better. He is a boxer and if anyone knows boxer's they know that they are extremely hyper dogs. That was my first clue that something was wrong. There is a vaccine for giardia, the vet told me that it was a bacteria, but I don't know anything about protozoa vs. bacteria. Glad no one else has run into my problem. I have checked into the wellness plan for my dog so that I can avoid any further "wallet drying" episodes like this. Anyway, just wanted to give a heads up!

Chihiggs, I probably won't be bringing him on the 8th. I like to try new hikes myself and then bring along anyone else that I know can handle it on the second run. He can handle just about anything, but I don't want to risk any problems.

JRTs are the toughest being on earth. Probably the smartest too.

I had the same trouble with my wifes Dobermans. They drank from desert pools and got real sick. I know about $200 later. Now when I take my two terriers out, I do not let them drink anything but the water I bring for them. Heavy pack but better piece of mind.