Why Your Dog Might Drink Less Water Sometimes
Here are a few common reasons why a dog might be drinking less water than usual.
Your Dog May Be Sick or in Pain
If your dog is sick from another underlying cause, or has mobility or pain issues, they also might not drink the amount of water they need. Talk with your veterinarian to figure out why your dog is not drinking enough water and how you can help.
Why Is My Dog Always Thirsty?
Dogs that are constantly thirsty are often simply active in hot climates. High-intensity physical activity causes them to deplete their bodily fluids more quickly. As a result, they are always thirsty.
Some dogs are just obsessed with water and we have a post on that here.
Certain medical conditions in dogs cause excessive thirst or polydipsia. For example, a dog suffering from pancreatitis will exhibit signs of being constantly thirsty, while dogs with diabetes urinate so frequently that they consume much more water.
Sometimes a dog is expelling a significant amount of fluid through vomiting and diarrhea due to their medical condition, which may cause them to drink more. Although in many cases, a sick dog might refuse water and risks dehydration.
Other medical conditions that can cause polydipsia include:
It’s also possible that dogs are constantly thirsty because they’re taking medication that causes them to feel dehydrated. This condition could be a side effect of the drug. Prednisone is one example that can make dogs excessively thirsty.
It is relatively simple to detect dehydration in dogs. One of the first things you can do to determine whether or not your dog is dehydrated is to look inside their mouth. If you feel that your dog’s gums are sticky and their tongue is dry, this is usually one of the first signs of dehydration.
A good test is the capillary refill time, which you can also spot in the gums. This is the time it takes the blood supply to the mucous membranes to restore itself. By pressing your finger against the gum, you block the blood flow, resulting in the appearance of a white spot.
As soon as you remove your finger, the white spot should quickly turn pink again. If it turns pink within 2 seconds, your dog is hydrated. 2 to 3 seconds indicates some dehydration. But suppose it is delayed for more than 4 or 5 seconds. In that case, the dog may be suffering from severe dehydration and might need medical treatment.
The signs of dehydration will also be visible on their skin in some cases. If you examine a dehydrated dog’s skin, you might notice that it has lost elasticity. The skin around the neck, forehead, and shoulders may take a long time to return to its original position if you gently pinch or pull it in these areas with your fingers.
Tenting is another term used to describe this condition. It is also one of the most straightforward methods of determining dehydration.
How Much Water Should Your Dog Drink Per Day? | Wag!
The amount of water a dog should drink every day depends on various factors, including age, size, breed, and more. There’s no one set volume of water your dog should be getting through each day, though there are some good general rules of thumb to go by, as well as signs to look for to see whether your dog is dehydrated (or overly hydrated).
Generally speaking, your dog should be getting between 50ml and 100ml of water per day per Kg of body weight. So, a 10Kg adult Scottish Terrier, for instance, would need around 750ml of water per day, whilst a 25Kg female Labrador, by comparison, would need between 1,250ml and 2,500ml of water every day. Now, this is by no means a hard and fast rule, more just a general guideline. Besides size, factors such as fitness, activity level, and overall health will impact a dog’s required daily water intake. Why is My Dog Drinking So Much Water?
There are four main reasons why your dog might seem to be drinking more water than usual, and these are diet, activity level, illness and medication:
Diet If you’ve ever had a particularly salty meal, then you’ll have noticed yourself reaching for a glass of water more quickly afterwards than you otherwise might normally. A diet that’s high in sodium can cause a disruption in your body’s fluid levels, which in turn leads to you wanting more fluids. If your dog’s food is unusually high in salt, this might be the culprit of your dog’s sudden thirst. If your dog exclusively eats dry food, then this will also lead to a high water intake when compared with a pup who feeds on wet food, as the former isn’t getting the same kind of fluid intake from their food as the latter. Dog hydration is definitely a factor when considering if wet or dry dog food is best for your dog.
Activity Level This one is more common sense than anything else; if your dog has just gone on a big walk on a hot, sunny day, then they’re going to rush straight for the water bowl upon returning home. Similarly, if your dog isn’t particularly active, then exerts himself/herself more than usual running around playing, for instance, then they’re going to tire themselves out more than normal, raise their temperature and, as a result, therefore, get more thirsty.
Illness If your dog is drinking more water than normal, then it might be a sign of illness; the most common of these is kidney failure, but it could also be a sign of diabetes mellitus, fever or a urinary tract infection (UTI). If you think your dog might be developing an illness, look for any potential other symptoms they might’ve started displaying, and ring up your local veterinarian.
Medication Certain prescription medications can cause dogs to drink more water than usual. Anti-inflammatory, corticosteroid drugs, for instance, like prednisone and prednisolone, which are used to treat a whole range of ailments, including allergies and autoimmune diseases, have been known to cause increased thirst and water intake in dogs taking them.
Can Dogs Drink Puddle Water? The short answer is yes, they’ll probably be OK if they drink water from a puddle, however it’s best to try and prevent your dog from doing so if they’re able, as unlike the clean water in their dog bowl at home, standing water in puddles is more likely to contain potentially-harmful pathogens and disease-inducing bacteria. It’s better to be safe than sorry, and stop your dog from drinking from puddles, wherever possible.
A puppy’s physiology is finely balanced, so it’s important to closely monitor their water intake, and make sure they get enough water, but not too much. People often pay close attention to a puppy’s feeding schedule, but their water schedule is really just as important. Puppies need to drink water fairly frequently, having become used to regularly intaking fluids in the form of their mother’s milk. Puppies need more water than their adult counterparts, because their bodies are still growing and developing, and water plays a crucial role in helping facilitate that development. Puppies also tend to play more (though some ever-youthful older dogs would probably balk, or rather should that be, bark at this statement) which means they’ll need to take onboard more water because of that, too. A puppy (once weaned) should be drinking 15ml to 30ml of water per lb of bodyweight per day.
In the same way that too little water is dangerous for your dog, and causes dehydration, too much water can also be harmful in its own way. The easiest way to stop your dog from drinking too much water is to remove their bowl if they’re drinking too much, however this tactic requires a diligent and conscientious dog owner, as you don’t want to be inadvertently leaving your pup thirsty.
In much the same way you try to train your dog with any command or skill – with rewards; if your dog is reluctant to drink from its water bowl, then you need to make it more of an attractive prospect for him/her. Every time your dog takes a drink from its water bowl, give them a treat to positively reinforce the habit of drinking from the bowl.
If you’ve noticed your dog getting particularly thirsty whilst you’re out and about, then it might be worth getting them a collapsible dog bowl or special dog water bottle, so that you can quench their thirst on the move, rather than having to wait until you get home with them.
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