Hi! My 8 week old red lab, Gill, will drink all the water in his dog bowl and then whine and pat the bowl to get my attention. I'm a nurse so I do understand the illnesses that are related to being "thirsty" and have started to do some research and that's what they say. However, without jumping to the worst case scenario the "internet" says anywhere from 1/2oz to 1oz PER lb the dog weighs. Gill weighs 12lb 6oz and he definitely gets 12oz of water per day, BUT still wants more. What's everyone think about this? TIA for your input
Hi and welcome! How much a puppy drinks is influenced by the weather, diet and activity levels. A puppy fed on kibble may need a bit extra as kibble is dry extruded food. Puppies fed on moist food/raw, for example, will have high moisture content so therefore will drink less water. I would look at 12oz of water as a rough guide only, and would always have fresh cool water available. Puppies do like to splash and paddle in their bowls, so sometimes it can be quite hard to fathom how much they actually drank! It is, however, more important to keep a puppy hydrated than to restrict fluid intake. Saying that, if water intake seems excessive, and your puppy constantly thirsty, I would make the vet my first port of call.
Definitely this. Chances are he is extra thirsty because of the warm weather but do let us know how he gets on.
I’m no expert but from my experience, most puppies seem to drink more, relative to their body weight. My dog was a water hog when she was little, almost to the point that she seemed desperate for it. She would drink as much as we let her, until she was bloated. I had to ration her daily water intake (I would give her 2-3 bowls a day, spaced out), or else she never would have been housebroken. I worried too that her water intake was excessive and brought it up to my vet. She was unconcerned because she seemed very healthy and her behavior was totally normal. She told me that some puppies just do that. It steadily improved and by 6 or 7 months, her drinking habits were normal.
