My dog had an encounter with a seal today at the beach and I wondered if a seal is likely to do any damage to a dog.  My staffy was swimming in the sea chasing a stick I had thrown and a head popped above the water about 6 feet away from her.  I initially thought it was another dog but didn't see any other dogs swimming out.  I then realised it was a seal and called my dog back before she noticed the dog with no legs that was bobbing about beside her.  The seal then disappeared and popped up again a bit further along the beach before disappearing completely.  Any ideas about seal behaviour and if it was just curious, thought my dog was after the fish or perhaps would have attacked the dog or even worse the dog would have attacked the seal.  I have no idea about seal breeding patterns either and whether it would have been a baby, a stressed out mum or just a random seal having a morning dip.  All thoughts gratefully received as I hope I don't have to stop her swimming as she loves it.

I'd be very careful -seals can be very aggressive and can seriously injure people even.

Yes, I agree be careful, a lot will depend on which type of seal it is. I think Scotland generally have grey or common seals.

If you have seen any others around particularly if it was a grey seal from Sept - Dec is their pup season so I would keep your dog away from any places you may see seals as they are likely to attack human or dog going anywhere near their pups. (Which will be on land)

Sometimes a loan seal can just be fishing and not be anywhere near their nursery area, they can be very playful, but if it is a grey it is best to check the beach carefully before letting your dog go for her run, and particularly swim. (Can you stand on high ground first to check around?)  It may have been a fluke and the seal just followed a shoal of fish in and lives elsewhere though.

Quite exciting really, I've never seen a seal in the British waters, only in zoo's and Sea World. :-D

My dogs have met seals down at Watergate Bay, Cornwall at Christmas before and the dogs were amazed to see the seals playing on the beach. Don't think they knew what they were though!!!

>Quite exciting really, I've never seen a seal in the British waters, only in zoo's and Sea World

Gosh, really?  I used to curse them as their incessant barking made it difficult to sleep on bright summer mornings. I grew up by the sea and there is a colony of seals that live on rocks just off shore.  Our dogs were always walked on the beach and swam in the sea and occasionaly a seal would surface in the vicinity but I never knew any to approach the dogs even though these particular seals are probably 'tamer' than your average seal as they follow the fishing boats into harbour every evening and hang around begging for fish so are well accustomed to being hand-fed :)

This was at Broughty Ferry beach near Dundee and it's the first time I've seen any there. I used to live in Carnoustie and there was always loads of them there but no idea what kind they are - they look kinda grey and common!  thanks for the advice about the risks and it looks like we will stay away from the beach for a while as she cannot resist swimming when we are there.  I don't fancy my chances having to wade in to the sea and try to rescue her from the jaws of a p'd off seal.  It was so close to her that maybe it thought she was a rare ginger and white seal!

Most of you probably know this already but it's worth pointing out that seal bites are pretty nasty.  Obviously the wound itself has to be dealt with but in addition to the actual trauma, seals harbour certain bugs which can cause serious infections.  Seal bites are extremely painful, can cause severe swelling and in some cases I believe joints might become involved.   I think they can be treated with tetracyclines but they take a long time to heal.

I don't know why my brain stored this particular piece of information as we don't see that many seal-bitten dogs in Central London!  Hopefully no dogs will be bitten and nobody will need this information.  I wonder if I'll ever have another opportunity to share that little bit of knowledge?!

thanks mary-caroline.  I did a bit of reading after posting the topic and found that they carry distemper too. 

I was told when I first got my dog that the best place to take a young pup was the beach as everything gets washed away twice a day but now after finding out about the danger of seals is it likely that a pup could get distemper if their immunity isn't at full capacity. 

FWIW my friend saw a seal a few weeks ago at night on the shore when they were walking the dogs late at night.  A big eyed cav came face to face with a big eyed seal and they apparently both looked shocked and the cav ran away.

Hi Ali

I believe that seals usually carry a different form of distemper virus (Phocine Distemper Virus as opposed to CDV).  However they are very similar so you're right to be cautious.  I've only seen one case of distemper in six years - thank God and I'm not sure quite how hardy the virus is once it leaves the host; I'll find out for you tomorrow.  This is just my opinion but I think the chance of a pup contracting the virus on a beach is extremely small.  There is a possibility but in my opinion the risk is very low.

LOL at your friend's dog.  My whippet would run a mile if he encountered a seal.  Apart from other dogs, squirrels and rabbits he's scared of all other animals.  He tried to chase the geese in our local park once, but only once!  He also has a healthy respect for cats, when he was a pup I had two big cats who showed him who was in charge.  They taught him his lesson so thoroughly that he now sees all cats as being dominant.  A few months ago I looked after a kitten for a few weeks.  He was brought into the surgery after being found taped up in a shoebox in a bin - nice start in life... :-( .  Anyway, he was only about three or four weeks old so I kept him for a while before rehoming him.  It was so funny watching Cashie; he was absolutely terrified of a kitten weighing in at 400g!

I'll see if we have any information at work tomorrow, and let you know of anything interesting.

Best wishes

Mary-Caroline

I can testify to the bites being nasty, when diving with seals they often bite the end of the divers fins, one caught my ankle once and the result was a week in hospital on IV antibiotics and six weeks on crutches after the bite quickly became infected.

it's starting to look like my dog was lucky to get away with all her legs and her tail

Ali,

They were probably just curious about the dogs.  The seals at Kinshaldy beach, Tentsmuir do the same thing although if the dogs get too close to them they will swim back out into the sea.

Just along the road from you in Inchture!

thanks to everyone for their replies and I'm going to stop missy swimming so far out incase one of them takes a fancy to her

Christine, I live a few minutes from Camperdown Park so pretty close but pretty sure I've never seen any of your gorgeous dogs - unless they were disguised as seals!  I'll keep a look out in future for a fellow champdogger on the loose in the area. LOL

I'd stop throwing sticks for your dog too as that's statistically more likely to do lasting damage than a seal.