When Cassie the Corgi arrived at The Funny Farm five years ago -- at the age of two, so we're told -- I noticed she occasionally seemed to have a problem with drinking water. When she'd lap water out of her bowl, sometimes she would seem to choke on it or maybe get it up her nose.

But she never seemed to be dehydrated and she didn't have any other visible problems, so we kinda learned to live with it. She's thrived and never evinced any health problems. But she'll still choke (?) when she drinks from a bowl.

Now we have Ruby the Corgi Pup, and by golly, the same thing happens with her. She'll lap up water and then seem to be interrupted by a choking fit.

Could it be that the long pointy nose interferes somehow with drinking fluids?

After learning about adding extra water to Ruby's food by way of being sure she's hydrated, given her UTI issues, I figured out that the same could apply to Cassie. So I've been adding a quarter-cup of water to her food, which she Hoovers right up with the food. Especially in the heat, it's a great way to be sure she gets enough water...but more to the point, she never chokes when she gets water with her food.

What gives with the drinking thing? Is this common with corgis?

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I have no idea if it's common but Katie does the same thing yet Max doesn't.  So know knows.

I've never encountered this problem.  The most Ellie will do is cough once or twice afterwards if she drinks too fast or vomit some up if she drinks too much all at once.

Hm. Maybe they're actually drinking too fast then. Though they don't appear to be doing that. It doesn't happen all the time, either. Since Cassie has never seemed especially stressed -- no sign of dehydration, for example -- it can't be very serious. It's just odd that they both would do that.

OK, maybe I need to clarify...Katie doesn't choke like she is strangling but coughs hard like she swallowed wrong.

That sounds exactly like what these two do. It's occasional...not every time.

When Ruby the Puppy first arrived, though, it WAS every time she snorkled up water. But then after three or four days, she got better at drinking out of a bowl. It was as though she needed to learn how to lap up water.

Well. Maybe we humans would choke on our water if we had to lap it up with our tongues. At first, anyway.

Mine don't seem to have this problem. They drink normally. Once in a blue moon one might cough, but it's not a regular occurrence.

If you have by any chance a video camera I would try to film and play it slowly to see where it goes.   It might not be going in the nose but rather the wrong pipe if he drinks too fast.    Wally chockes sometimes after drinking water, if he gets to go play immediately after.

Sophie sometimes rests her nose on the far side of the bowl when she's lapping up water. Our first corgi did this too. Neither one choked/coughed while drinking, but they started doing this at about age two.

That's strange, isn't it? What an interesting behavior...I wonder why they started doing that.

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