Drinking from puddles,is this ok

Oscar seems to prefer drinking from puddles and I am a bit concerned in case of contamination. He is fully vaccinated - will that be enough protection for him?

Hi maebme it really depends where the puddles are. If they are on clean land ok but beware if on roads they can contain oil/pesticide residue or even antifreeze so I would take great care.

It is mainly just outside the back door, in our garden, Mini. He did try to drink from a puddle in the park but I told him to 'leave it' because I wasn't sure of contamination by rodents.
The vet told me to put his water in the fridge for 15 minutes to reduce smell of chlorine, but he doesn't seem to like drinking it from his dish.

Hi,
This is a terrible time of year for dogs drinking from puddles etc when outdoors as leaves etc may have fallen in and contaminated it, with the changes in temprature, bugs breed readily. Vets always see a rise in case of gastroenteritis around this time of year for that very reason...best not to let dogs drink outside if at all possible...easier said than done I know!!!!

maebme Chlorine can be a problem but lots of dogs don't like very cold water either, so maybe use the water that is cold and left in the kettle from when you last boiled it , the chlorine will have evaporated when the kettle was boiled and the water will be at room temperature

Diesel does this too, not from puddles as such but whatever rain water has collected anywhere in the garden, he seems to prefer to drink that than his fresh bowl of water, then theres the cats who prefer to drink from the fish tank

Never really thought of it as being dangerous before so i'm glad i read this

Hi All,

A word of warning, a few years ago, I got food poisoning from a chinese takeaway.

I got Campylobactor, anyway I said to Harry (my late hubby, who incidentally had exactly the same as me, but was ok) that the authorities would be round, as it was a reportable "infection" and that the doctors have to report it.

To cut a long story short, this chap came round and asked questions, I told him that we both washed our hands when we used the toilet, even if it was only a tiddle.

The he noticed Mick, who was a pup at the time, he was 11 months.

The chap said, do you know that pups can carry this infection if they drink out of puddles and then lick your face.

I told him that I didn't allow Mick to drink out of puddles and that I always watched him like a hawk when out with him.

Whether the chap was right in what he said, I do not know, but I must assume that he knew what he was talking about.

I just thought I'd impart that piece of information for what it is worth.

Regards

Radar

Our dog will drink out of anything but rarely chooses to drink from his water bowl.

He drinks from the fish ponds - I always stop him if I see him doing it - and always drinks from puddles and ponds in the woods. So far he has been ok so perhaps he has a good immune system. He will even drink a couple of slurps from the sea

Yes Benji drank from a puddle the other day when we were coming back from our walk. Although it shouldn't be too bad because it was near the cricket field and no cars can get up there or anything.

Any chance of you being able to collect some rainwater and keep it in bottles,(somewhere cold and dark) and see if he prefers it to tap water. Our water is terrible at times, I won't drink it and spend a fortune on bottled water. The Cat drinks out of puddles in our garden, but as we are organic gardeners I don't worry about it. Kath