My 5 month old's appetite has been off for 3 days now since we got back from the beach. He gets a lot of off leash beach time and that first night he barfed up what looked like some seaweed. I also have reason to think he picked up the Coccidia (sp?) parasite on a previous visit to the beach and he's since been cleared by the vet but my breeder says she's knows other dogs to come back from the beach with it.
His stools have been soft, with a few that were like apple sauce. (sorry) He is eating, but with none of the usual enthusiasm. He seems somewhat lethargic around the house but once out on a walk or at the dog park he's fairly normal.

Questions:
1. How long would you go with these symptoms before taking in a stool sample to check for parasites?
2. Is is common practice to have him on some sort of preventive parasite control like Trifexis?
3. Anyone know is the beach (north Oregon in my case) tends to give dogs problems? Maybe from munching on shells or sampling Elk poop?

Thanks,
--Jason

Does he seem bloated at all? When I was a kid, we took my Malamute to the beach, my little brother and sister went off with him, and when they all came back, my malamute seemed different, really slow, seemed kinda "fat" and stuff like that. Turned out they were letting him drink lots of water...from the ocean! And it caused him to bloat. Apparently bloat can be pretty dangerous too

Salt water in general will make a dog ill, even if they don't bloat. Don't let him drink it. The extra play and stimulation could have worn him out and he may not have caught back up yet. Parasites tend to smell bad, so if his poop smells really bad then I would go ahead and take my sample into the vet. Early infestations don't always show up the first time they are checked for. If he isn't vomiting I would probably give it a week and then have him checked if he hasn't shown some signs of leveling out.