Is too much water bad for a dog

What Happens If My Dog Drinks Too Much Water?

If your dog drinks too much water, they may be at risk for developing water intoxication. This condition occurs when there is an excessive amount of water in the body and can lead to serious health problems. Symptoms of water intoxication include vomiting, diarrhea, lethargy, and seizures.

If your dog exhibits any of these symptoms, it is important to seek veterinary care immediately. Treatment for water intoxication typically involves IV fluids and close monitoring by a veterinarian.

What Does It Mean When Your Dog Drinks Water Excessively?

When your dog drinks water excessively, it is called polydipsia. Polydipsia is defined as drinking more than 50ml/kg/day or more than 10% of their body weight in a day. Many things can cause polydipsia such as diabetes, kidney disease, Cushings disease, and certain medications.

If you are concerned that your dog is drinking too much water, take them to the vet for a check-up.

Should I Worry If My Dog is Drinking Too Much Water?

If youre concerned that your dog is drinking too much water, its important to consult with your veterinarian. While increased water intake can be a sign of a health problem, it can also be normal behavior for some dogs. Certain medical conditions, such as kidney disease or diabetes, can cause increased thirst and urination.

If your dog is drinking more water than usual and also seems to be urinating more frequently, this could be a sign of a serious health issue. Other causes of excessive thirst in dogs include heatstroke, certain medications (including diuretics), and pregnant or nursing females. If your dog is showing other signs of illness along with increased thirst, such as lethargy or appetite loss, this may indicate a bigger problem and you should seek veterinary care immediately.

In some cases, however, an increase in water intake may not be indicative of a health problem at all. Some dogs simply drink more water than others do just like people! If your dog has always been a heavy drinker and there are no other changes in his/her behavior or appearance, then theres probably nothing to worry about.

However, if you notice any sudden changes in your dogs water consumption habits, its always best to check with the vet to rule out any potential problems.

What to Do If Your Dog Drinks Too Much Water?

If you think your dog has consumed too much water, it is important to seek veterinary care immediately as this can be a sign of a serious underlying health condition. In the meantime, here are some things you can do:

-Remove any sources of water from your dogs environment

-Limit your dogs exercise to prevent them from becoming overheated and dehydrated

-Offer your dog small sips of water or ice chips to keep them hydrated

Can Drinking Too Much Water Cause Hyponatremia in Dogs?

Too much water can cause your dog to develop hyponatremia, which is a condition in which the sodium levels in the blood become diluted. This can be dangerous and even fatal if not treated promptly.

Symptoms of hyponatremia include vomiting, lethargy, seizures, and coma. If you think your dog has consumed too much water, take them to the vet immediately.

Dog Drinking Excessive Water And Urinating in House- What Does It Mean?

If your dog is drinking excessive amounts of water and urinating in the house, it could be a sign of diabetes. When a dog has diabetes, their body is unable to process glucose properly. This causes an increase in thirst and urination as the body tries to rid itself of the excess glucose.

If your dog is showing these signs, its important to take them to the vet for a checkup.

Dog Drank Too Much Water and Vomited- What Does It Mean?

If your dog drinks too much water and then vomits, its important to watch for signs of dehydration. Dehydration can occur quickly in dogs and can be fatal if not treated promptly. Symptoms of dehydration include excessive thirst, lethargy, dry mouth, sunken eyes, and increased heart rate.

If you suspect your dog is dehydrated, take them to the vet immediately. Treatment will likely involve intravenous fluids and close monitoring. Prevention is the best medicine when it comes to water intoxication in dogs, so make sure they always have access to fresh water but dont let them drink too much at once.

Find Out What Happens If Your Dog Drinks Other Things

Conclusion

If youre like us, you love your pet and want to do everything you can to keep them healthy and happy. Thats why were here to help you understand what happens if your dog drinks too much water.

When it comes to over-hydration, its important to know the symptoms. Symptoms of over-hydration or water intoxication include incoordination, lethargy, nausea, bloating, vomiting, dilated pupils, glazed eyes, light gum color, and excessive salivation. In extreme cases there can also be difficulty breathing, collapse, loss of consciousness, seizures, coma and even death of your dog.

If you think your dog has consumed too much water or is showing signs of over-hydration (such as excessive salivation), contact your veterinarian immediately.

