# Water Drinking Obsession



## saritamae (Jun 2, 2012)

I have an eight month old Lab/Aussie mix that is obsessed with drinking water. He has been thoroughly checked by the vet - urine tests, bloodwork to check kidneys, etc. He is physically fine. He has been obsessed with drinking water ever since we brought him home at 6wks. So right now you're thinking "So...what's the big deal?" Well, this means he will lick ANYTHING with water on it - the tub after we've showered, condensation on glasses, pavement, grass, ANYTHING. We had to stop going to the dog park to run because I was afraid he was going to get seriously sick because he licks the damp grass. He has gotten "mystery diarrhea" several times thanks to his obsession. If I filled our bath tub up, he would drink until either it was empty or he died. 

I love our vet, but he hasn't had much in the way of helpful advice. When he was much smaller the vet said that some puppies just like to drink water and he would probably grow out of it. Now he is out of ideas. My aunt is a behaviorist and all she has said is that it's nearly impossible to stop, but she'll do some research for us. 

Here is what we are doing now: We don't leave any beverages sitting anywhere, because he will put his seventy lbs on a table, chair, whatever - just to drink out of your glass or knock it over and drink what spills. We shut the bathroom door after he showers so he can't lick the shower walls, and we ALWAYS put the seat down. We have to dry out the kitchen sink after we use it because he will hop up on the counter to lick the inside of the sink. We have to put him in his cage for thirty minutes at a time multiple times a day so our three other dogs can get a drink. We ration his water so he gets two to four cups at a time, five to six times a day. 

Sorry that was a serious book. Has anyone else had experience with this? Any suggestions for anything we can do? We love him, but he is exhausting, and I'd like to make the next fifteen years with him a little easier if we could.


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## akane (Jul 19, 2011)

Both of ours are similar but not as severe. They have to drink out of every water source they find. They just do stop eventually. Sometimes not before they drink so much that it vomits back up a few minutes later though. I've had issues with my fish tanks, puddles along the manure pile at the stable which has led to diarrhea, every creek along the hiking trails because they pull me off the path or leap off bridges, they slobber water in to their food, they make the wood floors dangerously slippery by sucking down a bunch of water then jogging through the house and throwing it up, and they spill the water bucket when I'm carrying it from the bathroom because they are too eager to drink out of it. The day can't end or start without the water bucket being emptied. We were giving them water over night while one is crated and the other is in the bedroom with the door closed because they would wake us up insisting they needed water now. It just led to them waking us up because they had to pee from drinking water all night. Now I just tell them to chill and ignore the whining.

They do seem to get a bit better with age and training. Leave it is a very useful command. Wearing them out helps especially with higher energy or more nervous dogs. When they have too much energy they wander the house looking for something to do and drinking out of every water source becomes a habit. He should be fine at the dog park so long as you deworm him regularly and keep his shots up to date. Our smaller one likes to eat wet grass and both eat manure so that's just standard here. Training them to bike with you or getting a scooter that they can't pull over and running them that way is also good. You can get harnesses and supplies cheaply from nordkyn outfitters online. I use a skijoring harness for the akita and a more adjustable tracking harness for the shiba from nordkyn. Diggler makes the best dog scooters. 

At his size get him some carry packs to hold his own water bottles and bowl then take him on a long hike. Use a regular leash so when he sees water you can shorten up the leash and tell him to leave it. After awhile they stop trying to pull you in to every puddle, trickle, or wet grass they find and settle in to staying on the path unless given permission. I got my akita at 4months and spent 2 years putting in place all the commands we use while hiking so that when she matured enough I could hook her to a scooter on the trails.

