I didn't want to hijack any of the other dog threads so thought I would start a new one. Just wanted to know if you filter your dogs water and not allow him to drink from the stream? My inlaws when we have all gone to Elephant Bute in NM have taken their dog and let him drink straight from the lake. Come to think of it, we have swam in the lake and Im sure water has entered my mouth. But Ive also seen people hiking with their dogs and seen their dogs jump in the stream and drink.
I want to start conditioning my dog to go hiking with me but wanted to see what others have done when it comes to water. Thanks.

Nope. when my dog is in the field he drinks what he drinks.. Given that he's a dog and licks other
dogs butts as a greeting, and rolls in horse dung for fun, I figure he can deal with whatever's in the water.

Given that I don't even usually purify above the treeline, if I were in the habit rolling in horse poop, and greeting other hikers as my dog greets other dogs, I probably wouldn't worry about the water either.

Mind you I'd probably get arrested.. or there'd be this massive RCMP manhunt in the rockies and a "mad hiker" movie starring Lee Marvin...

You made me laugh out loud at work. : )

Does make sense though. Thanks.

Never have. Mission Impossible. My dogs always ran loose, but under somewhat my control. While they are swimming or belly deep in water to cool off, they were lapping up the water too.

I filter the water he carries and I provide, but I don't stop him from drinking from water sources.

I am on my third hiking dog and have never even considered it. Post that question on a coon hunting forum and see what comes back.

I don't filter the water my dog drinks either. But, one of my Alaskan Malamutes came down with giardia. It cost me about $400 to cure him of it.

Someone else already said "mission impossible" and I agree. Dogs will be dogs. My dog gets a preventative vacination at the vet for Giardia. Hopefully it works.

If I went with you and you introduced me as "Spot," do you think your vet''ll give me a shot, too? I mean, that would save me somewhere between 7.5 and 15 oz., in pack weight if they EVER figure out what those total filter weights are on the water filter thread on the Light Gear Topic.

Putting this another way, if a dog can get a shot for Giardia prevention, why can't we? I mean, if we're going hiking where there's a nice rushing stream it's mostly Giardia that we're worried about, so why aren't we just getting a shot?

If it's simply because it's not approved here, then I see a trip to Ecuador in my future.

I am glad you posted. It promted me to do a little research. Even if your name was changed to Spot sounds like you might not want the vaccine and I doubt my dog will get the vaccine again. This is one of the things I found......


I know there are many good ethical vets out there (disclaimer in case there are any on this forum), but I more typically have been left with the feeling that it's a big racket whenever I take my dog in. Most of what I found on the quick search that I did, all had something similar to the above quote to say, while my dog's vet led me to believe it was a preventative measure.

In another example, my last dog (rest his sole) was on once a month Heartworm medication. At the end of the 12 month cycle the vet would not sell me a new 12 month supply without re-testing for Heartworm again. I understand that it is a business, and the idea of a business is to be profitable. But I then asked the vet if she thought there was a chance that the medication was not working. And she said no. So then I said, "then I don't think I should have to pay for a new test. Either the stuff that my dogs been taking for the last year works or it doesn't." I got the new medication without the test.

The other thing that amazes me about vets is how much they don't seem to know about nutrition and how quick they are to recommend one of the awful foods that are primarily corn gluten meal.

Sorry, didn't mean to hijack the thread. Vets are a sore spot for me. I'll pipe down now..............

Speyguy:


. . . and your vet is different from my primary physician how?

Thanks for the info. So in truth there may not be a preventative vaccine for canines . . . or humans. Roouf!

Yeah once your dog has rolled in a dead seal, filtering their stream water doesn't really take any priority. Although I have caught my dog drinking from my platypus hose a few times, maybe she does prefer filtered water?

I don't think I'll trust being injected with animal meds! Besides my dog filters his own water <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

I had a dog several years ago that was on a once a day dose of filaribits heartworm preventative meds and missed them for a week. That's all it took for him to contract a case of heartworms. He went to the vet to be treated and came through it, but it was kinda rough. Contracting, then treatment turned him into what seamed like an old man. He was never the same and only lived a couple more years. He had contracted parvo and died. They have better doseing now but it should still be monitored. I have not owned a dog since I lost Raj. But my Daughter has a toy poodle. Part of the family but not really what I call a real dog.

I used the once a month pills for my dog. A neighbor was wondering why their Chow was coughing, he had heart worms real bad, he made it thru the treatment, but it was rough going.

