# Do they know when enough is enough? WATER



## dooneygirl09 (Mar 9, 2012)

Tank will drink out of his endless water fountain all day if id let him. I catch myself telling him that thats enough ALL the time. He could be there for 2 minutes at a time! Hes a big dog, so big dog = lots of water, but he doesnt have the strongest bladder either! So, do they just drink till they have fullfilled their thirst? Or do they really not know when enough is enough?


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## Makovach (Jan 24, 2012)

My dogs on raw drink less than 4 cups a day. I fill the two gallon bucket up to half a gallon and change it daily. Nalah just got her and drained my bucket from half full. I filled it back up and she drained it again, so I left it empty. 

Usually a raw fed dog doesn't drink much beacsue their food is 80% water. (i'm guessing you feed raw because of your pic post). He could have some kind of problem causeing him to drink so much. I know UTIs, kidney infections, bladder infections have all caused my dogs to drink more in the past. I'm sure others will chime in with more useful information.


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## dooneygirl09 (Mar 9, 2012)

Well, he had been outside for a while, so thats probably it. He actually hasnt been drinking a ton at home now that I think about it


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## BoxerParty (Nov 9, 2011)

Malcolm definitely does NOT know when he's had enough water (or at least he didn't over the summer - it's harder to tell now with the cooler weather). He will drink until he looks visibly bloated, then walk around peeing a constant stream because he is SO FULL OF PEE he cannot hold it.


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## doggiedad (Jan 23, 2011)

4 cups = 1 quart.

8 cups = 1/2 gallon.

are you filling a 2 gallon bucket half way = 1 gallon.

16 cups = 1 gallon.



Makovach said:


> My dogs on raw
> 
> >>>>drink less than 4 cups a day. <<<<
> 
> ...


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## doggiedad (Jan 23, 2011)

my dog weighs 88 lbs. is that big? i fill his 2 quart water bowl in the early am
and there's water in it in the pm. if my dog was drinking what i thought was
a lot of water i would take him to the Vet.



dooneygirl09 said:


> Tank will drink out of his endless water fountain all day if id let him. I catch myself telling him that thats enough ALL the time. He could be there for 2 minutes at a time!
> 
> >>> Hes a big dog, so big dog = lots of water, <<<<
> 
> ...


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## Makovach (Jan 24, 2012)

doggiedad said:


> 4 cups = 1 quart.
> 
> 8 cups = 1/2 gallon.
> 
> ...


I am aware. There are lines on my bucket that go by how many cups, up to 32 cups (2 gallons) Nalah dank the half gallon, I filled it half way (one gallon), She emptied it (yes, she drank a gallon and a half of water). Then I left it empty. I put a half gallon in my bucket so that they have enough if they would want to drink more. On kibble they would drink 2-3 gallons a day between the two of them.


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## dustinshaw98 (Feb 22, 2012)

I think he's really just thirsty. Is he an active dog?


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## kady05 (Jul 29, 2011)

Some dogs definitely don't know when enough is enough, Sako was like that! Usually puppies are the worst (I always say they have no "thirst meter"), so I always limit water with them. However, Sako never grew out of it.. I was constantly telling him to STOP! But, I switched him to raw in December and now he barely drinks. So, my guess is that he just felt constantly thirsty on the kibble.


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## Tobi (Mar 18, 2011)

ya... some dogs are different, I just let em drink , my Zoey would drink, and drink, and drink... never had any ill effects except that it was annoying refilling her fountain all the time :lol:

Tobi only drinks a Ton when we exercise a lot, and we don't have access to a plethora of water.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

If he's an obsessive drinker it could be medical. I would have his urine checked out just to make sure its not dilute or full of glucose (diabetes). 

It could be behavioral as well. 

Or it could be that he's really thirsty.

One thing is for certain though....I would not bank on it begin option 2 or 3 without checking out option 1 first!


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## dooneygirl09 (Mar 9, 2012)

Europe goes in for her 12 week shot soon, so maybe I'll take him with us. I hope he's just hot, which we all know English bulldogs tend to get hot easily.


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## Dude and Bucks Mamma (May 14, 2011)

With Dude, it is behavioral. He used to know when enough was enough but after the drive up here, he became water obsessed. He drinks at every opportunity so we have to limit his water. On the drive up here, we didn't give him a whole lot of water because it was a really long drive and he wasn't used to being in a car like that. He didn't get dehydrated or anything bad like that but ever since the drive (the only time in his life water was ever limited for him) he has become a tad bit obsessive over it. Had him checked, nothing wrong.

I am with the others. Get him checked out and make sure nothing is physically wrong with him. If he is fine, it could just be behavioral which isn't too big of a deal since it is fairly easy to control how much a dog drinks.


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## naturalfeddogs (Jan 6, 2011)

Like Natalie said, I think I would get that checked by a vet. Diabetes was my first thaught. He may just really like water, but I would have it checked first to be sure.


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## NewYorkDogue (Sep 27, 2011)

My dog has been drinking a lot more lately-- mostly because it's been way up in the 70's here, and he's just thirstier.

However, I noticed at some point that after he finished his meals, (raw, but fed on a raised feeding station) and I would remove his food dish, he would just move over to the water dish and drink, and drink, and drink... I believe that was a behavioral thing. I.e.: no more food, so I'll move on to water...

Once, though I was watching him and thinking-- probably not a good idea for him to drink all of that water after a full meal... and sure enough. He walked away and just threw up (about 1/4 of his dinner along with some water.) 

So, now, I remove his water dish while he eats, and put it back down after he has walked away and settled somewhere to rest. He's okay with that, and no more diluted food coming back up...hwell:


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## bridget246 (Oct 26, 2011)

Bridget would drink non stop out of bowls when she was eating kibble. I'd refill the bowl 2 or 3 times before she left any water in it. It was her goal in life to make sure that water bowl was empty.

She was just a really thirsty dog.


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## Yorkie967 (Mar 13, 2012)

Glad I found this thread and have been dying to ask this question about drinking water. When I 1st looked for a maltese puppy, many of the breeders and pet stores would encourage maltese owners to use one of those water bottles that you hook on the cage like those used for hamsters that you lick and drops come out so that their hairs don't get sopped up and not over drink which I assumed this breed is known to do. So my question is I've been using that for my maltese daisy since I got her at 8 weeks until now and feel guilty because my yorkie gets to guzzle his water so I feel kind guilty. 

Does anyone use that bottle water thingy for their toy or small dogs?


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