Another useful thing is raw bones or frozen satin balls. http://www.njboxers.com/satin-balls-recipe.html You can use lower fat meat in place of the hamburger. We will probably be making venison satin balls because we got a ton of ground venison from hunters this year. It keeps them busy, fills them up, and doesn't make them thirsty like kibble. I also fed my akita while growing on wet food and dense kibbles that only required her to eat 1/4th-1/2 cup a day without expanding in her stomach when she drank a ton of water after eating. She kept vomiting kibble and then she'd refuse to eat kibble until she was starving so she'd inhale a bunch, get thirsty from dry kibble, drink tons of water, expand the kibble, throw up, refuse kibble until starving... Once the cycle was broken long enough she grew out of that. Now she will only eat so much kibble no matter what it is.


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## saritamae (Jun 2, 2012)

I am fascinated by the idea of the satin balls. We primarily eat venison here, so we already have that. I may also try making them out of turkey. DH has a lot of leftover wild turkey breasts in the freezer. I'm thinking I could grind them up and we would be good to go. 

I also LOVE the idea of getting him a backpack. He has to wear a gentle leader though, or he will be dragging me across the driveway and down the road to every puddle or little drop of water we come across. A loaded pack sounds like an awesome way to make the most out of our walks.


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## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

Removed so early from the litter, they often suck soft things. I think the licking/drinking obsession is related to this. He should have still been sucking, but had to lick out of a dish.

I would train him to stop the drinking. Set up a situation where you can bring a treat to his nose, use a command, and lead his nose away from the water. Praise and treat. Doing this, you can put a stop drinking cue on him. You could also move from using the treat to a chew toy so he can put his obsession onto something acceptable.


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## JasoninMN (Feb 24, 2006)

I am curious. Do these dogs that drink water excessively also inhale their food?


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## saritamae (Jun 2, 2012)

Mine doesn't seem to inhale his food. Depending on the time of day and how much physical activity he's had, it takes him a little more than 5 minutes to eat three cups of food. Sometimes he will leave a little in the bowl even. He isn't very food motivated. I can usually get him to work harder for a tennis ball than a treat. Unless it's cheese. Cheese is my secret weapon here.


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## MARYDVM (Jun 7, 2004)

There is a rare disease called diabetes insipidus (NOT "sugar" diabetes that everyone is familiar with) that can be congenital. Dogs with this problem cannot concentrate their urine. They have a raging thirst and can drink and urinate gallons a day. Bloodwork is often normal, but the one constant is very dilute urine. This might be dismissed in a routine urinalysis as the result of the dog drinking too much prior to testing. But if multiple tests show a low specific gravity, diabetes insipidus should be considered. Dogs with D.I. have a very light yellow or clear urine and they are desperate to keep drinking.


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## Tiempo (May 22, 2008)

MARYDVM said:


> There is a rare disease called diabetes insipidus (NOT "sugar" diabetes that everyone is familiar with) that can be congenital. Dogs with this problem cannot concentrate their urine. They have a raging thirst and can drink and urinate gallons a day. Bloodwork is often normal, but the one constant is very dilute urine. This might be dismissed in a routine urinalysis as the result of the dog drinking too much prior to testing. But if multiple tests show a low specific gravity, diabetes insipidus should be considered. Dogs with D.I. have a very light yellow or clear urine and they are desperate to keep drinking.


Is it manageable?


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## MARYDVM (Jun 7, 2004)

Depends. There is central diabetes insipidus where the problem is a failure to produce anti-diuretic hormone (ADH) by the brain. This one is easily(but not cheaply) treated by giving desmopressin 2 to 3 X daily.

The other kind is nephrogenic diabetes insipidus where there is plenty of ADH in circulation, but a malformation in the kidney tissues prevents them from responding. That type doesn't benefit from treatment.

In 30 years of practice I've diagnosed only 2 cases of D.I. Both were in old dogs with suspected brain tumors that responded well to treatment with desmopressin.


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## ChickenRN (Jun 22, 2006)

Have you tried mixing Gatorade with his water? 50/50? This might help.


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## ChickenRN (Jun 22, 2006)

Just the lemon flavor.


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## CathyGo (Apr 26, 2013)

saritamae said:


> He has to wear a gentle leader though, or he will be dragging me across the driveway and down the road to every puddle or little drop of water we come across.


I would start by actually training the dog rather than relying on management devices. 

