Dog Community

My dog has a drinking problem

Posted : 7/6/2008 11:49:45 AM

LOL...But, seriously, folks...She loves to go swimming or wading in the water. The problem is she keeps drinking the water she's swimming in. Whether it's the ocean, lake, river, or pool. She has this habit of going in the water and lapping it up. And when I give her a verbal correction, she thinks I'm telling her to get out of the water, so she does. I'll bring her water bowl to her and try to get her to drink from it, but she won't. Instead, she'll go back in the water and drink from there. How do I get her to stop doing this? She's gotten diarrhea just about every time she does it. I want to take her swimming, but I can't put her health at risk at the same time. Anyone else have this problem? Any suggestions on how to get her to stop seeing a large body of water and thinking, "Oooo, more to drink!"

erica1989

Posted : 7/6/2008 5:45:21 PM

salt water is very dangerous for dogs in ingest. I would not allow her to swim in the ocean if she continues to drink the water. It can be very, very dangerous.

mudpuppy

Posted : 7/7/2008 9:11:06 AM

drinking salt water is bad. But why would she get diarrhea from drinking other waters? my dogs drink the water in their swimming pond and assorted other natural bodies of water all the time with no ill effects.

erica1989

Posted : 7/7/2008 11:58:04 AM

it depends on what is in the water. Drinking excess amounts of any water can overhydrate the body - which is not good - and diarrhea is a way for the body to expell the water. There could also be an organism in the water causing the diarrhea - depends on what she's drinking in. Diarrhea is how parvo kills puppies - sucking out all the bodies moisture - and releasing it in the *** (and vomit)

has the dog been vet checked for a UTI?

amylu

Posted : 7/8/2008 11:25:32 AM

I have taken her for a checkup and she's gotten a clean bill of health. She doesn't get to drink large amounts of water because as soon as she starts drinking, I give her a verbal correction and she gets out of the water. If she goes back in the water and starts drinking again, we leave. She does have a sensitive stomach and I give her filtered, reverse-osmosis water (the same water I drink) at home and I bring a supply for her whenever we go on an outing. So, it could be that water with any organisms in it would give her diarrhea, where other dogs are fine with it. I haven't taken her to the beach, and I won't, until we get this problem solved. I wouldn't suspect a UTI since she doesn't drink a lot of water normally. I just wish I could figure out how to get her to stop.

erica1989

Posted : 7/8/2008 7:01:15 PM

maybe she likes the taste of the unfiltered water, versus the filtered - that's really the only thing I can come up with.

Will she carry a toy when you are out by water? if you can teach her to always have a toy in her mouth - she wouldn't have the opportunity to drink water

amylu

Posted : 7/9/2008 10:33:56 AM

She's not interested in toys when we're outdoors, where there are other things to do. That would be a good idea, though, for a dog that is ball-obsessed or something like that. But, she doesn't really play with toys all that much...only at home, when there's nothing else to do & even then, she gets bored of them easily. I wish she were more toy-motivated, that would be a good way to solve this. Smile