Can you guys check something for me?

[Dee Dee and Hallie]

I was just doing Hallie's nails so she was upside down and I noticed on the roof of her mouth right behind her front teeth, there is a hard ball, maybe the size of a smallish pea? It is right in the center and symmetrical and it could well be a normal dog anatomy thing but I'd feel better if you guys told me your doxies have it too. I have never really looked in there before at that spot but would have pictured it to be either concave or with a slight rise, feeling in my own mouth there is a slight rise there in the center right behind our front teeth. Hallie's is larger though and rounder.

Also about how much do your dogs drink in a day? Hallie drinks about a cup and a quarter. I probably wouldn't question it but when we check her urine it's always dilute (I have taken in first of the morning urine and it has been concentrated so she can concentrate, but she drinks what I think is a lot during the day which makes it dilute). I read on the internet (so it must be true LOL) that a dog should drink about an ounce per body weight in 24 hours. If this is true she is within the range becasue she drinks less than 1.5 cups a day and her weight is between 11 and 12 lbs so she should drink about 1.5 cups. I just think she drinks a lot and the dilute urine would say so too. She does not have diabetes she was tested. The fact that she has concentrated also should point to her kidneys being OK. She will go to her bowl several times a day and take a looong drink. It's not like she can't get sated because she does, and she usually doesn't go back again right away so it's not like she's frantic for it (like my cat who was in kidney failure was) but she seems to drink a lot to me.

I just worry myself sick about this stuff! 

[Merion]

My two have a raised bump there that is like a small pea.  It is just raised not that it sticks out like a mole would. Hope that makes you feel better. 
Merion & the ZZ's

[Dee Dee and Hallie]

BLESS YOU Merion.  It must be normal then. It is not like it is something growing out of her tissue like a mole or wart, it is under the tissue like it's part of the mouth. I just have to stop inspecting her I freak myself out LOL!! Thank you so much for answering so quickly.

[David C.]

I'll second Merion's assessment.  I know what you are talking about.  Max had a fairly large one.   Both Zs have one too, and I'm pretty sure Rudy did as well.

Hard to say about the drinking.  Sometimes it's habit more than necessity.   Neither of the Zs is a particularly big drinker.  Rudy always was.  Max was sometimes.   Towards the very end Max drank a lot...almost an extreme amount, which was one of the factors in the decision to send him to the Bridge.   It doesn't sound like Hallie is anywhere near that amount, though.

[Dee Dee and Hallie]

Thanks David I am relieved to hear all the doxies have a "mouth pea."

The water does have me stumped. Having gone through the excessive drinking with two cats with kidney failure I at least know it isn't as bad as that. She feels great...I just worry it might be the early signs of something if we catch now we can do something about it. The vet doesn't have a clue though. It could be behavioral but I would think a dog that drinks too much due to that would be high strung..?? She definitely is not that. But maybe that doesn't have anything to do with it. I have taken her off all her supplements to see if that has anything to do with it as well as her soft treats. I thought the last couple of days she was drinking less but today she drank a lot...I did give her a good bite of whole wheat bread at lunch maybe I need to be even more strict with her treats and watch. Thanks for the input. And I wasn't going to be so neurotic about my dog this time around....

[Rich]

My dachshunds have always taken on water like camels.  I haven't gone so far as to calculate ounce for ounce but it always seems like they really suck it down.  Stormy at 30 pounds is like a tanker.

[Dee Dee and Hallie]

You are better than a vet! And faster too, thank you Rich! I guess because she drinks more than Jessie did, I was concerned. She has drank like this for as long as I can remember (although I can't say for sure if it was from the first but it might have been) and it hasn't really changed. I guess like people, some dogs just drink more than others. That makes me feel a lot better! Thanks!!!

