Excessive Water Intake

[Rave]

I know this is usually a summer topic, but my dogs do indoor swimming for conditioning twice a week during the winter, so this is on my mind now. Should I be worried about water toxicity in a dog that pees a LOT for several hours after swimming? What about kidney issues from processing all that water? The dog is a BC/Staffy mix, just under 16" and about 26 pounds, mostly all of that is muscle.

 

He's only been twice so far, the first time for 8 minutes (with several short breaks) and the second time for 12 minutes (with one 1-min break). We eventually want to work him up to 20 minutes. I plan on changing toys from a tennis ball to something not so wide. We can also use a life jacket to keep his head further out of the water (I haven't done this yet).

 

I plan to talk to my vet about it as well, since we swim at her facility. Might some kind of supplement, like sodium or electrolytes, be helpful? Am I just being paranoid? How much water intake is considered excessive? Any ideas for limiting water intake?

 

Thanks, I don't know much about water toxicity other than the stories I've read and it scares me, but I want to let my dogs have fun too.

[juliepoudrier]

I don't think you're wrong to be concerned about excessive water intake, and your idea of a flatter toy, or perhaps just teaching him to swim without a toy is probably a good one. I don't know what the ill effects would be, but the water is pretty heavily chlorinated, and there is such a thing as water toxicity (from ingesting too much water), so you're smart to play it safe. (Please let us know what your vet says!)

 

J.

[Liz P]

Had a dog come with seconds of death from water intoxication. Dogs can and do die from it. I have my dogs who tend to swallow a lot of water wear a life vest if they are swimming for longer periods of time.

[Rave]

We used a life jacket today and a smaller diameter toy. He appears to be peeing less afterward, but subsequent walks in the next hour will tell. Swam for 20 minutes with several breaks today. I checked him over afterward and he is not bloated at all; in fact I can't recall ever seeing him bloated after a swim. Can non-bloated dogs still get water toxicity?

 

I watched him closely and he is taking on water when grabbing for the toy. Any ideas for easy-to-grab water toys that sit well above the water but do not have a large diameter?

 

The vet tech in charge is going to speak to the vets in the clinic about water toxicity before our session next week and get back to me. The tech has heard of it before but didn't know much about it.

[Liz P]

My dog was not at all bloated when she nearly died. She started limping and acting painful, became weak, collapsed, vomitted a large volume of water, lost conciousness and had a seizure. Her electrolyte balance was thrown off, affecting her heart and causing swelling in her brain.

 

I don't use balls, they tend to swallow more water with those. I try for the medium sized water toys that float high.

[Alchemist]

I stopped throwing balls for Duncan in the water (unless it's just a toss or two in shallow water) when he vomited water after only ten minutes or so of swimming after a ball in a lake. I switched to a Chuckit disc- his mouth closes on it much tighter, so he doesn't seem to ingest as much water. But I still limit the duration of water fetch.

 

On a related topic, I've also found I have to limit his exposure to his favorite winter game, "bury the dog" (throw shovelsful of snow his way while shoveling out the driveway). The times we didn't limit it to a few minutes, he needed to pee, big time, about twenty minutes later, and I take this as evidence he's ingesting more than is probably good for him.

[Laelo]

I know this is an old post but how is your dog now? My friend just had this happen to her boarder collie. She is not better and it has been a week. Her dog seems fine and then just stops and doesn't move. She is not herself at all any more. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.... maybe I should post this some where else.... just not sure where yet and looking for answers asap.