Go Back   Pet forum for dogs cats and humans - Pets.ca > Discussion Groups - mainly cats and dogs > Dog training - dog behavior

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old January 29th, 2009, 09:01 AM
Darlene Bouck Darlene Bouck is offline
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Pickerington, Ohio
Posts: 1
Question excessive water drinking

I have a Lab that drinks all the water until the bowl is empty. He drank 11 cups of water in 4 1/2 hours. Our vet tested him for diabetes and other diseases. Our vet thinks it is psychogenic probably because the lab spent two months in a dog pound where water was probably limited. Our vet wanted us to give him unlimited water. I tried that for about two days. He had to go outside every 35 min. I can't really restrict his water because I leave water in the bowl all the time because of my other two dogs. We've been trying to nudge him away from the bowl. We don't want to say "no". Any suggestions? I can't leave the three dogs alone because the Lab will drink all the water and then have to urinate. His urine is clear from all the water drinking.
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old January 29th, 2009, 12:20 PM
pitgrrl's Avatar
pitgrrl pitgrrl is offline
Senior Contributor
 
Join Date: May 2006
Location: MTL
Posts: 1,199
If he's been cleared medically, I'd be inclined to agree with your vet and make lots of water available all the time, all over the place so that it looses it's high value status. Realistically this will mean a period during which you'll have to take the dog out to pee a whole lot, but he should learn that the water isn't going anywhere and he doesn't have to drink it all immediately.

All that said, and I really do think it's better to live through the annoyance now so that it's dealt with in the future, I have a dog who is just a life long water hog. He "forgets" to drink all day and then makes up for it in the evening, usually right before bed, and has been doing this for 6 years. So, I dole out water as needed. I never deny him water, but I put small amounts in the bowl to force him to pace himself a little. It's annoying, since it means I have to go fill the bowl any time either dog wants a drink, but it's the only thing that's stopped the 3 am pee-pee emergencies as we call them
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off


Forum Terms of Use

  • All Bulletin Board Posts are for personal/non-commercial use only.
  • Self-promotion and/or promotion in general is prohibited.
  • Debate is healthy but profane and deliberately rude posts will be deleted.
  • Posters not following the rules will be banned at the Admins' discretion.
  • Read the Full Forum Rules

Forum Details

  • Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8
    Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
    vBulletin Optimisation by vB Optimise (Reduced on this page: MySQL 0%).
  • All times are GMT -5. The time now is 05:30 AM.