[MarkAndGeorgina]

Hi all

I sent my breeder an email this morning but thought it worthwhile asking here for some other opinions.

We've had Bruno for 6 days now, so he'll be 9 weeks old tomorrow.

I've noticed though that he fairly loves his water bowl and it concerns me slightly.

We've begun lifting his water bowl a couple of hours before bed time and that's helped in that, last night I only had to get up once to take him outside. Quite happy with that actually!

But through the day he frequently goes to his bowl & spends a fair bit there.

I've yet to measure how much he's drinking through the day - I should've done that first, I know - but it does seem excessive. It's more than my 8 year old Lab anyway.

My concern is that when it gets warmer in the summer, he'll be even more inclined to get loads of water in him and that is obviously a chance for bloat to try it's hand!

Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I can either get Bruno to regulate his water intake, or how I can manage it better.

FYI - he's on a dry dogfood. It's still being slightly soaked at the moment, but we're gradually reducing the softness of the food.

 

[nightgrace6]

Hi there

congrats on your new baby. One of my girls LOVES drinking and I mean she can empty 2lt bowl as soon as we get home from a walk. She also nearly empties it during the night and goes through a LOT a day. At the local park she will drink until the bowls are empty. She is 100 % in good health but I am in the same boat as you. I am not very worried as I have a clean bill of health from two vets BUT she does exert a ton of energy during the day and IDK I guess like humans hydration varies.

I am not very worried about bloat, I have a "drink safe" bowl for food and water. Its worth looking into if you are worried, it only lets them eat/drink a certain amount at a time

 

[MarkAndGeorgina]

Cool

Thanks very much - I'll look into that.

I had thought about a rabbit feeder-type contraption if they existed for dogs

 

[MarkAndGeorgina]

Nightgrace; I just did a google search for a drink safe bowl (and various other ways I could word it) and I can't find what you mean.

Was there a specific company that made yours? You know anywhere I can find more info about them?

Cheers again

 

[Hank]

Nightgrace; I just did a google search for a drink safe bowl (and various other ways I could word it) and I can't find what you mean.

Was there a specific company that made yours? You know anywhere I can find more info about them?

Cheers again

Google "drink better bowl" for water
or "dog bowl slow" for food

 

[Criminal Genius Hera]

Our 13 week old Hera has the same behavior. We pull the bowl before bed too and limit during the day so she isn't stressed in her crate but the dog walkers give her water when they visit and then when I get home she gets all the water she wants until a couple hours before bed. There are times she doesn't touch it and then she acts like she hasn't had water in days.

 

[LindaH]

I would sure mention it to her vet. It would worry me till I had her checked out.

 

[Beaumont67]

Baring a medical issue...my dogs water dish is always on the floor, and refilled often.

 

[Herb2relax]

When Kyrah was on kibble she drank lots of water. I know I noticed b/c it was way more than I was used to seeing my terriers drink. Since switching to raw she nor the terriers drink as much water. During the summer they will drink more. I personally never have withheld water from my dogs. I feel if they are thirsty then they should be able to drink.

 

[longshot4me]

Our puppy drinks like she hasn't had water in days sometimes. She has a perfectly clean bill of health from the vet. I think she just works hard playing like a puppy.. I wouldn't ever stop her from drinking.. I would be grumpy if I was thirsty and had no way of getting water

 

[MarkAndGeorgina]

There have been several places I have read actually where they suggest removing the water bowl a couple of hours before bed time to assist in potty training a puppy/helping a puppy sleep through the night.

I found my best source of info for these things here:
Crate Training Your Puppy or Adult Dog

In fact, since we have done so, we are getting up only twice a night.

Before we did so, we'd put him to bed at 22:30 and be up at 23:30 with him wanting out, then again at 01:00 and again at 02:30 and again at about 04:30 then out for the morning at 06:30/07:00.

Anyway, by the by, he always has plenty of fresh water available throughout the day.

I did some measuring today and he drank about 750/800ml of water throughout the day or so (quite crude measurements though). Does that seem about average for a 9 week old male pup?

 

[StarlightDobe]

Just a note, my previous girl Mysti had been a huge drinker all her life, we joked and called her a dober fish. I never put 2 and 2 together with her excessive drinking, I simply limited the amount each time she drank to avoid bloat. When she was younger the vet noticed her lust for water and ran some tests, which didnt positively diagnose her but which gave cause for concern leaning toward a blood sugar problem and possible diabetes. Since nothing ever came up prior to that she thought it had been a very minor problem before but in her age it was becoming worse. The excessive drinking was a sign of her problem. I dont have the exact diagnosis she made and cant remember the specific name she gave it but if your pup is drinking excessively I think its something to check into with a good vet, and not just ignore it as we did 10 years ago.

 

[LindaH]

Sorry, I cant tell you what the average amount of water should be, but your having to get up with him entirely too much. For comparison, I brought Parker home at 9 1/2 weeks and never had to get up to let him out as he has always slept through the nite. I would have your vet run a full blood panel to check his kidneys. /////Oops, somehow missed you were down to twice a night, but I still think he should be able to sleep through the nite. Is he playing with his water and drinking more that way? The amount does seem excessive to me after doing some conversion.