EVERYDAY DOGCARE

Nothing beats the summertime heat like a dip in the pool or a visit to the beach or a lake, and many dogs, like their human family mates, enjoy all the splashing around. Theyre probably not going to be willing to go down the water slide with you, but toys and gear are available that will enhance their pool or shore-side experience. At the same time, a number of other items will help insure their safety. First, the fun stuff!

So you know that park with the trail that wends alongside a cove where I take the dogs for romps? And you know how I havent talked about that spot in a while? Its because the town has outlawed dogs off leash there, and border collie Franklin has to have significant time untethered every day or he will go crazy. (Translation: He will drive me crazy.)

My dog is now almost a year old and absolutely loves to go in the water. There is a saltwater bay near our house that leads to the ocean, and nothing makes him happier than to splash around in it, and even swim in it. He grins from ear to ear. But should I be bathing him after each wet excursion? After all, water in a bay - or even in a stream or river - carries its own bacteria and other pathogens and may not be perfectly harmless. Also, I wonder if the salt in the water is prone to making the skin under his coat too dry. Please tell me the verdict on how often to bathe a dog who enjoys the ocean, lakes, ponds, or streams? I certainly wouldnt go into the water without bathing afterwards.

Q My dog does a lot of dreaming - you can see her limbs twitching a little. But she also often emits little cries or other sounds while dreaming that seem to indicate shes in distress. Should I wake her at those times to relieve her from whatever anxiety she may be experiencing?Leora SadlerRedondo Beach, California

We know. Summers approaching, and with it that feeling of freedom, so you like to roll down the window and blast the car radio, belting out your favorite songs as you cruise along the highway. But you know what? If your dog is with you, it could really hurt her ears. Dogs hear a good four times better than we do, and they have a hard time with very loud noises. So Jimmy Pages guitar riff and Robert Plants louder and louder singing of the lyrics in Led Zeppelins Stairway to Heaven, while a terrific release for you, are a jangly, scratchy cacophony of ear-splitting sounds to your pet. Imagine having to listen to a high-volume recording of a fork scratching the bottom of a pot and not being able to change the station.

When pitbull mix Brooklyn came to live with Rochelle Lucas and Aaron Roylance at the ripe age of 9, he tipped the scales somewhere between 90 and 95 pounds. The vet said, he cannot stay at this weight, Ms. Lucas recalls. Thats going to be really hard on his joints."

Photojournalist Jann Tenenbaum used to train her camera lens on subjects with names like Queen Elizabeth, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Bruce Springsteen, Pope John Paul II, and hockey great Wayne Gretzky. Her pictures appeared in publications ranging from The New York Times to USA Today. Then a friend of hers was on the way to Los Angeles one morning when her plane was rammed into the World Trade Center during the 9/11 attacks. With no one left to care for her friends dog, a golden retriever named Naboo, Ms. Tenenbaum adopted him, photographed him as a way of dealing with her grief, and never looked back. Today she takes pictures only of subjects with names like Trixie, Lucky, Queenie, and Duke. Really good pictures.

With breeding, says canine genetic expert Jerold Bell, DVM, some dogs are tall and some are taller, and a taller dog looks splashier in the ring. Or more wrinkles are better, or more angulation of the hind legs. At least, thats how some dog show judges tend to think of it. The problem, he says, is that more is not always better. It can become a disease-causing issue.

Q Someone told me I should be giving my dog regular breast exams to check for cancer. Thats patently ridiculous - right?
Claire Lemmer
Portsmouth, New Hampshire

The ins and outs of a clinical exam for an older dog

Q I often hear the term clinical exam, as in, I cant diagnose your dog without a clinical exam, but what does that mean, exactly? How does a clinical exam differ from a regular exam? I ask because I have a 10-year-old dog and its time for her clinical exam, but Im wondering if she really needs one.

I have an older dog - a 10-year-old golden retriever - that I just adopted from a rescue. When I put a Seresto flea and tick collar on her, she started having seizures. She no longer has the collar but is now on phenobarbital to control the seizures. What do you advise using for flea and tick control on a dog that has a history of seizures? I know that the new pill is not advised for these dogs.

Dogs love to dig in and roll in the dirt and run through the woods, and though they dont like to go out in the rain will gladly jump in a swamp or smelly debris, says veterinary dermatologist Laurie J. Stewart, VMD, DACVD. Maybe thats why Dr. Stewart, owner of Veterinary Dermatology of New England in Westford, Massachusetts, quips that bathing in dogs is highly underrated."

Truth be told, healthy dogs who are free of skin disease dont need to be bathed for their own sake.