12 Reasons Youve Got A Dog Drinking A Lot Of Water

It might be more alarming if your buddy suddenly shies away from the water bowl completely but if youre dealing with a dog drinking a lot of water (or at least more than usual), that may be a cause for concern too.

Because while it might be due to benign reasons like a hot day outdoors, excessive thirst in dogs can be a warning sign of more serious health issues down the line.

Though you might be wondering:

• Exactly how much water should a dog drink a day?
• What does it mean when an older dog starts drinking a lot of water?
• How come youve now got such a thirsty dog seemingly out of nowhere?

Lets dive into each of your questions, one by one and what you can do to help your buddy live their best, healthiest life by your side. (Including pre-empting whether your dogs sick by monitoring their behavior.)

How much water should a dog drink a day?

In general, the amount of water your buddy needs per day depends on factors like:

• Their size
• How active they are
• How hot (or not) it is outdoors
• The kind of food they eat

Which weve summarized for you in this handy infographic right here:

Most (dogs) need about an ounce of fluids per pound of body weight per day, so a 10-pound dog needs a bit over a cup of cleanwater daily.

If your dog drinks a lot more than that, it may signal a health problem.

Web MD¹

Why is my dog drinking so much water? (The less concerning reasons)

Now just like humans, your dogs level of thirst can have its ups and downs throughout the day. But in certain cases like with puppies or dogs nursing a litter of newborns they might drink a bit extra.

So before you find yourself worrying, here are some the more benign reasons youve now got a dog drinking a lot of water:

Its hot outdoors

Just like us, heat puts a strain on your dogs body. As a result, they might pant more heavily than usual causing them to lose moisture from their tongues, throats, and upper respiratory tracts.

Funnily enough, this is supposed to help cool them down but can also lead to increased fluid loss.

So if its a hot day outdoors, its quite normal for your dog to drink more water than usual. Just make sure they have access to fresh water and shady areas at all times. (Else they could run the risk of heat stroke!)

Read more:

Your dogs gotten more active

Roped in your dog to your new running routine? Or are you both heading outdoors more often for walks or hikes? Either way, increased activity can also lead to a dog drinking a lot of water. (Or at least more than usual.)

Just make sure youre both active in a way that doesnt harm your dogs health down the line. Not all dogs respond as well to an increase in activity some might even experience difficulties breathing or overheating while out on runs or hikes together.

So make sure to:

• Tailor your activity to your dogs age, fitness level, and breed.
• Find a balance too little exercise and your dog might grow overweight and ill. Too much exercise and they might end up with injuries or mobility-affecting conditions like arthritis.
• Take plenty of (water) breaks and warm up thoroughly before you get started.

An Activity Tracker built for dogs can help you set goals for how much exercise you want your buddy to hit per day and keep you motivated to their health and well-being for the long run.

Read more:

Your dogs been exercising their brain

Much like physical activity, keeping your dog mentally active can be one of the best investments you can make for their health and well-being.

Meaning activities like:

• Teaching them new tricks
• Revisiting their obedience training
• Trying out new training methods, like clicker training
• Investing in food puzzles and interactive toys
• Increasing the amount of time they spend around other pets and people

(All of which can actually make them a bit thirstier as well!)

Why? Because much like with us, dogs brains are mostly made up of water.

And the more you get them to use their brains in new and different ways, it uses up more water.

And, well, knowing how many of these activities do involve some running and playing around, its pretty normal they might end up with a thirsty dog in your hands.

Read more:

Youve switched up your dogs diet

If youve switched from wet food to dry food or just generally switched up your buddys diet, you might end up with a thirsty dog at hand.

Dry foods tend to be a lot less hydrating than wet foods. So its normal for your dog to head to the water bowl more often.

Just make sure to discuss any changes with your vet beforehand so you know youre giving your buddy enough to keep them happy and healthy.

Medications

Some kinds of medication might lead your dog to pee more resulting in them drinking more water to make up for the loss. Including:

• Diuretics, which are often used to treat heart and kidney disease.
• Glucocorticoids, which are used to treat inflammation and allergies. (Like if your dog is sensitive to pollen.)
• Anti-convulsants, which are used to treat epileptic seizures in dogs. These can affect your dogs kidneys or lead to changes in electrolyte balance.
• Psychotropic medication, which are used to treat behavioral disorders. These can affect your dogs central nervous system or indirectly affect their metabolism or urine excretion.

