After a Lake Swim: Rinse, Dry, and What to Watch For
Lillian Ruff Pet Spa
No blog post can tell you whether a lake is safe for your dog today, and you should be suspicious of any that tries. What a groomer can tell you is what to look at before your dog goes in, what to do with the coat in the first hour afterward, and which signs mean the vet rather than us.
Confirm dogs are actually allowed at the spot you're standing in, look hard at the water before your dog does, rinse with clean water before the coat dries, then dry down to the skin. If your dog turns wobbly, drooly or sick in the hours after a swim, that is a vet call — not a groomer call.
Why a dog's swim is not the same as yours
A person wades in, gets out, towels off and drives home. A dog does three things you don't. They swallow water while they swim, whether or not they mean to. They roll in whatever is on the bank. And then they lick themselves dry, which means anything the coat picked up gets a second trip, concentrated down to whatever dried into the undercoat.
That is the whole reason this post exists. The swim itself is rarely the problem. The coat afterward, and the hours afterward, are where it goes wrong.
If the water has thick surface scum, paint-like green or blue-green streaks, unusual foam, a strong musty or septic smell, or there are dead fish along the edge — the day is over. Don't let your dog swim in it, wade in it, or drink it, and don't let them roll in the dried crust at the waterline. Nothing posted on a sign anywhere is faster than your own judgment at the water's edge, and no one will ever give you a hard time for turning around.
Before you leave the house
Confirm dogs are permitted where you're going
Do this before the drive, not after. Ask whoever actually manages that access point — the town, the county, the state park office, whoever runs the gate you'll walk through. Rules here are genuinely not uniform, and they are not uniform even along one shoreline.
If the water quality is in question, ask the agency that manages it
We are a grooming salon. We don't test water and we won't pretend to know what a given waterbody is doing this week. If you want to know before you go, call the people responsible for that water, or ask your vet what they'd advise for your dog specifically.
Pack a rinse
A gallon jug of clean water and two real towels in the trunk. This is the single highest-value thing in the car, and almost nobody brings it.
Bring your dog's own drinking water
A dog who has just had a long drink of fresh, cool water from a bowl swallows noticeably less of whatever they're swimming in. Offer it before they go in and between swims.
Plan the dry, not just the swim
Decide now whether the coat is getting properly dried at home tonight. If the honest answer is no, keep the swim short.
If you can't see your dog's feet in knee-deep water, you don't know what they're swimming in.
The access rules we can actually print
Ronkonkoma is a hamlet in Suffolk County, and the area around Lake Ronkonkoma is split across more than one town. That means the answer to "can my dog be here" can change depending on which side you approach from and who runs that particular spot. We are not going to print a rule that might be wrong at your gate and get you turned around with a hopeful dog in the back seat. Confirm it with the authority that manages the specific access point.
What is written down, for readers up in the Huntington end of the catchment:
- Town of Huntington Code §159-20(D) prohibits dogs from all town beaches except paved areas and boardwalks.
- In Town of Huntington parks, leashes must be six feet or shorter.
- Sunken Meadow State Park allows leashed dogs only in the undeveloped eastern portion. Dogs are barred from the beaches, boardwalk, playgrounds, pools, golf course and buildings.
- Crab Meadow Beach's observation deck is open Memorial Day through Labor Day and admits no animals other than service dogs.
- Caleb Smith State Park Preserve in Smithtown prohibits pets entirely — it's a passive preserve, and bikes and picnics are out too.
- Northport Village Park, also called Cow Harbor Park, is a waterfront park at the foot of Main Street that permits dogs on leash, with paved paths, benches, parking and restrooms.
Our Ronkonkoma salon at 835 Portion Rd is the full-service location — grooming, daycare, boarding and the retail shop — open seven days a week. Grooming runs 9am to 5pm. East Northport at 16 Laurel Rd is grooming only, Tuesday to Saturday, 9am to 5pm.
Rinse before the coat dries
Rinse before your dog licks the coat dry. That is most of the job. Lake water leaves silt, plant matter and general pond grit sitting in the undercoat, and five honest minutes with clean water removes the majority of it. If there's no spigot, that's what the jug in the trunk is for.
