I have spent some time observing the drinking habits of my dogs over the years and not surprisingly have come to the conclusion they drink a lot. They drink much more than I ever thought they would, but it wasn’t always that way Often people say ‘my dog hardly drinks at all’. When I hear that I automatically wonder if they have the water they want and even more, how the water is presented.
Let’s look at some numbers first. For every pound your dog weighs he should be drinking about 28ml or 1 oz of water. Doing the math, a very small 10lb dog would need to drink 10oz. Now let’s move to a 40lb dog. This dog now should be drinking a litre or 1qt of water per day. When you put it in terms like this, your dog needs to drink a fair bit of water every day to maintain good health through hydration.
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Back to the ‘my dog hardly drinks at all’. True, some dogs drink far less than others without any problem, but dog’s tend to like fresh running water the best. Who doesn’t. If you were to offer your dog a bowl of fresh cold water and some water pouring out of a bottle, chances are he will go to the bottle over the bowl. Take away the bottle and if he doesn’t drink very much out of a bowl, chances are he won’t now.
My Boxer who weighs just short of 80lb would barely finish a bowl of water in one day, winter or summer. When I purchased a drinking fountain, his consumption rose to over 2 liters or 2 quarts a day. Speaks volumes doesn’t it.
Of course the numbers are a pretty accurate guideline, but just like us dogs don’t always follow what the numbers say and may not drink quite that much. If you have a dog that leaves his water bowl to stagnate on the floor, try to make drinking more appealing and invest in a drinking fountain. He just may up his water consumption hydration.
To sum it all up, if your dog drinks well from a bowl, always make sure the water is fresh. If they don’t drink well from a bowl, try a drinking fountain for dogs. If you take your dog to the dog park, always bring a large quantity of water with you to prevent your dog from getting dehydrated.
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