beach – Pawjourr | Blog contributors

Guide to bringing your dog to Sentosa

As boring as Singapore may be, we are lucky to be able to enjoy free access to Sentosa beaches till the end of the year!

1. Booking a slot & getting there

If you’re bringing your dog along, you can book a slot at Tanjong Beach and choose either Zone 1 or Zone 2. For us, we prefer the Zone 1 area as there is more space for off-leash zoomies! You will have to choose between an AM or PM slot as well.

Things to bring:

Bathing supplies for your doggo (shampoo, towel, SPARE TOWEL)
A ground mat plus enough items to weigh down the sides
Extra disposable sheet for your doggo to rest on, because they can get very dirty (optional)
Water and treats
Extra hooman to carry all the belongings while you handle your dog ?

Map to TBC — **Tanjong Beach Club Directions**

Park right outside Tanjong Beach Club and you can easily walk to Tanjong Beach in just a few minutes. Don’t forget to watch out for oncoming bikes while bringing your dog to the beach area!

If you did not book a slot, you may not be able to access the beach if they are filled! You can always try your luck at the counter outside the beach but that’s subjected to availability on the day itself. I suggest booking at least 3 days in advance to secure a time slot.

2. Unleash the zoomies!

Only unleash your dogs if you are confident of their outdoor recall with distractions. There have been cases of dogs going missing at Sentosa without a leash. Don’t forget to put on your dog’s ID tag as well!

Things to note:

Not all dogs you meet at the beach is friendly, always be ready to mediate a fight
There will be many children at the beach, if your dog is not 100% friendly with kids, keep a safe distance and politely tell them to give your dog some space if they intend to approach, you do not want to risk anything
Do not let your dog eat sand! Check out the article written by Taro
There may be some trash lying around the shore, make sure that your dog does not ingest them
Don’t forget to drink up
If your dog is extremely food-motivated, ensure that they do not snoop around other beach go-ers bags! (#guilty)

It is crucial to keep a safe distance from other beach go-ers. There are designated spots for different groups of beach goe-ers to lay their mats. You will be asked to leave the beach if you do not comply. Keep your masks on at all times unless you are heading for a swim as well.

Once your dog gets wet, you can only expect him to get even dirtier with all the sand and dirt getting trapped on his fur, especially for thick-coated dogs. If you leave your pet’s harness or collar on while they are swimming, you may possibly expect them to get some abrasion a few hours later.

Meet your trusted furriend which your pet can get along with and have crazy zoomies together!

3. Time to clean up

There is an outdoor bathing point outside the beach, next to the public toilet at the carpark. It has been implied as a washing point for dogs already. You will be required to exit the beach area and remove your tag after leaving the beach.

Here’s where your bathing supplies and extra hooman will come to use. The wash point is pretty small and there are two working water taps. Get your extra hooman to help push the tap while the main handler shampoo the dog. Definitely not easy, but it could at least get rid of most of the sand trapped in your dog’s fur. I would recommend having a proper bath once you reach home.

Thick-coated dogs may not dry in time before heading back home and that’s where your extra towel comes to use. Lay it out in your car and let your doggo have a good sleep while you are all sweaty and dirty, chauffeuring your little king home.

Heading to the Beach? Be careful of your doggo swallowing too much sand!

A couple of months ago, we had a day off work and made plans to bring Taro to Sentosa for our very first beach outing. Being inexperienced pawrents in this area, we simply headed off to the beach anticipating a day of fun in the sand and sea without reading up much on the ‘do’s and ‘don’t’s on a doggo beach outing.

Taro’s reaction to sand

Most dogs love sand. We commonly see videos and pictures of dogs enjoying themselves at the beach, running along the coastline, jumping into the seawater, playing fetch and digging into the sand, getting their noses all sandy and wet. So much fun! But yikes, Taro’s reaction to sand was entirely different from what we expected. Perhaps it was because he is a Shiba Inu with a lot of ‘cleanliness’ tendencies (PS. he side-walks puddles and refuses to step onto grass when it is muddy) – Taro seemed to hate sand getting onto his nose and we found him licking furiously away at the sandy bits that accidentally got onto his face.

Something doesn’t seem right…

We spent a good one hour playing with Taro on the beach, but after a while, we got a bit uncomfortable as we noticed Taro swallowing sand quite frequently. It didn’t seem normal to us but we couldn’t stop Taro from swallowing the sand. Hence, we decided to play on the safe side and return home.

Back at home, Taro seemed perfectly normal until dinner time (approximately 4 hours after the beach outing). Taro loves his food and would usually gobble up his entire bowl within 3 minutes. This time, he took two bites and hid under the sofa, refusing all sorts of food, even treats. We knew something wasn’t quite right. Taro also seemed a little lethargic and wasn’t interested in playing with his toys.

Sand Impaction and what it is

We started to get very worried as a few hours passed and Taro started to look increasingly unwell, and naturally thought of whether it was caused by Taro eating too much sand. We did a google search which led us to the topic of “Sand Impaction”. To our horror, the symptoms were similar to what Taro was having – lethargy, vomitting (Taro started to vomit later in the night), and lack of appetite. Taro seemed to be having abdominal pain as well as he refused to let us touch him and whimpered loudly when we tried to carry him into his crate.

In layman’s terms, sand impaction refers to how sand obstructs the intestinal passage of your furkid and it is a potentially serious condition requiring urgent veterinary treatment. We read a few cases online of dogs needing surgery to remove the sand in their stomachs. After a few sleepless hours of reading about this condition, we rushed Taro to the vet. Thankfully, Taro pooped out some sand just outside the vet’s clinic and seemed better in the morning. The vet advised that Taro was alright as he managed to clear out the sand in his poop, which meant that there was no serious blockage in his intestinal tract, and he was off with a few diarrhoea pills to clear out the remaining sand bits in his tummy.

As relatively new pawrents, this was a valuable lesson for us and since then, we have been extra careful of Taro licking up sand – not just at beaches, but also at parks or sandy places. It was horrifying to learn that it could have been a potentially life-threatening situation if we had stayed at the beach a little longer.

Tips for pawrents

While dogs can still enjoy the beach and sand, here are some tips we would like to share with the doggo community:

Always keep an eye on your furkid when you bring them to the beach or sandy places. Make sure they are not ingesting excessive sand when you are not looking!
Avoid playing fetch with your doggo at sandy places as they might inadvertently swallow sand as they pick up the ball/stick in the sea or sand.
Watch out for symptoms like lethargy, abdominal pain, vomiting, loss of appetite and strained bowel movements if you suspect that your dog might have swallowed some sand.

Finally, a tiny bit of sand ingestion during each beach outing might accumulate and potentially cause problems over time! Don’t let your guard down, play on the safe side and always keep a close watch while enjoying the sand and sea with your furkid 🙂