# Is it OK for your puppy/dog to drink pond water?



## Woody80 (Oct 18, 2000)

Should I try to discourage my puppy from drinking pond/lake/creek water? I have been letting her do it, but didn't really think about it beforehand and now I figure I better check with my michigansportsman "experts"


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## Tecumseh (Aug 13, 2004)

Dogs are going to be dogs so it'll be tough to stop them from drinking out of those places but I do try to limit their doing so. My dogs swim a lot and my male has gotten giardia from swallowing spring lake water while swimming. They haven't caught anything from drinking out of other sources but I try to carry water on me while they are out running or working and encourage them to come to me for a drink if they look like they want to drink. There are lots of things they can catch from drinking standing water and depending on the creeks by you, there could be a fair amount of pollutants in them.


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## Rooster_Smasher (Oct 18, 2003)

It's not gunna kill'um, BUT I like to teach pup to come to me for a drink out of the water bottle. Hydrate them a couple minutes into their run and they normally have a good run. I normally dont wait untill they NEED a drink I like to give them one a couple minutes in....


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## Jumpshootin' (Jul 6, 2000)

Woody80 said:


> Should I try to discourage my puppy from drinking pond/lake/creek water? I have been letting her do it, but didn't really think about it beforehand and now I figure I better check with my michigansportsman "experts"


Never had one get ill or die from doing so.


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## 2ESRGR8 (Dec 16, 2004)

I don't know how you could ever stop it.


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## BradU20 (Jan 17, 2005)

2ESRGR8 said:


> I don't know how you could ever stop it.


Exactly....
I had a pup get giardia when he was about 4 months old. Took some meds, no biggie. If you see them drinking from some standing water or something you don't want them to, say no, and move on. Other then that its pointless to worry about it.


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## slowpoke (Jan 30, 2001)

BradU20 said:


> Exactly....
> I had a pup get giardia when he was about 4 months old. Took some meds, no biggie. If you see them drinking from some standing water or something you don't want them to, say no, and move on. Other then that its pointless to worry about it.


 
I've been hunting dogs for over 50 years. It seems to me dogs would rather drank from a dirty mud hole then from a clean water source. You can't stop them from drinking from a mud hole, lake or stream. All you can do is give them clean water often. My dogs have never got sick from drinking from theses water source. I don't consider myself lucky, maybe I am in this case. I say; "It's not worth the time to worry about".


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## Merimac (Jan 17, 2006)

I hope my dog finds water holes. There are places I try to avoid but I think it is a good thing for a dog to find water sources. Many animals drink from mud holes.


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## res (Nov 22, 2006)

What has been said is true, dogs will be dogs. On the other hand I do keep a close eye on the water that I let mine get into. We duck hunt so get into some pretty nasty looking stuff but I do keep my eyes open for large blue green algae plumes. It really isn't even algae it is a bacteria. They can make a dog mighty sick and in some cases kill it. It is NOT a common issue and the giardia is a sign of mild exposure. The key is to be smart. Though they look nasty, normal mud puddles have basicaly "mud" in them so you could pick up some surface contaminants but not the bacteria. Second, if you are hunting an area and you find your dog in a pond that has a huge plum of blue green, call it out and start watching it. If it starts acting odd, tired, etc, see a vet quick and they can treat for the issue. Make sure you tell them you suspect blue green "algae". Again, it certainly isn't something I get all that worked up about but I am aware of the issue and am ready to react accordingly. By the way, after 8 years of training labs and 3 years of duck hunting and a lot of swimming with my dogs, I have not found any algae plumes. I am attaching a couple of links. I could not find anything from Michigan stuff but these are from Wisconsin. Their water conditions are about the same as ours. Rick



http://www.wisconsinfishingclub.com/press_rel/toxicalgae.pdf
http://www.wisconsinlakes.org/AboutLakes/PDFs/BlueGreenFAQ.pdf


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## NEMichsportsman (Jul 3, 2001)

If the water is flowing like a stream or river (and its not in Southern MI) I usually let him drink.

Swamps, potholes or puddles I try to discourage him.


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## Shotgun Kennel (Feb 9, 2007)

Woody80 said:


> Should I try to discourage my puppy from drinking pond/lake/creek water? I have been letting her do it, but didn't really think about it beforehand and now I figure I better check with my michigansportsman "experts"


Some Algae is deadly. So, read this as a word of caution.

www.jsonline.com/news/state/nov05/372994.asp


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## MerlinsMom (Mar 2, 2007)

Shotgun Kennel said:


> Some Algae is deadly. So, read this as a word of caution.
> 
> www.jsonline.com/news/state/nov05/372994.asp


Yes, some is deadly, causes liver failure. 
http://newsroom.msu.edu/site/indexer/1911/content.htm

This one is a good basic primer about it....
http://www.mecprotects.org/algae062006.pdf

I guess the best course of action would be to just pay close attention to where the dog is getting a drink, and if it looks suspicious, then watch the dog closely for signs of being ill. There's no way to keep a pooch out of water unless he's on a lead.