Then dry to the skin, not to the touch. This is the step everyone skips, and it's the one that costs you.
| Coat type | What lake water does | What it needs |
|---|---|---|
| Double coat (shepherd, husky, retriever) | Undercoat holds water for hours after the topcoat feels dry | Air movement down to the skin. Damp undercoat plus friction is how hot spots start. |
| Curly and wavy (doodle, poodle, bichon) | Water tightens the curl and locks in whatever it carried | Brushed while drying, not after. Air-drying a wet doodle without brushing is how a coat becomes felt. |
| Long silky (shih tzu, maltese, yorkie) | Tangles set as it dries, especially behind the ears and in the armpits | Line-brush the friction zones while the coat is still damp. |
| Short and smooth | Least trouble by far | Rinse, towel, done. Still check ears and skin folds. |
Wherever your dog's coat sits on that list, dry the ear openings, the armpits, the groin, the base of the tail and between the toes. Don't push anything into the ear canal — wipe what you can reach and let air do the rest. A floppy-eared dog who swims weekly all summer is the classic candidate for an ear problem by late August, and that one belongs to your vet, not to us.
Run a tick check while your hands are in there
Shoreline brush is exactly where ticks come from, and a wet coat hides them well. New York State surveys deer tick nymphs from May through September and adults from October through December. In Suffolk County in 2025, nymph density measured 61.04 ticks per 1,000 m², with 26.6% carrying the Lyme bacterium; of the adults collected that October through December, 52.8% tested positive. Suffolk isn't the worst county in the state for nymph density — it ranked eighth in 2025 — but those numbers are reason enough to run your fingers over the ears, neck, armpits and groin before the dog settles on the couch. Talk to your vet about tick prevention; that's their call, not ours.
Here's the part we'd rather say plainly than dress up: if you can rinse and properly dry your own dog, you do not need to book anything after a swim. Book when the coat has stopped being brushable, when you can feel packed undercoat, or when the swimming has been weekly for a month and you'd rather it didn't end in a shave-down. For most swim-season dogs that's a bath and brush every few weeks — $35 to $120 depending on weight — not a full groom every time they get wet.
What to watch for in the hours after a swim
Most swims end with a tired, smelly, perfectly healthy dog. Know the difference between that and the other thing.
Normal after a swim
- Hard shaking, then a long nap
- Wet-dog smell that rinses out
- Damp ears and head-shaking right afterward
- Mild thirst and a big dinner
- One slightly loose stool, if they swallowed some water
Call the vet now
- Vomiting or diarrhea that repeats
- Heavy drooling, or foaming at the mouth
- Stumbling, weakness, tremors or collapse
- Disorientation, or a seizure
- Labored breathing, or a cough
- Pale, blue or brick-red gums
- Bloating and restlessness after gulping a lot of water
You do not need to be sure, and you should not sit at home deciding how many hours have passed. Anything in that right-hand column means you call your vet or an emergency clinic. Tell them the dog swam in fresh water, where, roughly when, and how much of it you think they drank.
When to call your vet rather than us
Groomers notice things. We are not diagnosing them. If your dog has red, angry, weeping skin, an ear that smells or clearly hurts, a limp, a cough, a wound, or any of the signs above, that is a veterinary visit and we will tell you so — sometimes at the door. Coming in for a bath with an active hot spot mostly delays treatment by a day.
The clean split: water in the coat is ours, water in the dog is your vet's.
Questions people actually ask
Is it safe for my dog to swim in Lake Ronkonkoma?
We can't answer that, and we'd be making it up if we tried — the honest answer changes with conditions and with the spot. Two things are on you before you go: check with whoever manages that specific access point whether dogs are permitted there at all, and if you have any question about the water itself, ask that agency or your vet. Then use your eyes when you arrive. Scum, streaks, foam, a strong smell or dead fish means you leave.
Can I just hose my dog off in the driveway?
Yes. Clean water is clean water. The thing a hose won't do is dry the coat, and with a double or curly coat that's the half that matters. Towel hard, then get air moving through it while you brush.
My dog drank a lot of lake water. Should I worry?
A single loose stool from a dog who's otherwise bright is usually nothing. Repeated vomiting, drooling, wobbliness, tremors, or a bloated and restless dog after a lot of gulping are all reasons to call your vet straight away rather than waiting to see how it develops.
Does a swim count as a bath?
No. Swimming rinses the surface and loads the undercoat. A dog that swims often usually needs the coat properly washed and dried more frequently, not less — otherwise you get packed undercoat, dull skin, and mats at the friction points.
Can you take us straight after the lake?
Book ahead rather than turning up wet. Grooming runs 9am to 5pm at both salons and appointments are scheduled, so the reliable move is to rinse at the water, dry as best you can at home, and book the bath and brush for the next day or two.
Do you groom cats, or do color and hand-stripping?
No to all three. Dogs only, and no creative coloring, show grooming or hand-stripping.
Get the lake out of the coat properly.
Book a bath and brush and we'll wash it down to the skin, dry it out fully, and check ears, skin and ticks while we're in there.
See pricing & book ›835 Portion Rd, Ronkonkoma, NY 11779 · Open 7 days, 9–5
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