How Much Water Should a Dog Drink a Day?

How Much Water Should a Dog Drink a Day?

Many dog owners leave out water for their dogs all the time with the thought that they'll drink as much, or as little, as they need. But how much water does a dog need? Monitoring your dog's water intake can improve their health, prevent illness and insure proper hydration. While some dogs naturally do this on their own, some either under-drink or over-drink. Too little water can lead to dehydration in dogs, kidney stones, organ failure and even death. Drinking too much water can lead to stomach bloat, electrolyte imbalances, and Hyponatremia (water toxicity).

Also, keep in mind that if your dog is under-drinking or over-drinking, it could be a sign of an underlying illness. Under-drinking can indicate Parvo, Leptospirosis, or Pancreatitis. Over-drinking can signify a bladder infection, another type of infection, or diabetes. Have your vet check your dog if he's doing either.

Optimal Drinking

How much water a day should a dog drink? How much and how carefully you have to monitor him depends on several factors:

1. Size: On the average, a healthy dog drinks about 1/2 to 1 ounce of water per pound of body weight per day.
2. Food: A healthy diet is as important as water and the type of food your dog eats affects his water intake. Dogs that eat only dry food will need a little more water than those that eat canned. Also, avoid ingredients that can artificially increase your dog's thirst such as sodium.
3. Age: Puppies need about a 1/2 cup every two hours and need to be closely monitored. Senior dogs tend to naturally monitor themselves.
4. Exercise: Bring water along on any exercise excursion with your dog. The bottles that have the drop down cup work well. After exercise, give your dog ice cubes to start and then just a little water at a time to prevent bloat.
5. Weather: Summer means more panting which means an increase in water intake.
6. Medications: Check with your vet to see if you need to decrease or increase your dog's water intake while taking a medication.

Checking for Dehydration in Dogs and Overhydration in Dogs

To look for dehydration in dogs, grab a piece of skin at the back of your dog's neck. Stretch it out, then let it go. A properly hydrated dog's skin will snap quickly back into place, while the skin of a dehydrated dog will return slowly and form a "tent" in the process. You can also check your dog's gums for dehydration - wet, slippery gums are healthy. Dull, sticky gums suggest dehydration.

Dogs who overhydrate will often vomit, act confused or become lethargic. more on...

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Free Food For Your Pet

Free Food For Your Pet

Increasingly today, our pets are becoming prone to food allergies, and may cause a host of symptoms like skin itching and rashes, leading your pet dog to scratch itself mercilessly, promoting sores and other eruptions on its skins.

Head shaking, foot or tail chewing, hair loss, and ear infections may also be the result of a simple food allergy.

Some of the more severe symptoms may be vomiting, diarrhea, and in certain dogs, seizures and behavioral changes.

Your dog may develop an allergy at any time! Although it may come as a huge relief for you to read this at a time when you thought that your pet had some sort of major incurable disease, you must remember that even if the dog has eaten the same food for the past several years, it may still develop an allergy to it, and it is up to you to make sure that you know what you are dealing with in your pet.

What is your dog allergic to? Dogs are most often allergic to these ingredients, some of which are popularly used in dog foods: beef, corn, chicken, dairy products, sometimes eggs, wheat and soy.

How do you find out exactly what your pet is allergic to? Try changing his diet, eliminating his regular foods one by one, and watch out carefully for the reduction or increase of the allergy. This way, you will know exactly what to avoid, and what to use, but the strong advice is to go for hypo allergenic dog food, so that you are always safe.

How to choose hypo allergic dog food?

Most brands that sell hypo allergenic dog foods state what ingredients the food lacks, and if you are aware of exactly what your pet is allergic to, then your problem is solved!

If you do not know, however, and you need help to choose the best and most suited allergy free dog food for your beloved pet, then here is how. When you read the ingredient list on the package, find out whether their proteins have been chopped into smaller pieces than is usual, in order to facilitate better digestion and elimination. Smaller pieces mean better assimilation, and you must choose the dog food that claims to have done so.

Wait for the allergy to subside: When you have decided upon your hypo allergic dog food, add it a little at a time to the old food, so that you can avoid a tummy upset. You must then wait patiently, for at least two to six weeks, for the effects of the change in diet to show, although some pets may respond even earlier. Keep your dog away from scraps, food from other people’s homes, and from foraging around in the garbage.

These steps will ensure that your pet’s food allergies are cured, and that they do not recur.

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Choosing Healthy Puppy Food

Choosing Healthy Puppy Food

Puppies are like small humans; they grow like weeds and have enormous appetites! And what we feed them determines how they will grow and how healthy they will be when they've grown up. Determining which puppy food to give them can be done by a small amount of research and even asking a few questions. The major manufacturers of dog food each spend millions on studies and research into what works best for dogs at various ages. You don't want to feed your two month old pup the same diet as that given to a ten year old adult.

Age and lifestyle determine the type of food

Similar to people's diet, pet foods are separated into various categories which are meant to be the appropriate combination of vitamins, minerals, supplements, and fats needed for that particular age group. Working dogs, hunting dogs, as well as show dogs each have different daily requirements for optimum health, weight, and coat quality. Puppy food requirements are amplified due to the fact they are growing rapidly throughout their first year of life.

Dry versus wet dog food

Among the choices to be made when selecting a quality puppy food is whether to feed kibble, which is a dry bite sized dog food, generally made by compressing ingredients in its original dry form, or soaking it in warm water or even milk in the case of puppies. The dry food is excellent for maintaining healthy teeth and gums in adult dogs; however it may be too difficult for puppies to crush with their smaller puppy teeth. Soaking for a few minutes can create a much softer food, even mushy in consistency which might be more appealing to very young pups. Another alternative is feeding canned food which is already high in moisture content. A combination of dry and moist might be a good alternative on occasions, but feeding dry food only from about the age of six months on will provide all the necessary vitamins as well as mineral additives needed as long as the food is balanced and nutritious.

Researched, studied, tested, approved

Today the dog food industry is put through rigid testing and must be approved nearly as stringently as foods prepared for human consumption. The dog food industry does their own researching and performs studies to assure its products are healthy and well liked by not only the canines who eat it but their owners who do the purchasing. If it were left up to the dogs their food would most likely have a far different appearance and odour than it does after meeting the approval of the humans who choose it. Dogs eat most anything and often the smellier it is, the more apt they are to consume it. Dog food is manufactured to be pleasing in appearance and texture to us, the buying public, but the dog would most likely eat it in any form.

Sanitary and free from bacteria

Even though dogs may eat any road kill or offal they come across in the wild, we want to protect them from food poisoning and diseases when we feed them. Dog and puppy food go through strict manufacturing processes before they are bagged or canned and sold for consumption by our pets because we love them and wish them good health the same as we do our two legged loved ones.

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