Read more: Dog Pollen Allergy: Dealing With The Springtime Sniffles

If your dog is already on medication, make sure to keep track of any increase in thirst and bring it up with your vet the next time youre dropping by. This will help you both figure out whether your dogs extra water drinking is normal or if theres cause for concern.

Like with these medical conditions that might be deadly if left untreated.

Medical causes of excessive thirst in dogs

Now once youve ruled out the weather, exercise, training, and medication here are some easy-to-miss health conditions that might cause your dog to drink more water than usual.

Diabetes mellitus

Much like us, dogs are also vulnerable to diabetes especially the older they are, or if theyre on the overweight side.

With diabetes, your dogs body doesnt properly transport any sugar from their blood into their cells (for energy.) This can lead to increased blood sugar as well as increased thirst. You might also find your dog losing weight without a change in diet.

Read more:

Gastrointestinal problems

Take your eyes off them for just a second and your dogs eaten something they shouldnt have. Which, depending on what it is, might be fatally toxic if you arent vigilant!

So besides being mindful of what food are off-limits for your buddy, make sure to inform your friends and loved ones too. (You want to avoid one of them feeding your dog something potentially dangerous by accident especially if youre hosting them for a big dinner or similar.)

If you arent able to intervene immediately, your buddy might end up with a bad case of stomach pain, vomiting, or diarrhea. All of which make them lose fluids and even end up dehydrated leading to them drinking more water to make up for the loss.

Read more:

So heres a counter-intuitive solution: figure out where your dogs off wandering throughout the day.

Why? Because if youre tracking your dogs movements, it can actually help you figure out if:

• Theyre exploring areas they might eat something potentially fatal. (Including the nearby garbage dump or even at your neighbors who arent aware what foods are off-limits for them.)
• Theyre wandering into places they might come in contact with other toxic substances. (Like pesticides and common gardening items like snail bait.)

In fact, vets even have a term called garbage gut to describe gastrointestinal issues in dogs who are off scavenging in trash heaps. (Or just generally eating stuff that isnt great for them.)

Its why investing in a dog GPS collar can be a lifesaver like with this dog parent:

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Liver & urinary diseases

Your dogs liver, bladder, and kidneys all play important roles in their bodys water balance. So if theyre infected, you might find your buddy:

• Needing to pee more than usual but also in smaller amounts
• Showing blood in their urine
• Peeing around the house
• Showing a swollen, distended abdomen area thats sensitive to touch

All these diseases might cause your dog to drink more water in order to pee out the toxins.

Infections

Different types of infection including viral and bacterial infections that cause fever might cause your dog to grow thirstier.

Cushings Syndrome

This condition leads to an overproduction of cortisol (the stress hormone.) Which can affect your dogs metabolism and cause them to drink more.

Drinking more can be a sign of illness in a dog, from more temporary conditions such as a stomach upset with vomiting and diarrhoea, to more serious issues such as cancer,fever, liver disease or infection.

As always, knowing your dog and whats normal behaviour for them is essential to providing them with good care.

Petwise³

What does it mean when an older dog starts drinking more water?

Senior dogs tend to slow down in general which might be one relatively benign explanation for why theyre drinking less water as they age. (I.e., theyre not as active as before.)

But at the same time, your grand-paw is also more vulnerable to the health conditions weve covered. Many of these can affect their metabolism and/or kidney function, leading them to drink more water.

Read more: Senior Dogs: Helping Your Buddy Age Gracefully

These might include:

• Dehydration whether from medication, the weather, or another health condition
• Urinary problems, including bladder infections and kidney failure
• Uterine problems in older female dogs, including pyometra
• Diabetes
• Cushings syndrome
• High blood calcium

And left untreated, many of these diseases can be deadly.

But on the bright side, with a little vigilance and monitoring, you can catch on to a change in your dogs behavior early and get them to a vet for a checkup before they get worse.

How monitoring your dogs behavior looks like in practice

Now your dog isnt likely to come complaining to you when theyre feeling poorly. If anything, theyre more likely to mask any signs of pain, discomfort, or distress so its easy to miss out on the signs theyre sick until its too late.

But heres a simple, observable behavior that can tell a lot about how well theyre doing, health-wise: how active they are.

In fact, vets even recommend tracking your dogs everyday activity especially how long they can keep up with you on walks.

