Drinking Problem?

[Sairentonen]

So ever since Athena was a pup she's always had a thing for drinking water. Which is fine right? of course!

But..

It's like her mission to drink as much water as possible in one setting.
I let her do that a few times, when she was younger, because I figured she was just really thirsty.
But every time she would finish up, she'd walk away from her water bowl, sit down and then burp up everything she
just drank down!

and I always make sure she has water, so I'm not sure why she does this!
and lately its gotten worse, we'll call her name when shes gotten too into drinking, and she wont listen.
we'll actually have to make some loud noise to get her attention, or walk up to her to, to get her
to stop.

Out of all the dogs I've grown up with, I've never faced a problem like this before. But this is also my first time
owning a Bull too, but I find it odd that it would have anything to do with the breed.

I dont want her to think drinking is bad, but there's no point in her drinking it all down and throwing it back up again either!

Does anyone else have this problem?

[Karen]

I'd ask the vet about that, if there is some physiological reason she does that or something. Never heard of that. Because she's got such a wide mouth, is it possible she's taking in too much air when she drinks, and that's why she throws it back up?

[Sairentonen]

Well that vet never said it was a problem, and she's not dehydrated.

I'm assuming she thinks its going to disappear and never come back!

Actually her taking in too much air makes since, because she burps. So do you think its common in the breed?

[Karen]

Takin too much air is very common for the breed. If it is not physically based, it is likely behaviorally based. Can you put a big rock or something in her bowl to slow down her drinking?

[Freedom]

I was going to suggest a stone in the bowl to slow her down in drinking.

What an odd issue! They always seem to develop something new and untried.

[Sairentonen]

I'll try to put a big rock in there to see if that helps,
and make sure to let you all know how it goes.

Thank you for the suggestions! (:

[IRescue452]

Hopefully she is healthy. I would check for a thyroid or kidney problem with excessive drinking.

[DogLover666]

Your dog is probably diabetic. Insulin for the dog can be purchased but is very expensive. You should take the dog to the vet and have the vet check for diabetes. My best suggestion other than the insulin is to sacrifice a cat to the almighty father satan, for he is the only one who can cure the diabetes. Make sure that it is a big cat for the hunger of our lord is hard to quench.

[Karen]

Your dog is probably diabetic. Insulin for the dog can be purchased but is very expensive. You should take the dog to the vet and have the vet check for diabetes. My best suggestion other than the insulin is to sacrifice a cat to the almighty father satan, for he is the only one who can cure the diabetes. Make sure that it is a big cat for the hunger of our lord is hard to quench.

Now, now, she has been to the vet, and they would check for diabetes as a routine matter ... no animal sacrifices required.

[Miss Z]

It certainly could be her swallowing a lot of air as she rushes to drink the water and I completely agree with the suggestions of limiting how much she can drink at one time. That's the perfect place to start to resolve the problem.

If you try the rock in the water bowl and she still seems to be experiencing the burping, there may be a problem with the water actually reaching her stomach.

Does she physically retch to bring the water up, or does the 'burping' seem quite easy for her to do?

Has she brought up any food recently too?

As pit bulls are sadly a banned breed over here in the UK, I don't have a lot of knowledge on how prevalent oesophageal conditions are in that breed. Your vet ought to investigate this further if the problem persists. There are several ways that this can be done, ranging from a simple examination in the surgery to an X-ray of her neck and chest, but your vet will of course advise what is best. It might be worth investing in a blood test at the next vet visit, too, just to check if there's anything underlying that may be making her more thirsty than normal.

These suggestions are of course just that, suggestions, and she may be perfectly healthy internally. It's just best to check these things, and to ensure that your vet is checking all possible avenues too!