[papbouv]

Will look in Patches mouth tomorrow and see if I can see a pea ? Do you think because Hallie has long hair she maybe hotter than some of the smooth coats??? Just an idea ! Patches takes long drinks at times too depends if she is running around or not playing.
papbouv

[Dee Dee and Hallie]

I was watching to see if she drinks more when it's hot or she's active but if there is a difference I haven't seen a big enough of one to notice. Although the last 2 days she did seem to be drinking a bit less and it was our first 2 days of not being able to walk like usual and with much cooler weather than we've had all year so there could be something to that. You could be right too about the longhairs. I am always cold so I do keep my house pretty warm, I have been wearing coats and covering up in blankets here lately and keeping the heat down for her. Maybe my last two just weren't big drinkers and she's normal...I wouldn't worry if her urine wasn't dilute but then maybe most dogs are during the day when they are drinking a lot, I probably shouldn't be checking stuff on her so much I just freak myself out.  (I've learned not to google every little symptom, that will really put you over the edge!  :stupid:

[doxielady5569128]

  I'm sorry I didn't see your post till just now!   Porky has the same little bump in his mouth.   I freak myself out a lot too, so don't worry about it.  Also as far as the drinking thing goes, Porky drinks a lot too.   I have noticed when he is bored and wandering around the house looking for soemthing to do, he goes to get a drink, over and over and over.   Until something catches his eye and he goes to play.  Its almost like he thinks drinking the water will help him think of something to do.   Its quite funny.  I am sure your baby is just fine!   Porky's urine is dilute most of the time also.   

[Dee Dee and Hallie]

Thanks, I wondered if other doxies who drink a lot (who don't have a medical problem) will also have dilute urine most of the day. Sounds like they do. I take her in for her allergy shot every 3 weeks, so I will take first of the morning urine in then (that will be next Wednesday). I expect it to be concentrated as it should be....I do feel better knowing other doxies here can tend to drink a lot too.

[Roberta]

Darling after you have a diabetic dog  you know what drinking a lot is, Emma could drink the bowl dry(large bowl).  Our pair have the same bump, the other pair it seems they drink(not a lot) after walks, bones, dinner (dry food) and always when Nick fills their bowl. and more during summer.
Roberta
ps some antihistamines ie pregnisalone makes them drink ie to do with cortisol.

[Barb]

I will have to check for the bump when I get home - but it sounds like that it is normal !!!

After chewing on bully sticks - both of mine will drink a lot of water.  After walks, Rudy always gets him a big drink.  Brandy will have a dainty little lap !  I always fill up the water bowl with fresh water in the morning and during the summer time I will come home and it will almost be dry.  So even though they are not really active - they still get thirsty because of the heat.

You and Hallie are very active - she just gets thirsty mom !!!!    I fully understand your worries though and a good idea for the vet to check her pp........  let us know !

[doxielady5569128]

Wow Roberta,
I didn't even think of the antihistamines making them thirsty.  DUH!!!   I, the "allergy queen", should have thought of that!    Very smart of you to remember that.   

Dee Dee,
I hope all goes well with Hallie and her shot.   

[Leslie]

sounds like you have gotten a lot of good input here, Dee.  I know that Loki is a loud and sloppy drinker, and I swear, she has to "re-load" before she goes out to pee.  Zuzu is not such a thirsty girrl.  I think it's part personality, part how dry or hot the particular day is, how much exercise, etc.  Loki's pee is consistantly  pretty clear, and she was the one with the urinary tract infection a couple of years ago.  (Which, BTW has been COMPLETELY resolved by giving her exclusively bottled water at the suggestion of several people on the board.)  My DOG gets bottled water.  WE drink tap.  :dontknow:  Oh, and one more idea.  Is Hallie a paper eater? Loki will eat a carboard tube, tissue, paper towel, anything she can get her paws on and then, re-load again...