Why? Because the minute you notice a drop in your dogs activity or if they seem generally less enthusiastic about walks or playtime, you can take action earlier and get them to a vet for a checkup.

Keep track of your dogs energy levels, especially how long they are able to walk.

If you notice significant declines, it could be a sign of pain, heart disease, or other illness.

VCA Animal Hospitals

Now you could jot down your dogs activity in a journal or you could use an Activity Tracker to monitor this for you automatically.

Either way, itll help you have a more productive conversation with your vet especially if youve got actionable data at hand.

In fact, its actually why dog parents around the world just like you are investing in our life-saving technology.

Because with its built-in motion detector, your trusty Tractive device picks up on your dogs active minutes throughout the day.

Which, with time, can help you figure out:

• Whats a normal level of activity for your dog
• How active your dog is compared to other, similar dogs of their age and breed
• Whether theres an abnormal spike or drop in your dogs activity

No need to rely on memory or risk missing some important detail when youre at your vets.

Rather, with your Activity Tracking data, you can avoid paying a hefty vet bill from treating any disease and take steps to prevent it in the first place.

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Water intoxication in dogs: What to watch out for

What many dog parents also need to watch out for is water poisoning or when your dog ingests too much (or contaminated) water. This applies not only to the water bowl, but also when you two are out swimming or playing in a pond, lake, river, or even the sea together.

Now its most likely your dog loves to play fetch whether into a body of water or elsewhere. And if youve got a dog that loves playing in winter, you mightve actually flung a ball into the lake for them to fetch.

But in doing so, your dogs mouth is so wide open that they might end up swallowing a ton of water at once. If your dog ingests at least a third of their body weight in water they might be at risk for water intoxication.⁴

When this much water enters their bloodstream, it can disturb their bodys electrolyte balance especially their levels of sodium. Left untreated, this can even lead to death.

Signs your dog mightve drunk too much water

If you think your dogs ingested more water than they can handle, it can be deadly if you miss out on it. So make sure to watch out for these signs:

• Distended abdomen
• Pale mucous membranes
• Heavy salivation
• Dilated pupils
• Drowsiness
• Vomiting
• Uncontrolled peeing
• Muscle twitching
• Seeming dazed or uncoordinated

What should I do if my dog drinks too much water?

Water intoxication is an emergency. If you notice these symptoms, get your dog to a vet as soon as possible. If you can, call them in advance so that theyre prepared for your arrival.

On your way to the vet, give your dog something salty to eat like salt sticks or salty cookies, if you have some available.

Avoiding water intoxication

Now if youve got a dog that loves being in water, its a good idea to:

• Keep an eye on how long theyve been swimming or just being in water in general
• Ensure they take enough breaks
• Watch out for the signs of water intoxication or overexertion
• Use a frisbee or a safe stick substitute for fetch rather than a ball (so your dog wont have to keep their mouth so wide open when jumping in)

And most importantly

• Keep track of your dogs location, so you can prevent them from wandering (unsupervised) into an area full of pools, ponds, or lakes.

Which, if youve invested in a Tractive device, means youve got everything you need for your buddys safety, health, and well-being all in one device.

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Got a dog drinking a lot of water & dont know why?

First, double check if the weather, your dogs daily walks, training, or any medications might be the culprit.

(Plus, if youre not sure how active your dog has been or whether anythings changed go for an Activity Tracker thats built for them.)

Next, keep out an eye for any symptoms of illness besides your dogs sudden drinking like a drop in their activity, a loss of appetite, or general weakness or disorientation. If youre noticing these persist over a few days, it might be time to drop by your vet.

Because besides heat or exercise, a number of serious health conditions can also cause excessive thirst in dogs. Including:

• Diabetes
• Gastrointestinal problems (especially from eating something potentially toxic)
• Liver & kidney problems
• Infections
• Cushings disease
• or even some types of cancer

But with a little vigilance and monitoring, you can stay on top of your dogs health, safety, and well-being for good.

Which, with a Tractive device, means youve got

Stay on top of your dogs wellness

See how theyre doing at a glance with Wellness Score. Set goals. Compare with dogs like yours. Monitor sleep. Detect issues and keep them healthy.

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Want a vets take on excessive water drinking and what might cause it in dogs? Heres Dr. Lera from the Heron Lakes Animal Hospital weighing in:

And if youve liked this post, share it with a friend or a loved one and lets help build a safer, kinder world for our furry friends together.