Water and the dog

 Nothing to add really except that Neiko is a huge water drinker. It surprises me with how much water he drinks. I have done the same as you - water is every where around the house - in their crates, in the dining room, living room, outside on the deck, and in the spare room. And then of course there is the always full always cold toilet bowl - which he prefers above all else.

The problem comes when we are away from the house. He gets thirsty FAST and there isn't always an available water source around. 

How long has Sampson been with you?  This may be a problem that will resolve itself.  If he came from a situation where he did not get enough water, he may need to learn that water will not be lacking anymore and that may take a long time.

Oh. I see that he has been with you for a week.  I would give it more time. 

on his own Busgy drinks water a few times a day in large quantities.  I have never paid much attention to how many times a day but as a guess 4 or 5.  However around other dogs he drinks constantly.  To the point that you'd think that he'd never had a clean cold bowl of water. The more dogs the worse it is, he seems to relish sharing a drink with them.  Does Samson drink more around the other dogs or is it all the time?

Bugs has never had issues with peeing though, he has a very good bladder and control  

DPU, I think you are doing the right thing.  He's getting better as he is probably learning that water is around and he doesn't need to fill up so much at once. 

Willow had and still has a water issue with regards to her bad eating habits.  If she doesn't want to eat she will drink and drink and drink to fill up.  I actually have to lift up the water before we feed her so she will eat and not go to the water.

I'm not really sure what the nature of the problem is, but just thought I'd add that I once saw a dog on tv that drank excessively and consequently urinated excessively. He just liked water and liked drinking and it had turned into a bit of an OC sort of thing. The owners gave him his water in the form of a little water with lots of large ice cubes. Part of the dog's obsession with water was that he liked to play with it, so the ice cubes gave him a new aspect of water to play with that didn't result in his drinking way too much. Once the novelty wore off, he decided ice cubes were boring and tedious and his interest in the water flagged simultaneously. I believe the owners were able to break him of the habit and he went back to drinking normally. I should probably add that I think the owners were also told to take his water away when he had had a drink so he couldn't go around self-rewarding with the water whenever he liked. I can understand why you wouldn't want to do that, though. 

corvus

I'm not really sure what the nature of the problem is,

It is not normal behavior.  After going through the checklist of potential medical problem and having them eliminated, only behavior is left.  The possibilities here are Sampson likes water, Sampson uses water for full stomach feeling, water was deprived, or its behavior to help the dog cope with stress.....new home...big dogs...new people...confinement at times.

Drinking a lot of water means big pee and a limited amount of time the pee can be held in.  Sampson has been with me for 3 weeks now and he is not confined when I am at home.  He is a very good dog and lets me know when he has to go outside to pee, big pee.  Each night he wakes me up around 2am to let him out.  He wakes me up very gently but nonetheless, he wakes me up. 

After the medical conditions were eliminated, I was told to control his intake of water.  For example, no water 2 hours before bedtime.  Oh, by the way I do give the dog a walk before bed and you would think his bladder would be emptied...NOT.  My thinking is that if I withhold water, that this would increase the Want and Sampson would probably binge and drink too fast. 

What I am doing is having water available all over the house.  During feeding time, Sampson eats out of food bowl that I am holding.  One-third the way done, I take the bowl away and present the water bowl for him to drink.  When there is a break, I take the water bowl away and present the food bowl.  I am not sure why I am doing this but I have it in my mind that Sampson is drinking a lot of water to get the full stomach feeling.  Plus, his food is a mixture of kibble and canned and I figured with water, the kibble will soften and expand giving him more of a full feeling. 

I need to get this guy to drink normally.  I think when he is adopted if this behavior still exists, the new owners won't be able to tolerate it.  On day one when Sampson came here, I myself was shocked at how much this dog drank and then the volume of pee.

kpwlee

 However around other dogs he drinks constantly.  To the point that you'd think that he'd never had a clean cold bowl of water. The more dogs the worse it is, he seems to relish sharing a drink with them. 

OMG that is Apollo. He drinks a lot of water on his own throughout the day, but if my parents dog is over he could drink the entire bowl of water in one sitting.

One weekend my parents dog, my cousins dog, fiancee's friends 2 dogs, and Apollo were all together and Apollo was practically drowning himself in the water bowls trying to drinks it all up....he's crazy!!!! His face was soaked from messy drinking.

DPU,

I don't know about dogs but I thought I would throw this out there.  In humans excessive drinking is a sign of diabetes, I know you ruled out all medical but that came to mind so I thought I would mention it.

River is a huge drinker, he doesn't look or ask for water much but when I give him a bowl he will drink the whole bowl in one big drink.  I have a stream in my front yard and sometimes he will mosey down and get himself a drink - drink a lot and then walk away.  I consider him a big drinker because he can drink so much at one time.  I think leaving water available at all times is a good approach.  All though many don't like this procedure with resource guarding dogs, I saw it work with River.  Once he had total access to food he stop guarding and didn't eat more than usual (after the initial obsession was over).  But he did put on weight very quickly so I stopped it.  Anyway, I don't see why the same concept can't work for water too.

Is it at all possible that he has a UTI and the urine is too diluted to have high enough bacteria levels to notice? Poor guy sounds like he's drinking himself silly! 

jennie_c_d

Is it at all possible that he has a UTI and the urine is too diluted to have high enough bacteria levels to notice? Poor guy sounds like he's drinking himself silly! 

I am told it is rare for males to have UTI.  Yes, his urine was quite diluted and I did ask the question and if that would cover up a problem.  The vet said no kidney disease, no diabetes, no Cushing, no UTI.  The dog's physical condition, good weight, gaining weight, good muscle tone, excellent shiney coat, great personality....all contradicted that there is a medical problem.

Dave how about giving him green beans in his food to bulk it up - very, very few calories but may give the full feeling.  It might help you discern if that is one of the issues

BlackLabbie

One weekend my parents dog, my cousins dog, fiancee's friends 2 dogs, and Apollo were all together and Apollo was practically drowning himself in the water bowls trying to drinks it all up....he's crazy!!!! His face was soaked from messy drinking.

He and Bugsy would have quite the time together    Bugsy and his girlfriend - a golden he has grown up with - actually look like they've been for a swim after a good play and drinking session

The first thing that would come to mind is that he was deprived of water habitually before he arrived there.  This is a very common behavior when that happens.  It can take many weeks or even months to get out of that habit of "tanking up" any time water is available - even to the point of drinking, then throwing up, then drinking again (we call that Summer Blap Disease because it usually happens if we let the dogs drink after working, while still breathing hard). 

The second possibility - is he intact or recently neutered?  Prostatitis can mimic and even cause UTIs.   My Cord had a mildly inflamed prostate and was a terrible drinker (hee - not alcohol, water!).  We kept treating him for UTIs and then finally a friend suggested the possibility of the prostate issue.  Bingo!  We got him neutered and his water consumption is totally normal now.

Hey Dave,

we had a similar problem with Monroe in that he would drink excessively, to the point of throwing it up and then go back for more.  It seemed that he thought he wouldn't get any more if he didn't get it now - like a lab eating.

To change the behavior we taught "That's enough" to him.  When we say that he stops and takes a break from drinking and then we let him go back for more.  At the least this gives the water a chance to settle and for his brain to get the message that he isn't thirsty.

Training "that's enough" took some while and I honestly couldn't tell you how we did it.  I can tell you that it worked.