Hey Blanche:
Galloway is the water "hoover" in our house. Neither Ellie or Racer ever drank to excess. When we first got Gally (3-1/2 yrs ago!), I would watch him suck down a 2 qt bowl of water - I couldn't believe it! Then, many times, he'd walk away and "burp" and lots of water would come back up. Of course, we had vet visits and all his blood work and urine cultures turned out just fine. I even did a "24 hr urine (in/out)" That was fun (not!).... Everything checked out ok.
The vet and I came to the conclusion that Gally must have been water deprived at some point in his early life (BC) (that's "before couch"), so he just learned to gulp it down as much as possible when water was available. Over time, he is not as bad - but occasionally, he will still suck down a whole bowl of water, then burp some back up. It's just his way.
I would tell the other person to check with their vet to make sure there is nothing going on - if they havn't already done so, they might want to get bloodwork/urine done and then they can also do what others have suggested and keep a 1/4 to a 1/2 bowl of water available (just check it a lot!) At least that way, the dog won't drink too much at any given time.
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Jean Bell
Galloway (fawn male, 9 ) Noel (f/aussie/4), Tinker (f/bc x/2) (Ellie, Racer and kitties Cindy & K.C. @ The Bridge)