Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Salt-water swimming protects against fleas

Our two German shepherds swim in the sea most days, and as a result, their fur is clean with a fine coating of salt. We believe this acts as a deterrent to fleas, ticks and flies.


Retrieving a stick encourages Major to swim strongly, whereas Del is more inclined to stay in the shallows.

Sand in the house is the only problem; however, a thorough brush prior to coming inside cleans away most of the sand. And who cares about a bit of sand anyway?


After Major has been swimming and is dry, I love to smell his fur: a clean salty odour, with just a hint of seaweed.

People living on Phillip Island tell of seeing the occasional wallaby (and once even a fox) swimming in the sea. This seems incredibly strange behaviour. Perhaps they too are using the salt water to protect themselves against external parasites?

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