Is this normal for some dogs? Or could it be pointing to an unseen medical problem?
Ozi is a 2-year old GSD who runs around non-stop like a crazy wild madman, thus the soon-to-be name change to KAZE, short for Kamikaze. Like my male Siberian Husky, neither of them ever stop to rest or lay down or sit or anything. They just keep on the move in our backyard for hours on end. However, Ozi will finish off 2 large, full, probably gallon or more sized, completely full water bowls in an hour or so. He runs around the yard doing laps, then runs to one or the other water bowls, drinks a ton, runs some more, drinks some more, so on and so forth. He eats and drinks without issue, and has normal stool and pee. I have 3 other dogs who have never done this, no matter how much exercise they get. We usually bikejor for 6-11 miles a day, or go for long distance runs of 5-7 miles, or both in one day. It takes my 3 pups days to finish off the 2 water bowls. How can Ozi drink them both within hours?
Should I be watching for any signs elsewhere that maybe I'm not seeing?
Now this is true! Both of my GSDs drool out a lot as they run off from their water bowls, but still, this seems to be insane. My huskies actually swallow their water whole without a drip! Hehe.
Are GSDs known for having holes in their chins? Hahaha!!
My Pom did the same thing. She would drink until she vomited. We just put down a smaller amount of water for her until she got past the guzzling phase. She kinda grew out of it, but even now, she'll just guzzle water out of the blue. Vet says it's just a quirk and to not worry about it...but she said that after we made sure there wasn't a medical reason.
Any time a dog is increasing water intake due to disease, I'd expect an increase in frequency and amount of urination. If he isn't showing this increase, maybe he is possibly running out and throwing up the water and you just haven't caught him doing this yet. He may be just oddly chugging too much like Shaolin's pup.
Either way, if the increase in water is alarming to you, then your best bet is to consult a vet to properly rule out anything medical.
Raw fed dogs tend to drink less water than dogs fed kibble. The kibble makes them more thirsty. Any difference in diet? I will say however that's a ton of water he's chugging kibble fed or not.
Do you think because this dog is new to the household he wants to feel like the water is his, maybe possesive? Our female did this at the dog park, I know she was not thirsty, something about being around other dogs, and she also did this when we'd have a GSD meetup with several other dogs present.
If not this, then what ApselBear mentioned should be looked into, total input and total output of water. In diabetes there would initially be an increased appetite and maybe weight loss too.
Thanks for the replies. Ozi is currently on a kibble diet. I will be switching him to 100% raw as soon as I get him on March 28th. I don't see him peeing any more than normal. I don't see him being possessive either. I will monitor him closely once I have him all to myself, and will see if there are positive or negative changes. He is slightly underweight, but I'm going to give him a lot of raw to help put some weight on. We are also going to exercise daily to build up his muscle. I hope he doesn't have diabetes or liver shunts like was mentioned.
I will say that my pup drinks a lot (not that much though). However, like in the diagram a LOT is on the floor. He has loose lips and water goes everywhere! Blech.
Well if he is still going number 1 on a regular schedule and number 2 is normal, I would guess he is either throwing the excess up. Unless other signs show up, my guess is currently leaning towards Shaolin's experience that the dog is just gorging and vomiting it all out and therefor doesn't satisfy the thirst properly and comes back for a refill. Again, jmo. A vet check just to double check everything is always an excellent idea if you can afford it.
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