Puppy not drinking water

[Maryhw]

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Hello! Our beautiful whippet puppy who is 12 and a half weeks old doesn’t seem to be interested in drinking any water. I always put a bowl of fresh water down every day and leave it until we put him to bed at night (I only take it away when he is in his crate at nighttime so he doesn’t accidentally knock it over). I have only ever seen him drink from it once however and am a little concerned. I tend to mix warm water with his food as we keep it in the fridge and have started adding more water to ensure he is getting at least some. He does seem to wee a fair amount so I don’t think he is dehydrated, and he seems well in himself but wasn’t sure if there was anyway I could encourage him to drink some water? Thank you

 

[excuseme]

If our dogs get enough moisture in their solid food they will have less need to drink a lot.
Raw meat contains around 75% water/liquid depending on which meat product is used, tinned meat contains about 80%.
Dogs eating a dry processed food will need a lot of water to properly hydrate the dry product.
Our lot ( who are raw fed) drink water from various sources, they love dirty puddles when we are out and sometimes still old water in old cattle water troughs when we are out. They will still drink from their clean water bowl in the back yard. (tap water)
Maybe your puppy is not keen on the tap water, have you thought about saving rain water.

We can't force them to drink though.

.

 

[Maryhw]

If our dogs get enough moisture in their solid food they will have less need to drink a lot.
Raw meat contains around 75% water/liquid depending on which meat product is used, tinned meat contains about 80%.
Dogs eating a dry processed food will need a lot of water to properly hydrate the dry product.
Our lot ( who are raw fed) drink water from various sources, they love dirty puddles when we are out and sometimes still old water in old cattle water troughs when we are out. They will still drink from their clean water bowl in the back yard. (tap water)
Maybe your puppy is not keen on the tap water, have you thought about saving rain water.

We can't force them to drink though.

.

He does like to lick rain water off surfaces so that might work, I will put a bucket out to catch some rain water and try that out - thank you he does have wet food too so maybe he is getting enough water from what your saying, especially as I add a little from the kettle to warm it up a tad when it’s been in the fridge. He’s not very big (yet) so I guess he doesn’t need much water at the moment

 

[JoanneF]

I find adding a tablespoonful of the water from a can of tuna in spring water (not brine or oil) to a normal bowl of water tempts my dog if I feel he needs a bit more.

 

[Maryhw]

I find adding a tablespoonful of the water from a can of tuna in spring water (not brine or oil) to a normal bowl of water tempts my dog if I feel he needs a bit more.

That’s a really good idea, i might give that a try too! I was wondering what I could add that wouldn’t be bad for him

 

[Hemlock]

What is the water dish made of? Some dogs are concerned at light reflection and noise from metal bowls, and plastic bowls taste chemically no matter how well we wash them. A matte ceramic bowl meets with approval from most dogs.

If he is wearing a dangly ID tag, this might be clattering against the bowl and spooking him.

Otherwise, as you say, if he is peeing enough, he is probably getting enough moisture. The fishy water is a good idea too.

 

[Ross J]

Could you try bottled water,,not saying it would help,,what kind of food are you feeding him? Perhaps there is enough moisture in his food like it has been suggested.

 

[Maryhw]

What is the water dish made of? Some dogs are concerned at light reflection and noise from metal bowls, and plastic bowls taste chemically no matter how well we wash them. A matte ceramic bowl meets with approval from most dogs.

If he is wearing a dangly ID tag, this might be clattering against the bowl and spooking him.

Otherwise, as you say, if he is peeing enough, he is probably getting enough moisture. The fishy water is a good idea too.

It’s a ceramic bowl but it does have a shiny finish so it could be that. He doesn’t wear a collar when indoors as sometimes he runs around like a maniac haha so I don’t want him to get caught on something by accident I like the idea of fishy water. I’m sure he would love that

 

[Maryhw]

Could you try bottled water,,not saying it would help,,what kind of food are you feeding him? Perhaps there is enough moisture in his food like it has been suggested.

We do have some bottled water so worth a try. He has wet food so it might be that he is getting enough water. I always add some warm water to it as well as it’s kept in the fridge so just to take the chill away

 

[Ross J]

We don’t put collars on our dogs now in the house,,the reason is a few months after we had the Borzoi he went into the crate and his collar got caught on the the crate door some how and he pulled on it and was choking,,luckily my wife heard him and managed the release him.He is way to big for the crate now.Finn the whippet still using it.

 

[Maryhw]

We don’t put collars on our dogs now in the house,,the reason is a few months after we had the Borzoi he went into the crate and his collar got caught on the the crate door some how and he pulled on it and was choking,,luckily my wife heard him and managed the release him.He is way to big for the crate now.

This is definitely a fear of mine! He does have zoomies from time to time and there’s no stopping him, he runs so fast as well so I wouldn’t want something bad to happen to him. Very lucky your wife heard him and managed to free him