How much water do I allow puppy to drink?

Ok, my apologies, I kust have gotten your post mixed up with another's. I sincerely apologize. I think its pretty much agreed that two hours prior to bedtime is a good time to take away water . It seems as if the main problem is that your babe dosnt know what signal to give you to tell you he has to go. I copied this from another post similiar to your problem..........
 

I got a pretty good sized bell and hung it at her level next to the door. Everytime we were going to exit to go potty I would grab her paw and ring the bell and we proceeded outside. The trick is DO NOT go back inside until she has pottied and then praise praise praise "good potty" and head right back inside so she dosnt get the idea you are out there to play. Coincidently Rory was being potty trained in the winter so yea I spent a lot of cold nights outside waiting for her to potty. She would be stubborn because it was cold and would huddle by the door to get back inside but I never gave in. She would just stare at me and she didnt start going until I did something else, maybe taking the pressure off of her. I found by accident and boredom that when I stopped staring at her and bounced a ball or meddled in the garden she would go, all the while loooking at me out of the corner of her eye.
When she finished I again, praised like crazy and headed right back in, its was like "you wanna be inside and be wamr, go potty" and she got the hint.
Now back to other people not training hteir dog this way.....some found that the dog would ring the bell to go play, chase a bird or if the wind blew BUT I have found that if you inly ring the bell to potty and come right back in then they learn the difference. Also now when we go out of town I bring her bell adn hang it at the hotel room or wherever we are staying!

I hear about people limiting water for puppies during house training and it never ceases to worry me. Realize that urination is the activity of a healthy body removing toxins from the blood by straining it through the kidneys. If you reduce your dog's access to water so much that it makes house training easier - as in he urinates less -understand that this is not occuring in a vacuum. If he is urinating less he is less efficiently removing toxins from his blood because he is not getting enough liquid.

House training is what it is. Your puppy is likely to have accidents until he develops enough muscle tone in his bladder and bottom to give you more than a one second warning between when he feels he needs to go and when he has to go.

Paula

Potty training woes.... bless your heart.
I am by far no expert, but I will share what worked for me, of course I know what works for one wont work for all.
 
I gave free 24/7 access to water, feed twice a day.
 
5:30 am to potty
Yummy  breakfast then 20-30 mintues after the meal back out to potty
8:00 am crate and I am off to work
potty break at 12:15pm, snack and playtime for 40 mintues or so
back to crate
5:15 potty break
6:30 ish dinner time then back out to potty 20 -30 mintues after meal
7:45 back to potty
8:30 potty
10:00 potty
11:00 potty then to bed in crate
 
Ok that was our schedule and we still had a few accidents here and there, just give it time. Now that mine are 2/1/2 and 8 months they go out about 4-5 times a day and do great but they are still crated every other night and during the day when no one is home.
 
Good Luck
 

ORIGINAL: willowchow

On this note, try to avoid fish based diets, because they do significantly lower the correct pH of the urine.

Can you please elaborate on this--Willow has had past urinary issues and is eating a fish kibble in the mornings.

 
     Too much fish and/or vegetables in a dog's diet will lower the acidity of their urine ... a meat based (but not all meat!) diet is best for a proper pH level in the urinary tract. I have not been able to find much tangible resaerch regarding this issue, but have seen an ASTOUNDING number of anecdotal cases of fish based diets causing urinary problems. Astounding meaning EVERY dog I have ever fed fish based kibbles to or every single dog I know firsthand who was fed this type of food for a prolonged period. They have all developed some type of urinary issue from early onset kidney failure, chronic UTIs, bladder/kidney infections, rare bladder cancers ...
     This fact is widely known and accepted by cat owners, since kidney disease is so prevelant in felines. Fish is the worst food a cat can eat, primarily because of the alkalizing affect it has on the urine and the damage that will cause to cats with renal disease. It is also a common irriatant/cause for FUS, which plagues many cats, especially those eating dry fish based foods. Not only does the fish kibble alkalize the urine, which is the cornerstone of all other urinary system problems, the intake of water to compensate for dry foods lackl of moisture further dilutes the urine. Its just a recipe for disaster ...
    

I'm going to start another thread on the fish/urine issue tomorrow so I don't interfere with this one.

When the pH of the urine is too low, its a haven for bacteria to grow unchecked. Make sure this dog is on a meat based kibble and try adding in cooked or raw meats to further acidify the urine. Vitamin C tablets will also further acidify the urine. On this note, try to avoid fish based diets, because they do significantly lower the correct pH of the urine.

 
I'm so confused by this. You say if the pH is too low, add meat or vitamin C to further acidify the urine. A low pH is acidic! If the pH is too low, the last thing you want to do is add vitamin C or anything that will further acidify it, that's what you'd do if the pH was too high (I believe 5.5-7 is the desired range for dog urine..7 is neutral, anything below is acid, anything above is alkaline). I'm assuming this was just a mistake, but I wanted to point that out and make sure.

I noticed that too but thought maybe it was just getting too late for me.
 