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## birdog12 (Feb 5, 2007)

Some years ago, my brittany came down with leptosperosis (chronic liver and kidney failure caused by a bacteria) Almost lost her, it was pretty scary. 

A couple days after hunting a cover that had quite a few small stagnant water holes near uprooted tree stumps, she became very ill. The vet specialist figured that she must have got it from them.

After that nasty experience, I always tried to call her away from those type of water holes and give her a drink from the bottle. Moving water from streams or rivers, no problem.


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## SPH (Jan 20, 2004)

Teaching a dog to not drink from a water hole is like trying to stop him from licking his but. If the dog is hunting and thirsty he is going to get atleast on swallow before you catch him.


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## blacklablove (Apr 4, 2007)

SPH said:


> Teaching a dog to not drink from a water hole is like trying to stop him from licking his but. If the dog is hunting and thirsty he is going to get atleast on swallow before you catch him.



^^
|||


what he said...:lol:


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## john warren (Jan 25, 2005)

if licking their butt doesn;t hurt them,,,,what can a drink from a pond do? id stop them if the water was clearly too funky though,,,, you have to ride home with that breath.


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## everlast1 (Nov 9, 2006)

I was hunting in the U P a few years back with a landowner. I always carry water for myself and dogs but this fellow gives me a hard time AHH just drink out ah da creek I do it all da time. We hunt an hour or so along the river and sure enough he kneels along with the dogs and takes a big ol slug. He stands up and starts holding his gut and I'm thinking great this old guy's checkin out right here. Then the dogs start puking. I take off to get the truck, get just around the bend not 30 yards away and heres a big bloated eight point hung up on a sweeper and its been there awhile. I still carry my own water.


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## Shotgun Kennel (Feb 9, 2007)

everlast1 said:


> I was hunting in the U P a few years back with a landowner. I always carry water for myself and dogs but this fellow gives me a hard time AHH just drink out ah da creek I do it all da time. We hunt an hour or so along the river and sure enough he kneels along with the dogs and takes a big ol slug. He stands up and starts holding his gut and I'm thinking great this old guy's checkin out right here. Then the dogs start puking. I take off to get the truck, get just around the bend not 30 yards away and heres a big bloated eight point hung up on a sweeper and its been there awhile. I still carry my own water.


Yup. It can kill. Be careful.


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## cade66 (Apr 9, 2006)

nothing like pond water to wash down a good turd.:lol::lol::lol:


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## Shotgun Kennel (Feb 9, 2007)

cade66 said:


> nothing like pond water to wash down a good turd.:lol::lol::lol:


Sounds like you're speaking from experience:corkysm55


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## wyle_e_coyote (Aug 13, 2004)

Amazing how wolves and fox can drink out of the same nasty water and do just fine.


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## MerlinsMom (Mar 2, 2007)

wyle_e_coyote said:


> Amazing how wolves and fox can drink out of the same nasty water and do just fine.


Perhaps they have the immunity built up from eating non-sterilized wild food from a pup on, unlike even the kennel dogs we humans have...... :idea:


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## BradU20 (Jan 17, 2005)

MerlinsMom said:


> Perhaps they have the immunity built up from eating non-sterilized wild food from a pup on, unlike even the kennel dogs we humans have...... :idea:


I was going to point this out as well, but decided to leave it alone.


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## 2ESRGR8 (Dec 16, 2004)

When I was a kid hunting the family farm we always drank out of the flow that ran across the front of the property. The water came from a flowing well and etched out a ditch maybe three to five feet wide, you could jump across it in most places. Anyways there were always about twenty cows on the 240 acres so you can imagine the runoff that found its way into that water. Luckily we never got sick but I no longer drink from it even though the cows are long gone.


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## wyle_e_coyote (Aug 13, 2004)

MerlinsMom said:


> Perhaps they have the immunity built up from eating non-sterilized wild food from a pup on, unlike even the kennel dogs we humans have...... :idea:


That's what I was getting at. I knew you'd come to the rescue, Caroline.


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## MerlinsMom (Mar 2, 2007)

wyle_e_coyote said:


> That's what I was getting at. I knew you'd come to the rescue, Caroline.


Well, I know how much you like being "corrected" Glenn....I just had to oblige.


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