How to make your dog drink more water??

    • Bronze

    How to make your dog drink more water??

    My 4 year old Lahsa Apso has been diagnosed with stones in her bladder.  She does not drink a lot of water and I believe it could be one of the causes of her getting stones.  Is there a way to make your dog drink water?  I give her fresh water every 4 hours.  Is there something I can add to the water to make her like it more???  Any suggestion would be helpful.
    • Puppy
    Hi
    There are things on the market like 'REBOUND' ... chicken flavored water with electrolytes and other things to induce dogs to drink more.  Rebound has to be refrigerated but lasts a month.  There are other tasty things that can be mixed with water and are beneficial for dogs plus will get them to drink more.  Some of the things are cheaper than Rebound and can be mixed when needed. Look under 'supplements' on most online dog catalogue websites.
    Carol
    • Gold Top Dog
    Even cheaper would be a good old can of broth.  Just make shure it's just straight broth and not the kind with salt and sugar added to it.
     
    • Gold Top Dog
    Zoe doesn't drink a lot during the day so I add water to her food in the morning.  She LOVES it.  We started doing warm water in it when she was sick and didn't want to eat much and then kept doing it.  We now use regular, not warm water since she and we got impatient waiting for the water to get warm :).
    • Gold Top Dog
    You could switch over to canned food instead of feeding kibble.  Canned food contains about 75% water.  Where animals (humans included) need to get a big percentage of water through foods, canned is a good starting point.  You might want to consider perhaps a few raw meat meals as well.  Raw meat contains alot of water as well.  For treats you could give melon such as cantalope, watermelon (no seeds), apples, etc.  Fruit also contains natural water as well...there are so many natural ways to add water to a dogs diet.  My first suggestion is switching to a canned food diet as most animals do not have a high enough thirst drive and need to get water from their food...if you must feed kibble try to add enough water to cover the kibble then mix in canned. 
     
    Don't worry about dental problems, as long as you are feeding a good quality with no added sugars, high carb's etc you shouldn't have a problem.  Also, kibble does not clean teeth[:D]   
       
    • Gold Top Dog
    Offer wet foods, and add a little water to make the food gravy-ish.  If you can, feed more often and she will consume more (adding the water adds volume so she feels fuller at each meal).

    Also, make sure water is available at all times not just on a schedule.  Baited water is ok but it's most important that your dog has access to cool clean water anytime.  Like they say, you can lead a dog to water . . .[;)]
    • Silver
    Does your dog like ice? Offer ice cubes often or other frozen puppy treats.
    • Silver
    Penny doesn't seem to drink much water, either. So, sometimes I add water to her kibble to make it have a gravy consistancy. I also try to feed her canned food or raw meat once a day. As someone mentioned, ice cubes are great, too, if your dog likes them.
    • Gold Top Dog
    Yeah, ice cubes are a nice "treat".  If Roxie hears me getting a glass of ice, she'll run into the kitchen and wait patiently for me to give her a cube or two.
    • Bronze
    Thank you everybody for your tips.
    • Gold Top Dog
    Blue what type of diet and brand are feeding her?
    When you say you give her fresh water every 4 hours, does that mean she doesnt have access to water inbetween,or do you mean you refill her water bowl every 4 hours?

    I cant add to anything the others have suggested,my first thoughts were chicken broth to her drinking water and a good quality canned food,not supermarket stuff [:'(]
    • Gold Top Dog
    I float the kibble, drop ice cubes in the water bowl, give fruit for treats, etc.  The best thing I did this summer was freeze big slabs of watermelon and give them to Slick as a sort of "bone".  He LOVED it. 
    • Gold Top Dog
    I boiled bones (I had a few bones in the freezer that I didn't want to give to them..I think it was a small piece of a knuckle, and two little back ribs) in a big pot of filtered water yesterday, strained it, skimmed off some fat, and am using that to get Cherokee and Jaz to drink more. They both LOVE it. Didn't add salt or anything of course. I'm also using that to add to their meals, so it's not watered down and they don't feel the need to turn their noses up at their bowls.
    • Gold Top Dog
    Oooh, I love the watermelon idea!  My guys love squash and I have a ton this time of year - I'm going to try freezing some steamed "squish" (as my son calls it).
    • Silver
    wow... can't say I have a problem w/my dogs drinking water. They go thru gallons and gallons of it a day. I do know though that if you're feeding a kibble that is very high in meat protein it makes them drink more water. I know that is particularly true of cats whose diets are mainly meat ( if you're feeding them decent quality food ).  My dogs full bowls of cool water available 24/7. It helps too to put the water in a ceramic bowl where it stays cold all day. I know some dogs won't drink room temp water. 

    They have those new gimmicky "doggy" waters out there now. A new way for a fool to spend his money .  You can get the same exact results by adding a bit of fruit juice or broth or unsweetened Koolaid and a ratio of 1 tsp salt to 4 tsp sugar per gallon  (for electrolyte balance ) and also you can add a finely ground multivitamin to it.