Hi I have just taken on a 3 yr old Lab puppy! She is very excitable and looks underdeveloped, has had very little excercise and has been kept in a cage for long periods of time. She has various 'issues' that we are working on. My question is how much water should a Lab be drinking? She is going through about 4 pints per day, she is now getting plenty of excercise and she is on dry food, is she drinking too much water?
Re: Water intake. Hello and a warm welcome from me, my Lab boy Sam ( aged 2) and rescue girl Millie, hope you enjoy the forum . Four pins is quite a lot but there are a couple of factors here . Firstly when on dry food , they do drink more and need to drink well too . Then, as you say she has been caged a lot, it could just be a case of being an oportunist , its there so I`ll drink it just in case I dont get any more Good exercise will also be adding to her desire to drink, so as long as she is happy and well , I wouldnt worry unduly, whats her name by the way ?
Re: Water intake. Ours are on kibble feed, but it gets soaked in water so they drink slightly less water than that. I wonder if she thinks she should drink while she has the chance, as she was in a cage, I wonder if that restricted her access to a water bowl at all? They have funny ways of thinking of things. Good for you for taking on a special dog, it will bring lots of hard work, but such rewards eventually.
Re: Water intake. Hello and welcome! I think that sounds like a lot of water... but perhaps that will calm down once she is used to getting more exercise. What colour is she? How much does she weigh? Do you know what her background was, perhaps that might help explain why she drinks so much...
Re: Water intake. [quote author=tartanmouse link=topic=2631.msg26576#msg26576 date=1379591168] No fair - Kate types quicker than me!! [/quote] ;D ;D ;D ;D Just to add Sue , our little rescue terrier used to drink an awful lot when we first had her almost three months ago , but now that she realises that there is water in bowls all over the house, all the time , she has slowed up a heck of a lot
Re: Water intake. Hi Sue When my 2 labs were about 12 weeks they started drinking lots and lots of water and house training was difficult it turned out to be a bladder infection. This will sound a bit OCD but due to the infection I had to monitor their water intake. Their average drink lasts about 30 to 40 seconds (I count in elephants 1 elephant 2 elephant etc) Ok now I sound nuts. They drink after exercise and food roughly the same amount every time. Approx a bowlfull each a day. More if warm obviously. Hopefully it is just her adapting like the others say but if you think it's excessive I just took a urine sample into the vet to begin with to be tested they don't need the dog for that and if it's negative she doesn't need to go. Good luck Jen
Re: Water intake. Good advice above. As a rule of thumb we would reckon the maximum normal daily intake for a kibble fed dog would be about 50ml water per kilo bodyweight per day. Measuring the intake is good - just put a fixed amount, say 300ml, in a bowl and refill when empty to confirm the intake. And if you still think it is excessive, as noted above a quick urine sample taken to the vets will solve a lot of mysteries.
Re: Water intake. Hi Sue and welcome to you and your Lab from me Helen, Hattie 6 years and our rescue Charlie 2 3/4 years. When we rescued Charlie at 9 months he would drink like he had never seen water before and the mess he had been well looked after with a fosterer. I wonder if it's an anxiety issue as well as the other things everyone else has pointed out. But also I have read that excessive drinking can be a sign of diabetes, just a thought. Charlie soon realised everything was OK and he quickly calmed down. Congratulations on taking a rescue and we look forward to hearing about your progress. Good luck. Helen x
Re: Water intake. Thank you everyone for the welcome and for all your comments. Our 'special' dog is brown and called Molly. She is settling into our home which is already owned by another lab, a beautiful black recue called Floss. We have had Floss for 6 yrs and the 2 are so lovely together, Molly also gets on well with our 2 cats. I think a lot of Mollys issues were to do with anxiety and she seems much more relaxed now that she is out of the cage and getting regular exercise. The vet has checked her water intake and seems ok with it, she also thought it might be to do with anxiety and the 'cage mentality'. I look forward to being a member of the Labrador site. Sue C
