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Old May 16th, 2005, 11:51 AM
Bernadette Bernadette is offline
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Question Dog Drinking River Water

Greetings.
This is my first time posting. I'm so happy to have found this site.
I have an 11 month-old 1/2 Rottweiler 1/4 Chocolate lab 1/4 Chessie Retriever pup, (well...all 110 lbs. of him, so far) named Samson. There is a river behind our house with lots of geese, swans, ducks, turtles, heron, egrets, etc. Sammy likes to go wading and swimming in the river. My problem is that my husband and I are having a disagreement (on of the very few things we actually disagree about, but he's adament about this) whether or not drinking the water from the river could make Sammy sick or lead to parasites, etc. I'm nervous about it, but my husband insists it's ok. He drinks probably about a 1/2 quart of the water a couple of times a day when he goes swimming. Does someone have experience with this? I live in Delaware. People fish in the river (the part where we are isn't very wide across...more like a pond, although the water does 'run').
Thank you in advance.
Bernadette (and Sammy)
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  #2  
Old May 16th, 2005, 12:00 PM
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Dog Dancer Dog Dancer is offline
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River water

I don't have experience with my girls drinking water from the river to any extent, however, just recently a friend of mine had her Golden at a local park that has lots of water standing in it. The dog drank from a puddle that had duck feces in it and got EXTREMELY ill from the parasites. I would suggest that you call and ask your vet if there is a shot that can help protect your dog from any waterborn parasites and then let the dog play and have fun. I'm pretty sure there is a shot available although I don't know what it's called. It's worth phoning and asking about though given how sick my friends dog got.
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Old May 16th, 2005, 12:00 PM
Eleni Eleni is offline
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it could potentially make him sick, all dogs are different, some drink river water and are never effected, some can get sick.

I know my dog cant eat or drink anything out of his normal diet without getting sick.

there is also a stomach ailment that dogs can get by dri nking from mud puddles etc. I cant recall the name but it can give them dirreah and such.

if your dog is swimming in the river its inevitable that he will drink some, unless he gets dirreah or seems sick i think its probably alright.
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Old May 16th, 2005, 06:24 PM
Karin Karin is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Eleni
it could potentially make him sick, all dogs are different, some drink river water and are never effected, some can get sick.

I know my dog cant eat or drink anything out of his normal diet without getting sick.

there is also a stomach ailment that dogs can get by dri nking from mud puddles etc. I cant recall the name but it can give them dirreah and such.

if your dog is swimming in the river its inevitable that he will drink some, unless he gets dirreah or seems sick i think its probably alright.

Giardia. People can get it too. As long as the water is moving I see no problems.

How in the world did the human race survive 200 years ago before indoor plumbing and electric?

I grew up drinking from garden hoses and splashing in rain puddles all day...I think we ., as humans, use to get alot of "natural immunity" be being oblivious to the dangers lurking. Thanks to technology (and the media) we have advanced so far that nothing is safe anymore.

Use caution and common sense.
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Old May 16th, 2005, 09:00 PM
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db7 db7 is offline
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Why don't you get the water tested to find out what risk actually exists?
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  #6  
Old May 16th, 2005, 09:17 PM
Karin Karin is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by db7
Why don't you get the water tested to find out what risk actually exists?
It can be tested for many things but not for what the poster is talking about.

Rivers are running water, not standing, still or brackish. Testing at one time does not insure all is well later.

I would drink from a river first if one was nearby before I would drink from this crappy well I have now...and the water comes from the best aquifer in Florida....
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Last edited by Karin; May 16th, 2005 at 09:22 PM.
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  #7  
Old May 17th, 2005, 03:06 AM
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melanie melanie is offline
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my dog swims in and drinks from any moving body of water in which she happens to come into contact

the only problem we ever had is during the droughts here (australia). stagnant water can lead to algal blooms, specifically blue green algal blooms. a blue gereen algal bloom is ugly and definatly pungent, you will notice something wrong with the water.

some blue green algal blooms contain toxins that are harmful to humans and animals. if this is a problem experienced in your area water authorities will generally be monitoring the situation (dangerous water state)and you will often find signs surrounding water holes etc. announcing the bloom and to keep away from it.

my girl developed 'hot spots' on her rump after being in the algal bloom, it was a type of rash/sore they can develop in moist situations. seeing as she had never experienced this in 7yrs of swimming in the same river (before drought) i definatly feel the algal bloom influenced her skin condition (could have been alot worse, i was not thinking and definatly feel foolish for my mistake).

BUT if you live in a normal healthy environment, have no major pollutants coming down stream (and if ppl fish i doubt it) and the water is moving i see no problem. (but do look for submerged objects).

so drink up , and enjoy your play time together. oh and welcome to the friendliest little neighborhood around
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Old May 17th, 2005, 06:46 AM
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coppperbelle coppperbelle is offline
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drinking from a river

My dogs swim and drink from a river every weekend. I am not thrilled about them drinking from it but it is hard to control. When they are out playing I put a bowl of water out for them but I guess they can't resist how cold the river water is.
Right now the river is running (spring thaw) but in a month of so if we don't get a lot of rain it will be slower. That is when I worry more as parts become more stagnant.
As for diseases they can pick up a number of things including Leptospiriosis which is spread by the urine of wild animals that use the river. There are vaccinations against Lepto but it does not work on all strains of the disease.
One of my dogs is prone to skin infections after she swims in a particular river (not mine thankfully so far). Anyhow the vet thinks that a parasite that comes from geese, ducks is responsible. It is something like "swimmers itch" that people get. That particular river had a large stagnant area where many geese and ducks accumulated. We no longer go there.
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  #9  
Old May 17th, 2005, 09:50 AM
Lucky Rescue Lucky Rescue is offline
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My dog loves to drink from a fast running, cold and clear stream here and has done so for the last three years.

However I do not let her drink from the local duck pond. It probably won't kill her, but it could make her sick as mentioned, with giardia or other parasites.
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