If it's a form of OCD rather than a physical issue than a round of NILIF boot camp is probably in order followed by obedience training. It's amazing how much OCD like stuff will stop just by establishing some leadership and structure. My own dog would be a destructive nightmare in the wrong home and I know I'm at least his 8th.

Maybe a wire basket muzzle would deny him access to water enough to break the cycle?

What's he fed? 3 cups of kibble would need a lot of water to digest for some brands.

Did he go through any periods of GI problems?

How much exercise does he get? Does he have access to a satisfying chew like a kong or nylabone? Labs are a very oral breed. When my last one was a pup he either had something that we had chose in his mouth or he was getting into trouble.


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## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

I'd also like to know what he is eating. Dogs fed kibble need more water.


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## offthegrid (Aug 11, 2009)

I would get a 2nd opinion from another vet before I'd start trying to manage his OCD with behavior management/NILIF, etc. Even being removed from a litter at 6 weeks doesn't explain this behavior; suckling/sucking is not the same as insatiable thirst....eating kibble isn't enough of a reason to drag an owner across a parking lot to drink out of puddles.

It *may* be a training issue, or mental/OCD issue...but this screams medical issue to me.


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## CAjerseychick (Aug 11, 2013)

x2 it sees a medical issue to me too I think the advice on testing for dilute urines and a second opinion is sound.... 
My schnauzer was obsessed with water but it did not manifest as such urgent thirst.... I would be wary of cutting off his water supply without first treating any deficiencies he might be experiencing...


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## frogmammy (Dec 8, 2004)

So, this may sound silly, BUT....

My old girl was a Chow/BC cross. One day she started licking the floor, and licking, and licking....I tried EVERYTHING I could think of to get her to stop but noting would work. I have OLD wood floors, so it's not like it was easy on her tongue, either!

Eight HOURS later, she was still licking the floor and I finally managed to contact a girlfriend who is VERY "doggy".

She told me to fix the dog a cup of Chamomile tea, with a little touch of honey in it, and serve it warm.

I did that, setting the warm tea in front of her, in her dish. She started drinking after I dribbled some in her mouth, drank the whole thing, gave BIG sigh, and went to her bed and slept until the next morning.

You could give it a try, anyway. My have to fix the pup a "cuppa" each day, but that is an easy solution.

Mon


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## d'vash (Apr 25, 2013)

Polydipsia is excessive water consumption, and can be symptom of many underlying medical conditions. Unfortunately, polydipsia can be caused by diabetes, an issue with the kidneys, problems with the adrenal and reproductive system and such. 

A healthy dog should be consuming 20-70 ml/kg body weight per day is normal, anything over would be considered polydipsia. Now, if you're saying he is drinking anywhere from 2 cups, 5 times per day to 4 cups, 6 times per day - this is roughly 2,500 to 6,000 ml of water daily. 

Are you sure these are his correct consumption levels? If so, you need to speak with a veterinarian. These numbers are far from normal - assuming he is 30kg, his ideal water intake should be around 600 - 2100 ml/day. 

You will need your vet to conduct a complete urinalysis, UPC, CBC and clinical chemistry to begin to pinpoint what exactly is going on with your dog. An x-Ray or ultrasound might be needed as well. Has all this been done? What were the results? Did the vet not offer a treatment plan?


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## CathyGo (Apr 26, 2013)

Chamomile is both sedating and soothing to GI issues. If it's truly behavioral it might be a good thing but I'd be real careful to rule out all possible physical problems first. It might cover up something that will come back to bite you later on.


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## Ardie/WI (May 10, 2002)

Our Yorkie started drinking excessively. He was diagnosed with Cushings Disease. :Bawling:


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## fellini123 (Feb 2, 2003)

Ardie/WI said:


> Our Yorkie started drinking excessively. He was diagnosed with Cushings Disease. :Bawling:


We had an afghan that did that. Vet said it was Cushings. She was about 11 when it started. She lived about 1 1/2 years more and then passed. 
Alice in Virginia


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