Yes, I've been filtering my dog's water. My local vet (also a hiker) recommends this. The theory is that if the dog has already drunk his fill of filtered H2O, he won't take in very much non-filtered stuff when he's lapping while wading or swimming.

The vet was especially insistent that I avoid unfiltered water from lakes and ponds with no outlet where elk (or, worse yet, cattle) congregate as they can be sources of leptospirosis. She said if I limit his exposure to such lakes, then the chances of his getting it are small. I mentioned the Indian Heaven Wilderness in Washington and she said that's a prime example, although she hasn't actually seen any cases of lepto from there. There are shots for lepto but they are not by any means foolproof.

Per the University of California at Davis, the vaccine for giardia is ineffective and they don't recommend it. This is one of the most prestigious vet schools in the country, so presumably they know what they are talking about. Pet vaccination protocols from UC Davis.

I really had to argue with my vet the last few years not to give my dog shots every year. Adult dogs need the standard (DHPP) shots only every three years and this has been standard protocol since the mid-1990's. However, many vets have been afraid to make the switch, some because they didn't agree with the protocols and some because the dog does need a physical exam every year (it's like a human getting one every 4-5 years) and they're afraid that with no shots the owner won't bring him in. Interestingly, in the last year my vet clinic finally switched over to a three-year shot schedule! A few kennels, doggie day care and training facilities still insist on yearly shots, but more and more of them are allowing the three-year schedule (except for bordatella, which is still every 6 months).

I have an email in to my-daughter-the-veterinarian in California to get her take on this. However, this is her busy season so it may be a while before I hear back. I'll post again when she replies.

Pooch's last visit was to UC Davis. He made it to the weekend after that.:(

In between water sources, he didn't want to touch my water for some reason, he would wait until we came upon a lake or spring.

Word from my-daughter-the-veterinarian:



So you can filter or not--it's up to you and, of course, the water source. I know that I've increasingly been letting my Hysson drink out of streams, particularly in the high mountains. And since I may switch to a Steripen (I've just gotten one and am going to test out the battery life situation before deciding whether to keep or return it), in the interest of conserving batteries I may be doing a lot more of this.

Unfortunately most animals don't get referred to the UC Davis Vet Hospital until they're beyond the help of the neighborhood vet. By that time they're often beyond anyone's help!

Pooch hadn't been able to keep up with me on my mountain bike for a couple years and even lagged behind when I jogged. I went to a couple vets after he wouldn't come out of his dog house. My regular vet said he was old and needed to switch to a lower protein food. Finally went to another highly thought of vet, found a "mass", I didn't know what he was talking about at the time. Got a referral to UC Davis, they said it was too large, chances of making it were pretty slim. Kept him overnight, almost lost him, gave him a couple transfusions. Spent a months pay for the trip, but would have kicked myself if he had gone and I had done nothing. At least I know.

I spent quite a bit on chemo for my female when she was diagnosed with lymphoma. Bought her about six months of life. No regrets.

Main reason I filter the water my dog carries is because it's my backup water. When we stop, I generally give him a bowl of water from my supply. Then when I run low, I either filter more for myself or refill with what he's carrying.

Not to jack the thread, but there are a lot posts about what the vet said. I am skeptical about some vets - -some are really interested in the money as much or more than the animal. Opinion only, but if you pay attention you can save yourself a whole lot of money - and it might be you driving the ML 550 suv instead of paying for the vet to have one.

I think this topic has been hijacked already.:) I was skeptical of what my vet said about my dog needing another dog food. He used to be my vet, but after having to put my dobie down when he didn't respond to an emergency call, I had switched to another vet, then he left town, so back to my original vet, as I didn't like the only other vet that was left in town at that time. I finally went to another vet whose office was only 15 miles away or so. He was the one who figured something bad was going on with my dog. I don't have any kids, so I guess you get worried about your pet like you would a kid.

Ever witness a deer pissing in the water? They don't care.

Of course I treat my dog's water. He needs it to wash down the turd he just ate <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />.....

Actually, I don't always treat my water, especially at altitude or from springs. I can't imagine treating water for a healthy dog.

I filter all of the water I give my dog, but he'll dip his face and lap water from stream tocool off. He's also had his giardia shots.

If you encourage him to drink out of a stream, he usually will. If not, he'll learn not to.

Bearpaw -- I almost spit a mouthful of cranberry juice all the couch when I read that. That is too funny.