A split-second act at the beach sent The Block regular’s dog to hospital for two weeks

When The Block regular Damian Corney set off for a day at the beach with his family in April, he couldn’t have imagined it would almost claim his beloved dog’s life.

The Melbourne-based designer, known to The Block fans as the founder of the Grafico wallpaper range that has appeared on the show for the past 12 seasons, had taken then eight-month-old poodle Bruno to the beach when the playful pooch drank from a rock pool.

It set off a chain of events that would lead to an emergency dash to a veterinary hospital followed by two stints in intensive care in an effort to save Bruno’s life.

Now, Corney is warning others not to make the same mistake.

Good Friday started as a fun outing to the beach for Bruno, who joined the Corney family, which includes wife Adele, and daughters Alessia and Sienna, last October.

The family was on a trip to Lorne, located along Victoria’s Great Ocean Road, to spend Easter with family when they decided to go to the beach.

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“[Bruno] has been a couple of times to dog beaches before, without any problems,” Corney told nine.com.au.

“But he was really excited that day. It was Easter, and there were a lot of people around, a lot of dogs around.

“I let him off the lead and he just ran over and drank some water from a rock pool. I saw him go up and take a couple of gulps. I thought it was a bit silly, but I didn’t think much about it.”

When Bruno tried to do it again, Corney put him back on his leash, never imagining what was around the corner.

Later that day, Bruno started vomiting. Having owned dogs for 15 years, and never knowing about the dangers of ingesting seawater, he was not worried at first.

“We thought, ‘That is a bit odd. We haven’t changed his food or anything.’”

Over the next couple of days, though, Bruno went downhill. He would intermittently vomit, and also became lethargic.

By Easter Monday, the worried family decided to take him to a vet in Geelong, over an hour away.

“They gave him an anti-nausea injection and sent us home,” Corney said.

But later that day, Bruno took another turn for the worst, becoming “really lethargic” and breathing heavily.

The family called the vet, but as they were about to close, they suggested they instead rush to a 24-hour emergency vet in Melbourne.

Corney and his wife left their children with family and drove for two-and-a-half hours to get Bruno back to Melbourne, where X-rays found he had pneumonia.

“When he had vomited he must have inhaled vomit and seawater, which was in his lungs,” Corney said.

“[They told us] if we left him overnight he probably wouldn’t have made it because he would have stopped breathing,” he said.

He remained in the vet hospital for a week, receiving IV antibiotics and other care, and was confined to an oxygen chamber.

“They only took him out to eat and stretch his legs,” Corney said.

Finally, after a week, he was able to go home but had to continue to take antibiotics. However, his symptoms returned, and he was rushed back to the vet.

“They had to give him stronger antibiotics and put him back in the oxygen chamber. We were pretty worried at that stage,” Corney said.

“The kids were really upset and were crying. My wife was crying.”

He spent another week in the vet hospital before returning home and is now almost back to normal.

Corney said while the vet advised them about costs at the start, it doubled as a result of the second stint in hospital, reaching $12,000. They had taken out pet insurance, which covered 90 per cent.

While Bruno’s beach-going days aren’t over, there will be one change.

“I will keep him on a tight leash,” Corney said.

He also wanted to warn other pet owners about the dangers of ingesting seawater.

“I have been a dog owner for 15 years and had never heard of this happening. I tell everyone, and they say the same thing, ‘What? That happened?’”

New data from CoverMy Pet shows dogs make up 90 per cent of all insurance claims – and some of Australia’s favourite breeds are the most expensive when it comes to trips to the vet.

The data, compiled from pet insurance claims made in the six months to April 30, found Labradors topped the list, followed closely by cavoodles, a cross breed that comes from a poodle and cavalier King Charles spaniel.

Retrievers, Staffordshire bull terriers and cavalier King Charles spaniels rounded out the top five most expensive dogs by insurance claims. 

CoverMy Pet general manager Grant Pugh said dogs were by far the most expensive pet when it comes to vet bills.

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“Dogs account for nearly nine in 10 pet insurance claims… with the most claims made in NSW followed by Queensland and Western Australia,” he said.

“Costs for a single trip to the vet can spiral quickly, depending on the number of tests that need to be done, and some [pet owners] are choosing to defer vaccination or check-ups as a result of cost-of-living pressures.” 

Pugh said while Australia had one of the highest rates of pet ownership in the world, with seven out of every 10 households owning a pet, it has one of the lowest rates of pet insurance.

Meanwhile, many of Australia’s most popular dog breeds end up costing the most at the vet, partly because of genetics.

“It’s surprising more of the increasingly popular designer breeds didn’t make the top five as they can inherit health challenges from both parent breeds, leading to costly vet visits,” Pugh said.