# Lab mix puppy drinks water like crazy! But then he pees like crazy too.



## clr0722

I am writing for some advice. 

Last week I adopted a 4 month old male lab mix - a total sweetheart. I also have a 1.5 year old whippet-pit mix, who was a cinch to housebreak. My male puppy though, is another story. We have two major issues:

1. The Water Issue: He drinks water like crazy. If I let him, I think he would drink the entire bowl, so I am letting him drink a bunch and then putting it up. Is this ok to do? I don't want to hurt him, but at the same time it seems odd that he would need that much to drink all the time. I'd appreciate some advice on how often to offer water and what is safe, etc.

2. The Housebreaking Issue: I am crate training him in a large crate. I put a cardboard box in the big crate to make it smaller. And honestly, he's not in there for super long periods of time - just a few hours in the evening if I go out and then overnight. Since I trained my female dog last year, I thought I knew what I was doing, but apparently not. Over the last few days, when I go to take him out, I notice that he has peed in his crate! I'm feeling frustrated because I'm not sure what else I can do. I thought that dogs didn't like going in their crates! (It could just be that I'm spoiled b/c my other dog was relatively easy to train - maybe my problems are normal, I don't know)

Thank you for any help you can give me. 

BTW - the two dogs love each other, so this was definitely a good move. I just want to figure out how I can keep him from soiling his crate. Then things will be perfect!


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## rambosaur

I wish I could help you. Rambo peed in his crate once and he was done with that. I hope you get it resolved soon!


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## Shalva

yes it is ok to limit the water 

BUT 

only after you know that there is nothing medically going wrong.... 
excessive drinking can be symptomatic of diabetes and/or fever as drinking excessively can help a dog regulate their temperature... 

I would want you to rule out any medical reason for the excessive drinking before I say just to limit the water.... 

under normal conditions I would say absolutely yes 
but its always a good idea to rule out medical issues first 
s


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## spinach

Wow! This sounds just like my dog!

We adopted a 3 month old lab mix 2 weeks ago, and she has the SAME issues. I call her a hoarder - she can NOT get enough water. She frequently DOES drink her bowl dry and pees usually 15 minutes later.

I agree with the previous post - DEFINITELY make sure he doesn't have a medical issue. If you don't already have a vet appt set up just for general check up, I would definitely do it soon. 

On an up note - I had our little girl (Trouble) checked out, with her excessive drinking and urination as a primary issue - and she got a clean bill of health. They put her on some antibiotics for some swelling she had on her anus (not related to the drinking issue) but I'm imagining if she had a urinary tract infection or other similar issue, that would take care of it too. She has another appt in 3 weeks for shots so if she's still crazy about water by then, I'm going to request more tests. But my vet suggested limiting the water we allow her. 
I'm going to imagine our pups are about the same size, Trouble is 15lbs and our vet suggested 1 cup of water every 4 hours would be sufficient, and that it was categorically unnecessary to provide water while she was crated (which I wasn't anyway.)

We too have had crate urination issues - not at night, but during the day when she is crated. She has done it twice so far, both times on the sheet we put in as her bed...so for now we've eliminated the cushy factor and she just gets the plastic tray to lie on. (Her crate eliminations were not because she was left alone too long - one was after 15 minutes WHILE we were home and the other was after an hour while I was out with our other dog at the vet.)

Her pees are HUUUUUUUGE. I'm thinking of renaming her spickett because...water goes in, water comes out. And boy is the turn around fast...




In regards to "our" issues - my little girl was in foster before we got her and she's a bit younger, so I'm imagining on our side she's going through a little separation issues because she came from a house where she was living for 4 weeks with 4 other dogs and a very nice human AS WELL as...she's just a baby, she just doesn't have the hang of it yet. 

For your little guy, just remember, he's still a puppy. He just got rehomed, and I don't know where you adopted him from, but he might have been kept in a crate/kennel ALL day without any supervision and got accustomed to using his crate as a bathroom. (As you'll read in most any housetraining advice literature - it's a really hard thing to break, and I wouldn't know how to advise you on it.)

I wish us both luck...Just remember it's not his fault! Even if he is sucking down that liquid and peeing it out 10 minutes later...


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## trumpetjock

Rocky started doing that right at 9 weeks when I brought him home. He still does it to this day. I've tried free watering, I've tried everything. He's just a water hog. He's been checked by the vet, including full blood panel and urinalysis and there's absolutely nothing wrong with him, except that he's a nutcase.

That being said, get a test done for urinary tract infection, and if you are really worried, have them check for diabetes and renal disease. I wouldn't worry my head too terribly much about it though, chances are that it's either behavioral or a UTI.


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## Ginny01OT

My new puppy also drinks a lot of water. We have an appointment next week but she already had one good general checkup. She also seems to squat a lot outside and I am not sure if she is marking her terrritory or has a UTI. The urine (yes I am crazy, I checked with a paper towel) is not concentrated at all, which is a good thing and she holds it all night when she is in the crate or otherwise in the crate so I am going to limit her water--it is just difficult because Riley is old and trained enough to have free water so I have to find a place for him that she can't get into


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## nixietink

I have heard that puppies easily know when to drink, but not how much to drink. Then they often end up drinking more than they need.

Maybe you could leave a water bowl out all the time but limit the amount of water that is in the bowl?


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## Stretchy Glue

Both of my labs drink a ton of water. Now that the puppy is house broken I don't mind, but right now it's too hot our here to take the water up at a certain point. When my house gets as warm as it does, I worry more about them overheating than over drinking. As I only have about 6 weeks of the year that it's warm enough to be uncomfortable, I don't worry about investing in an air conditioner.


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## alphadoginthehouse

Stretchy Glue said:


> Both of my labs drink a ton of water. Now that the puppy is house broken I don't mind, but right now it's too hot our here to take the water up at a certain point. When my house gets as warm as it does, I worry more about them overheating than over drinking. As I only have about *6 weeks of the year that it's warm enough to be uncomfortable, I don't worry about investing in an air conditioner*.


 6 weeks...wow, I have 6 MONTHS. Sometimes I really don't like living in Texas but then I think of how cold it gets in other places and it really ain't that bad!

NixieTink, your dogs are too cute for words!


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## Tarekith

our lab mix did the same thing at about that age. We started only putting a little water I his bowl at a time, and after month or so he stopped drinking too much when we filled his bowl more.


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## clr0722

Thank you for all your great advice. 

We have limited his water and made the crate area much smaller. He stopped going in the crate and had a 4 day accident-free streak even!  I am feeling so much more confident and hopeful that he's "getting it." Once he gets more control, we'll gradually increase the amount of water he's allowed to have. 

Also - here's another tip that has been working for me: I bring a little baggie of food and treats when I take him out. As soon as he goes potty, I give him a treat. It has worked well so far.


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