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  10. My Mali and I were playing with a garden hose and noticed his belly was enlarged and had become lethargic. I didn’t think he was drinking all that water. But now I know not to play with him like that. Thank God he recovered in a couple hours. Thank you for making people aware Doc!

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  12. My 2 yo standard schnauzer drinks a fair amount, I talked to my vet. She calculated her weight and how much she was drinking and she was OK. Also becareful if you have your dog at the ocean or you have a salt water pool. Make sure they do not drink it, provide fresh non salt water for them.

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  13. Had never had an issue with this until I got a border collie, he bites at the waves when we are at the lake, and then urinates uncontrollably. Not sure how to get him to stop, it’s the movement of the waves, he gets obsessed.

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  19. Dogs drinking water and stopping drinking is instinctual. I am gonna continue leaving our 5.5 pounder of 16 years now to his own instinctual judgement. And lots of times he drinks like there’s no tomorrow !

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  20. This absolutely makes sense. It’s scary but as in people you have to be your pets advocate and help the vet so they know how to treat the Furbaby! Great educational video

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  22. My medical aides with dogs always ask me q’s because I have a service dog and learned a lot as a result. One of them was complaining about her dog peeing everywhere in the house. When I asked how much water her 12 pound dog drinks, she couldn’t tell me. How can you not know how much your water is drinking through the day? It’s not only the issue about the dog peeing all over the house when nobody is home. It’s dangerous to let them drink too much. The worst part? She didn’t take it seriously (same happened when she told me she lets her dog have chocolate as treats, which is toxic — not sure why they ask for help if they don’t like the answer). I promise it sounds like she has been giving her small dog as much if not more water than my large dog drinks judging by the pee accidents and the way she described how much water she leaves around (and how much is left when she returns).

    There are ways of estimating how much water dogs should be drinking per day by their weight — it’s usually 10 oz. per 10lbs of body weight, unless it’s extremely hot or a dog has a medical reason for a different amount of water.

    Some tips to help people give their dogs the right amount of water:

    — I never leave water in bowls around the house. Instead, I keep a 20oz Nalgene water bottle with 2 oz measurements marked, and I pour as needed. I have a handle that goes below the screw top that I can clip onto my pants, his harness, or anything else to keep it at hand when moving between rooms (but he know how to retrieve it if I forget). You can also have a bottle for each floor of your house to make it easier.

    — Ask your vet how much water to give your dog if you don’t know the proper amount.
    I know that my 69 lbs dog typically drinks about 70-80 oz per 24 hour period. He drinks a bit more when it’s hot, but that’s what he’s getting most of the year give it take a little.

    — He lets me know when he’s thirsty by walking over to the bowl and licking it or just standing there facing it. If it’s been a while since he last did that, then I offer him some. Sometimes he takes it, other times he doesn’t want it.

    — I give small amounts to discourage gulping it all down at once (literally like 2 oz at a time) until he backs away from the bowl. Many dogs will drink more than they need when they aren’t thirsty anymore just because it’s there. However, they can be taught to recognize that they’re no longer thirsty. By just giving about 2oz at a time and asking, “are you all done?” it gives him a moment to process whether he really is still thirsty. Many times he still stands there or licks the empty bowl again, other times, he backs away.

    — I can also usually tell how thirsty my dog is because he likes to groom me — a lot. So when I feel like his tongue or mouth is a little dry under his slimy saliva, I offer him water.

    — The service dog organization also told us that if we are thirsty, we should offer our pup a little water drink — that’s a good way to gauge too.

    — even when he eats, I give him about 4oz with the food. About 5-10 mins later, I offer him more. Again, it’s giving him a break is a chance to let him decide if he really wants more after a few mins have passed after Ives cleaned up from preparing his food.

    — Most people fill water bowls to the top whether they’re home or not. That’s generally not the best idea. If you have to leave your dog for an extended time, I recommend getting one of those feeders that you can dispense water on demand (or at times intervals) and a cheap Wyze internet camera so you can better control how much water your dog is drinking while you’re not there. There are inexpensive water bowls with this feature that’ll work just fine.

    I hope these tips help some people out there!

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