Please check my thread tomorrow.[]

ORIGINAL: UrbanBeagles


    Too much fish and/or vegetables in a dog's diet will lower the acidity of their urine ... a meat based (but not all meat!) diet is best for a proper pH level in the urinary tract. I have not been able to find much tangible resaerch regarding this issue, but have seen an ASTOUNDING number of anecdotal cases of fish based diets causing urinary problems. Astounding meaning EVERY dog I have ever fed fish based kibbles to or every single dog I know firsthand who was fed this type of food for a prolonged period. They have all developed some type of urinary issue from early onset kidney failure, chronic UTIs, bladder/kidney infections, rare bladder cancers ...
    This fact is widely known and accepted by cat owners, since kidney disease is so prevelant in felines. Fish is the worst food a cat can eat, primarily because of the alkalizing affect it has on the urine and the damage that will cause to cats with renal disease. It is also a common irriatant/cause for FUS, which plagues many cats, especially those eating dry fish based foods. Not only does the fish kibble alkalize the urine, which is the cornerstone of all other urinary system problems, the intake of water to compensate for dry foods lackl of moisture further dilutes the urine. Its just a recipe for disaster ...
   

Oh boy. I hadn't heard that before. [:-] Things like that are why I rotate foods. Fish once or twice a week is probably healthy, as with most other things, I think excess is the issue.

I think this information might be slightly off---I need to research that more before I do anything. 
 
[font=verdana]Natural Balance kibble contains[/font] DL-methionine which is used as a urinary acidifier. 
 
And, rotating is fine if the dog can handle it that's not going to be an option for me.

I'd really take this up with the vet. It looks like your puppy is due for another set of vaccinations very soon and I'd discuss this issue with him. In the meantime, measure out the amount of water he's drinking and write it down. Also write down when he urinates, and don't measure it but try to get an idea of how many seconds he's urinating each time.
 
Your Canadian winters may be making the air inside the house very dry and he may need more water. It's really important for a puppy to be well hydrated because if they become ill and have diareha or vomiting that little extra reserve can be crucial. The vet will be able to give you a much better idea of healthy amounts than a book or an online forum.
 
Given your winters and your work schedule you may indeed want to consider a pen or very large crate with piddle pads. It's a little more work to housetrain a dog that's been using pads but not nearly as much work as training a dog that has been forced to relieve itself in the crate.
 
Also remember that as unpleasant as it is to clean up accidents, this phase absolutely does pass and you will have a whole lot of happy years with your dog. Take a deep breath, relax and enjoy your puppy.
 
Good luck.

Leroi, good for you in trying to work this out! Yeah, puppy housebreaking is a pain - and TBH at 11 weeks old he probably doesn't have the ability to reliably signal that he needs to go. At this point in puppy development I make that decision (frequently) for the pup. Rather than waiting for their signal, I go ahead and assume that every 25-35 mins while awake the pup will need to go - sooner and more if they're playing.

My pup was a recreational drinker, and here is what we did when he was a pup. Unrestricted water before work, rabbit waterer in the crate, some water at lunch (no gorging, but certainly some water), and then free water after work up until about 2 hrs before bed. No water in the crate overnight. The rabbit bottle is great - he has to work harder to get it, but it's available to him.

He most likely will grow out of the recreational drinking. Mine has.

ORIGINAL: Stacita

I'd really take this up with the vet. It looks like your puppy is due for another set of vaccinations very soon and I'd discuss this issue with him. In the meantime, measure out the amount of water he's drinking and write it down. Also write down when he urinates, and don't measure it but try to get an idea of how many seconds he's urinating each time.
Given your winters and your work schedule you may indeed want to consider a pen or very large crate with piddle pads. It's a little more work to housetrain a dog that's been using pads but not nearly as much work as training a dog that has been forced to relieve itself in the crate.
Also remember that as unpleasant as it is to clean up accidents, this phase absolutely does pass and you will have a whole lot of happy years with your dog. Take a deep breath, relax and enjoy your puppy.

 
Thanks very much Stacita.  Whenever I'm feeling overwhelmed or frustrated, comments like these keep my chin up!  Everyone knows a puppy can be quite high maintenance, and while I love him to pieces, sometimes...well, sometimes I want to kill him! []
I'm just not sold on the idea of pee pads or newspapers, so I'll try sticking it out with just the crate and trips outside.  After we go a couple wks with no crate accidents, then I'll probably move him to the kitchen with the babygate and his crate, but keep the crate door open so he can get out.  I just don't want him thinking the kitchen floor means he can pee, you know?  We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. 
Leroi is actually going to the vet for his check-up and 2nd set of shots today, so we'll have a chat with the lady and see what she thinks.  I agree I was over-limiting his water, and perhaps he struck me as a really thirsty pup because I wasn't allowing him to drink enough.  I feel horrible, but as Xerxes said, hopefully I haven't caused any lasting damage and Leroi will forgive me!! []

Everyone knows a puppy can be quite high maintenance, and while I love him to pieces, sometimes...well, sometimes I want to kill him!

[sm=rofl.gif] I totally hear you. It took me 2-1/2 years to recover from Bree's (my 3 year old) puppyhood.

So as of yesterday he got more water, and today when I went home at lunch there were no accidents! I thought there might be since I had allowed him to drink when he wanted, but nothing!
Outside he peed for like a minute straight! I was cheering him on the whole time. []
Also, I crouch to see how much he's peeing and today the color of his urine was much clearer.  Before the extra water it was much more yellow and opaque, so I was happy to see that, as well.  Plus now that he was allowed to have some water during my lunch visit he only took 2 laps and wandered away.  It's like he just wants to know it's there if he needs it!
I feel much better and it looks as though Leroi isn't holding any grudges!! []

That's fantastic news! I hope things continue to get better and better! Give that pupper a big ole smooch for us.