AmbergrisCaye.com Home Forums Belize Life Living in Belize Having a dog in Belize??

Thinking of moving down there with my dog. He's a 65 pound mix and pretty active at under 3 years old. We tend to hike and swim when we can and hit the local dog park otherwise. Are there places to do those things? Any other tips or thoughts? If this is the wrong forum to post this, sorry, let me know and I'll move/remove it.
Cheers!

There is no hiking or local dog parks. There is a beach where you may be able to walk for miles, depending on what part of the island you are on, he can swim and you can have a blast playing with him on the docks. You'll need to be aware of local health issues like tick born viruses and heartworm. You'll also need to be on the alert for free running dogs that may or may not be dog friendly. Once you find other doggy friends, you can arrange doggy play dates on the beach.

I can't speak for all of Belize because I don't have that experience but San Pedro is a great place for dogs. I suspect your dog will have a great time here. Mine and all of my expat friends I think will agree.

To ensure your dog does have a good time is the commonsense of not allowing him to bother others; pick up his waste; keep him on a leash when appropriate and always under control. Good luck

I've always had at least one dog in my years on the island. I now have 5. I live North of San Pedro, one might say 'out of town'. Two of the 5 run free two live in my fenced yard and one is a constant companion. Dog heaven up here, no problems but not so civilized that I think about leash, designated areas or scooping poop... unless we cross the river to the South end.

Elbert I feel the same way. And Bubba is the smartest bird dog on the island (maybe in the world).
My lab is a chicken dog. He watched the babies from the time they were 3 days old. After we let the hens run free for a half a day (makes the eggs better) Tonto helps herd them back to the chicken house. He also is the only one who could catch the Guinea hen who got in under the trunk of the strangle fig; nice soft mouth.
Wiley this is a great place for dogs. The tics are not the deer tics that are in the US and there are meds for controlling them.

Sorry Harriette, My Aussie is the smartest dog on the Island, period. Maybe Bubba is when Zeke is off Island. Zeke knows what I'm thinking before I do. I was even going to let him vote this election, but because he wants everything for free I didn't feel like I could trust him alone in the voting booth.

Wiley, if your dog goes into town and/or many public places with you like mine does he needs to be on a leash and you'll need to follow what I suggested. Out of town is another matter depending on circumstances.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3VLqLLWxbQ

Ticks in Belize carry multiple deadly viruses, erlichiosis being one of the most common. In my experience, tick fever related disease is always one of the major factors in deaths among dogs in Belize. Available tick prevention is not always effective against ticks in Belize and most dogs do get infected at some point. Do not make the mistake of depending on tick preventative alone. Here's a good article that covers the issue well. Deadly Tick Fever - San Pedro Sun

Collyk, Ticks are a pest everywhere but 'multiple deadly viruses'and 'major factors in deaths among dogs in Belize'I think that's way overboard. I give mine frontline and never had a problem but lots of dogs don't get the expensive meds or any prevention at all and seem to be normal dogs. What's with the doom and gloom? The dog in the article is an abused animal.

If your dog hasn't had tick fever, you are lucky. Two out of my three dogs have had it. One died from it, she was on frontline. My 8 week old puppy had it when we adopted her, it was not diagnosed until she quit eating.She got it again 2 years later while on frontline. Now 4 years in, she's a sickly dog on medications most of her life. We have switched to expensive medication Comfortis to prevent fleas and ticks. It has been working.

And yes tick fever does kill plenty of dogs on the island, not just the abused. They may seem to be normal dogs, but the life expectancy for a potlicker is under 10 years. Saga Humane Society has to test every dog prior to SNIP surgery because it's so common. The infection weakens their system and they can not tolerate anesthesia and have died while under.

Bring you dog, medications and a leash. Be respectful with your dog, keep in your yard and scoop the poop when in public places.

It's not doom and gloom. It's factual and important information. The symptoms you saw in that article are common symptoms for dogs with tick fever. The majority of my dog owning friends in Belize have had dogs die from tick fever. I too have had a dog die from tick fever related illness. Many more people have had dogs that died of tick fever but don't know what it is and just believe their dog died for no obvious reason. The early symptoms are very subtle and if you don't catch it early, they can die within a couple of days. If they catch it multiple times or it gets chronic, you get other issues such as the sinus tumour one of my dogs died from. When we adopted him (a pot licker) he was carrying three types of tick fever and sadly had repeated bouts throughout his life. It's very dangerous for dog owners not to be highly aware of tick fever as it's endemic and absolutely very deadly. Every one of my dogs has had tick fever, fortunately caught early. Sadly the dog who died had been overexposed too many times before I adopted him. I suggest you give Saga a call Elbert and become more informed about the seriousness of tick fever because your comments are dangerous to people coming here with their dogs. When we arrived with our dog, she caught tick fever within 12 weeks of arriving. If I had not been made aware to look out for the very subtle symptoms, she would have died quickly.