(Alan with galga Alana) A word of warning from Jane Brian of Pepis Dog Refuge.
‘Just to let you know what happened to some of our dogs a few years ago now, we rescued 5 mastin puppies and they were in a large pen with a shelter. They were all doing fine until one day we noticed they were looking poorly one was very sick, they were rushed to the vets and put on a drip.
One had a home,that was the one we were told most likely not to make it. Blood was taken to find out what the problem was. The result was due to the water left out at night; the vet said you should never leave water out at night. If your dogs are sleeping outside give them a drink before you go to bed then remove any food and water. In any country where there are long periods of heat and water is hard to find for other animals, the rats, mice and birds will take the easy option, your dogs water that you leave out for them! They will all use it to drink from and use it as a toilet, we have even had the odd snake come for a drink. The dogs all survived but it was very costly emotionally and financially.
The other thing I would like to point is here in Spain in the hot weather in the olive groves you may see the irrigation tubes round the trees. BEWARE, you may find little blue packets round the trees, rat poison! That was in a field just past the refuge when I was taking one of the dogs for a walk. I took photos and showed them to our vet, she was horrified . She immediately contacted Seprona Guardia Civil Sevilla and told them,at least 100 packets were in this field,the police asked are they on your land, the vet said they were on a friends neigboughs land,the first thing he then asked was what are they there for,the vet replied to stop the rats chewing the irrigation pipes he then replied so rat poison is to kill the rats, so i think it may be best to tell your friend he could be prosecuted for trespassing, so no help there, so please be aware you may well come across this on your walks.
Also mosquitos, flies, etc. (that carry Heartworm and other diseases including Babesia & Giardia) congregate and lay eggs in standing water anywhere, including pet pools, birdbaths and puddles. This is true everywhere and not only in Spain so everyone needs to know and take precautions.
(Comment from a friend of Pepis) Very good advice. Last year we took our two senior greyhounds to lake, they drank water and became very ill. It was giardia from the duck and goose poop in the lake water. Never let your pets eat or drink anything when walking them.