How do get a dog to drink more water

1. 71

   AEvansposted 13 years ago

   How do get a dog to drink more water

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2. 79

   pippapposted 13 years ago

   When I'm worried about how much water my dog is drinking, I up her wet food.  She gets wet food everyday plus some dry at night for a snack.  If I am concerned about her fluids, she goes straight to 100% wet.  Another ploy that works for me is if I am making a big deal about having a glass of water, she sometimes will drink some.

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3. 62

   MickSposted 13 years ago

   Dogs know when they need water, the old saw, you can take a horse to water but you can't make it drink, applies to all animals.  Make sure there is always water there for it.

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4. 85

   wychicposted 13 years ago

   If fresh, cool water isn't appealing to dogs, there is a method that I have used in the past with sled dogs that didn't have much time to eat as well as dogs who stayed outside during the day in the winter and we wanted to make sure they got sufficient water before it froze. Rather than feeding the dog more wet food, which has some moisture content but not enough to keep a dog from dehydrating, give it its dry dog food with sufficient water to just cover the food. Dry dog food takes a while to get soggy, and even after it does many dogs still love it (though try a small amount first to make sure your dog doesn't just turn up his/her nose at it) and it ensures that they have to take in quite a lot of water with their normal meal.

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5. 0

   "Quill"posted 13 years ago

   May I suggest adding a little chicken or beef broth or a flavoring. Had the same issue with "Quigley" and it certainly answered the problem. Be sure the water is always fresh and the dish is clean.
   
   Blessings

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6. 61

   itsssbriposted 13 years ago

   As some people have already said adding some kind of moisture to a food they are already used to eating seems to work best if they will eat it that way. My 2 year old japanese chin/havanese mix tend to get dehydrated and I feed him an egg everyday for breakfast or lunch. I put about 1/2 a cup or 3/4 of water in his egg if he seems dehydrated. You could try wet food but it wont be the most effective short term. Adding chicken or beef broth to dry food or rice is another effective method.

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