[Dee Dee and Hallie]

That was one of my fears Roberta, but the vet said it didn't show any signs of diabetes. She has no other symptoms other than the drinking. Today she hasn't drank that much which is unusual. Probably because I'm always lurking around behind her to see how much she is going to drink poor dog! I am guessing the type of drinking dear Emma did was similar to my two kitties who were in kidney failure, they would drink and drink and never get enough, my Chester would sit at the gutter drain and drink the rain water as it came out. Hallie isn't like that at all, she will take a long drink but then she is sated until the next time, she never tries to drink out of puddles, etc. I'm feeling better hearing many doxies drink quite a bit here, once I know it's not something to be concerned about I'll stop worrying. :) I did know about the antihistimines, pred, etc making them thirsty. I wonder if her allergy shots can possibly be contributing to her thirst (and her allergies themselves?). She gets the immunotherapy shots, not steroids.

Barb Hallie also will drink a lot after chewing a bully stick. After our last vet app't two weeks ago I took away her bully sticks and took her off all supplements plus I stopped giving her her soft treats (I looked and there is added sea salt in them) to see if any of this might make a big difference. Some days not but there have been some days in this time, like today, when she hasn't been drinking as much at all. There also has been other changes, the weather took a drastic change in there, so we had to miss 2-3 days of walking, and the weather is cooler, we are doing less travel etc so it's hard to say.

Thanks Porkys Mom she has been getting her allergy shot every 3 weeks for years, she is always good and gets a big bite of canned food when done. After her anal sac problems this summer we also do that every three weeks. And now her pee gets checked too LOL.

Thanks Les! It does sound like it varies a lot from doxie to doxie. It will be fine with me if she drinks a lot as long as I know it's not something I should be catching now. Sounds more and more like it's most likely nothing to worry about. The good thing is she has been doing this for a while it didn't just crop up over night or anything. LOL on the bottled water!! Hallie only gets filtered water, kept in the fridge so nice and cold. (if they only knew how many dogs in the world have to live!). LOL Loki...paper eater! She's too funny. Hallie is not a paper eater, she would never help herself to something like that, she is very concerned about being good. She doesn't even tear up her toys she squeeks them and shakes them but never tries to tear them up. (thusly why she has over 100 of them now!!). She is so dainty with her mouth, when you hand her a treat she will touch your hand with her tongue first to be sure she doesn't nip you then she very gently takes the treat with the tips of her teeth. She does open her own presents though and will tear right into the wrapping and tissue paper but she spits each bit out and doesn't swollow any of them. Not that any of that was your question LOL!!! I got off on a tangent 

[doxielady5569128]

You're very welcome. I'm glad you give her treats after the shots. Those can really hurt sometimes and they itch like crazy!!   I get 6 allergy shots every week, so I can literally feel her pain.   Will the frequency of her shots ever change?  Mine will soon, I hope.

[Leslie]

WEll, Hallie is a GOOD DAWG and Loki iz... .LOKI!  I'm tellin' ya, a cardboard tube stuffed with tissue is like an eclair to that dawg.  I did read why some dogs find it so irresitable.  It seems that some paper is coated with stearate and apparently they like the smell. 

It is funny how each dawg is different.  Zuzu will rip a stuffie to pieces and will full tilt bezerker ATTACK Loki if she gets too close.  Doesn't seem  to bother anything else that you would think she would want to "kill" like slippers or socks.  Go figure.

p.s. last summer when my folks were up they saw Zuzu drinking out of the bird bath (it's on the porch) and dad sez: "You okay with letting her drink that?"  My response: "Dad, she licks her own a** I think it's okay."  :crazyeyes:

[auntydoxzz]

My angel Twinkie did the opposite. I swear she somehow figured out if I drink water, then mean Mommy will make me go outside to pee, so I wont drink any!!!  she had more problems from getting dehydrated. I finally learned the skin test for that, and when hers would stay up then I would put some flavor into it and then she drank it fine!! She really liked it if i drizzeled a little suny delight or root beer in with the water.  Even if i dropped a little of my coffee in it(i think had more to do with its some of what Mom is drinking so it must be good!!!

