Bubbles

My puppy toy poodle is 13 weeks old. She eats her food with no problem, but she won't drink water. We were advised to mix water in her with food which we're doing, but we wonder why she won't drink and if there is something we can do to encourage her?

Any one else had this with a young puppy? Ndont remember it being an issue with my last doggy.

fjm

If she doesn't want to drink, it may be because she is getting enough liquid in her food. What colour is her pee? If it is a pale straw yellow, I would not worry. If it is darker yellow, or brownish, or if you just feel she should be drinking more, I would offer her dilute unsalted meat or chicken broth, or add a splash of puppy milk to her water.

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To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden,
where doing nothing was not boring- it was peace.

~ Milan Kundera

poo lover

Not a vet but have been thru this myself .1 / what is the food you are feeding if it is raw they hardly drink unless hot. 2/ if she is not dehydrated what she's getting is probably enough. 3/ if dehydrated try some broth with a little extra salt sometimes helps and most of all if you are worried or fussing about it little girls are good at the attention game had a drama king until we stopped playing in to it. all and all if your are really worried go to the vet.good luck with you baby

Lily's-Mom

I can't explain why she's not drinking, but we have the same thing with our mpoo. We adopted her in May and she wasn't drinking much and I was concerned thru the summer months especially, so I added water to her kibble - quite a lot of water actually while it was hot out. Vet said adding water to the food was a good idea. I still add water, but not as much now that weather is cooler. Mention it to the vet when you go next time, but I wouldn't be super concerned as long as she's healthy.

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"Acquiring a dog may be the only opportunity a human ever has to choose a relative" - Mordecai Siegal

Rusty

It sounds like you've got some really good advice from people here already. I just thought I'd add that our mini poodle used to not like the taste of some tap waters. He'd drink readily from nice clean well water, or water filtered through a Brita, but tended to drink less if there was only plain treated tap water available. It was actually kind of funny... he'd sniff the water in the bowl, but if he didn't like the smell he'd turn and walk away. In addition to the other suggestions, it may be worth trying filtered water for her?

Bubbles

Thanks guys.

Yeah, I guess it's just because my last dog - a Labrador - drank lots, so not sure why she isn't. I know the size difference is pretty big! Maybe I'm still trying to compare the amount.

She's doing fine - wee is a healthy colour and all that. We were told to keep mixing water with the food, and sometimes it's quite a bit. Also, were told that we could put some food in her drinking water, but even that doesn't entice her!

She's definitely getting plenty, it's just strange to me that's all.

Also - another question. When we got her, the breeder said to keep her on the same food and not to change this, or give her anything else - dried food, treats etc until she is at least 6 months. I didn't stick with this diet plan for my last dog - would you suggest I do for a few more months, or slowly introduce a more varied diet?

Lily's-Mom

"Also - another question. When we got her, the breeder said to keep her on the same food and not to change this, or give her anything else - dried food, treats etc until she is at least 6 months. I didn't stick with this diet plan for my last dog - would you suggest I do for a few more months, or slowly introduce a more varied diet?"

If you want to switch her food you just need to do it gradually to make the transition easier on her tummy. What are you feeding her now?
I don't know why the breeder told you no treats or anything other than kibble for 6 months. I never heard of that.

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"Acquiring a dog may be the only opportunity a human ever has to choose a relative" - Mordecai Siegal

fjm

That's a new one on me, too - perhaps the breeder wanted to ensure she had a properly balanced diet through the growing months? It would not take much to unbalance a toy puppy's diet. I would slowly introduce some variety - I am always wary of dog that can only eat one thing. Such a pain if it goes out of production, or if you run out and the shops are shut. And I also think variety is good for dogs. Mine are on a range of DAF minces, including salmon occasionally, plus raw chicken wings, tripe and sundry other bones as I can source them. Sardines, eggs, etc and a bit of veg add to the variety.

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To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden,
where doing nothing was not boring- it was peace.

~ Milan Kundera

Marcie

Yes, but mine is a 9 year old that I adopted and will not drink water in the house. I did not realize she was not drinking even though the water bowl was right by her food. The second day I had her home in the evening it rained and I let her out to go potty, she ran over to a rain puddle and drank like she was dying of thirst. She was. I immediately got a bowl of water and put it out on the patio for her to drink out of and she has used it ever since.

Every time we are outside I call her over and tell her to drink, even if she isn't thirsty at the time she will do one little lap and we can go in.

She will drink in the house if I hold her and put a short plastic cup of water up to her nose and ask her to drink. I have a cup by the bed and out where we watch TV so that if I think she is thirsty I will offer it to her. I only do this because she has had to go to the doctor before and have an IV for fluids because of this odd behavior.

Maybe she would have learned to drink in the house if I had left her alone but maybe she wouldn't. She hasn't so far and it has been almost four years. I always keep fresh water by her food bowl just in case a miracle occurs and she actually takes a drink. I don't want to take a chance of her dying from dehydration and so far this works.

In Sasha's case, I don't know how she was treated before I got her. She is still afraid of her food bowl but will eat out of it and run. She may have been abused and hit in the head because sometime she is not the sharpest pencil in the box. But I love her even with all her idiosyncracies.

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GiGi 2012 PRH Alumni & Sasha 2009 PRH Alumni.

liljaker

Are you feeding her dry/kibble or wet food?

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