hiking with the dog

Question
Why is it that my dog can drink from muddy puddles and mountain streams and not apparently get sick? I realise dogs DO get sick, but they certainly seem to have better immune systems than I do!

Answer
Dogs can, as you're aware, pick up things that would make us sick but go right through them partially in part due to the high acid ph in their stomachs. It's pretty close to an 8 which is as acid as it gets.

So while minor things might make us sick with diarrhea etc, most dogs guts kill off a lot of junk.

They will not escape giardia, coccida or other pathogens and protozoans. They will get sick from these and can pass those on to us. They can also get leptospirosis from stagnant ponds and puddles where deer, possums or raccoons have been near.

And they can pick up worms and nematodes this way. So yes, the occasional running stream won't pose much of a threat to them but other areas, not so much. And algae bloom in some lakes in fatal to them.

So watch what they drink or swim in!