She was 3 when i got her, and don't know if she always did it. But she was from Northern WI which gets colder than central and Western WI. I still remember one nightmare nite when I swear she did not go for over 26 hours!!! She literally held it that long!!  It wasnt too long after that that I realized she was not drinking very much!!  It was about 30 below over nite.  I would take her out, even went out and stood next to her telling her to hurry up and pee so we didnt freeze!!!

In her case though she was a super low rider so when she squatted she was right into that snow or in soggy weather down in the muck!!

Merion had her daughter Zelda and still has her grandson Wacky Zack, but those 2 seemed to drink just fine.
Merion's Zeke was the funniest one drinking.  Seemed like everyone in the house could hear him slurp and he usually washed a lot of the floor from what went down his chin!!  It was impossible to sneak him a treat cuz he always was a noisy eater!!

I think bottom line, every dog is different.  If she is on any kind of allergy meds those can cause dry mouth, actually a lot of other meds can too!! Or if you give her any kind of dried treats  especially like the flavored rawhide. and many other treats those do seem to have extra salt and or sugar in them.  It might even be something as  simple as if she licks the blanket or her feet a lot, could tend to make her thirstier.  I dont think it would be something to worry about unless she runs into problems and has to pee all the time or gets so thirsty she wants to drink huge amounts at one time.   Also if she is fed mainly dry dog food, then she probably needs more water to balance that out.

Auntydoxzz

[Dee Dee and Hallie]

I'm feeling better about it all the time with these posts.  :thumb:

Amorett (oh gosh did I spell that right?) Im sorry to hear you need 6 shots a week! Hallie went from twice a week to her permanent maintenance of one every 3 weeks. I know of some dogs who over time were able to go off the shots the rest of their lives but Hallie is always a bit itchy even with the shots (although MUCH better with them and during the winter hardly itchy at all hers is inhalant and seasonal) so I doubt I'll ever take her off all together. I hope yours work well and you can taper off!

LOL Les you do make me laugh. These kids are so funny. And good point...I guess I"d rather have bird bath breath kissing me than a** breath. 

Auntydoxzz!! LOL I enjoyed your post. Twinkie was one smart cookie! Funny how they are all quite different in their drinking habits. I guess there is a wide margin for healthy drinking! Hallie can't drink out of a bowl unless it is filled close to the top because she is a Princess and Princess's do not put their nose inside the bowl, but hang it daintily over the side and carefully lap the water from the edge with the tongue. I do account for the fact that some of the water will spill out that way and hit the paper that the feeder is sitting on...the feeder is a black cast iron dachshund with two holes one for water bowl and one for food bowl and since the water bowl is toward the back of the doxie, the water that Hallie spills ends up around his back foot which makes it look suspiciously like cast iron feeder "emptied his radiator." 

She isn't on any allergy meds other than her immunotherapy shot, but I did wonder about her licking. She doesn't lick blankets, or things, but she does sometimes lick her feet when her allergies are flared up and will also bite herself in places somewhat (nothing too extreme never makes a red spot or sore but sometimes she will work on her feet for a time). That very well could be part of it. Today she has not drank very much at all very unusual, she also has not been very itchy...hmmm....I have taken away the bully sticks just to see if it makes a difference, I only give her "healthy" treats but she doesn't like crunchy treats much so I usually give her Zuke's or freeze dried liver or some other soft healthier type of treat. But now wondering about salt in those so I have stopped those too and just giving crunchies with healthy ingredients.  I feed her a mix of dry kibble and canned with no salt green beans and pumpkin (I have taken away her vit C, vit E, cosequin and fish oil and enzymes just for these three weeks to see) and I put some warm water over it all so it does have quite a bit of liquid in it all.

I do feel much better about it, if it was something bad going on, for as long as she's done this you would think by now you'd see more symptoms I'd think. I really wouldn't worry at all but for the fact her urine has been dilute. I'm guessing though that every doxie after they drink a lot the urine would be dilute and for the heavier drinkers in the bunch maybe theirs would be as dilute as Hallie's and as often as Hallie's...