Table of Contents Show
Water is essential for every life on earth. Just like our bodies depend on a good intake of water, our pet dogs require a sufficient amount of hydration too. Dog owners often see their fellows making a mess slurping the water from bowls, but some just avoid water completely!
If your dog hates water, well you will need to put in the extra effort!
How you can train your dog to drink?
Read on to find out how you can train your dog to drink a sufficient amount of water daily!
Dog owners often wonder how long a dog can survive without water; well usually 48 to 72 hours.
But certainly, you can’t wait for this long to bear the consequences, yet you can’t force feed water to the dog. Forcing your dog to drink water can result in aspiration pneumonia! Instead of force-feeding, cajoling them is a better option. Know that 48 hours without water means an immediate visit to the veterinarian. Before learning the tricks to train your dog to drink water, let’s learn about the possible causes of not drinking water.
What could be the reasons for a dog to avoid drinking water?
If you wonder how much water is enough for the dog, you need to weigh your dog first. For every pound, an ounce cup of water is needed. So, if your dog is 40 pounds, 5 cups a day should be sufficient for it. But remember, sultry days require more hydration as dogs can’t sweat. You certainly don’t want them to heat stroke!
Water is important because it
- keeps their body temperature in check,
- helps in digestion,
- keeps their joints healthy and
- helps in excreting waste.
You don’t want your dogs to go thirsty so dive deeper first to know what is stopping them from drinking.
Change of Environment: New place
As is obvious, a new place will always overwhelm your furry buddy. They would certainly avoid drinking or eating anything. Dogs are, by nature, very cautious animals, if the water source is different than what they usually enjoy, they would doubt it.
Ensure that you are taking their favorite water bowls or utensils when feeding them. You don’t want them to feel unsettled, now do you?
Health Issues
At times dogs don’t feel like drinking because there may be underlying diseases that are preventing them from hydrating themselves. Most commonly, a urinary tract infection, bladder infection or kidney disease makes it difficult for a dog to drink too much water as they can’t urinate, and the condition becomes distressing.
In such cases, immediate veterinary assistance should be sought. You certainly do not want to risk the life of your beloved dog!
Weather Changes
Just as we don’t feel thirsty in cold climatic conditions, dogs too don’t feel like drinking water in colder weather conditions. While this is not something to worry about, keeping an eye is important. You don’t want them to not drink at all!
No Exertion
Dogs are active animals. If you are not spending much time taking them for a walk, they might show tantrums by not drinking water. Take them for exercise or walk to ensure they drink enough.
Age is an issue
Know that your dog lacks motivation when they get old, it is too much work to move around just for water. If that is one reason why your oldie is not drinking enough water, keep its water bowls nearby. You can also keep multiple bowls at various locations wherever it is more comfortable drinking. If even then, drinking is too much of a task, ensure that you are feeding it wet food instead of dry ones. Hydration cannot be neglected.
Connects water drinking with bad experience:
At times your dog may not be fond of drinking water because it associates the activity with some bad experience of the past. It could be something as simple as the placement of the water bowl or the shape/size of the bowl.
If it’s an abandoned pup or a shelter rescue, maybe a similar bowl is the culprit that’s causing it to avoid drinking water. Be patient and experiment with different bowls to encourage your dog to drink water.
Gum or teeth disease:
Just like our eating or drinking become a task after a dentist visit, dogs too experience severe pain when they are suffering from toothache. If your canine avoids water, see if their teeth and gums are healthy. Take them to the vet immediately if they are suffering from teeth/gum disease.
Mouth injury:
Dogs often injure their mouth in aggressive play or fight with other dogs in the house. If that is the case injury to the mouth needs to be treated immediately for allowing your dog to drink water with ease.
Separation Anxiety:
Dogs, like most pets, get very attached to their owners. Any mishap in the family, its companion leaving for another city or death in a family could cause anxiety and depression in dogs. If your dog is experiencing such emotions, it is highly likely that it to not drink or eat at all.
Even a new place can rise such emotions in your canine friend, so you need to be all the more loving and gentler to relieve its anxiety.
Now that you’ve learned about the various issues or reasons that deter your dog from drinking water, let’s learn how you can solve this issue. But, before knowing the ways to trick your dog into drinking water few questions need to be answered.
1-Why does my dog hate water so much?
Your dog does not hate water, as stated earlier, there could be many reasons that are making him avoid water. Diseases are a few of them.
2-How to know if your dog is dehydrated?
There are a few obvious signs of canine dehydration. They lose their appetite, and their eyes look dry and sunken. Some would feel lethargic and would pant a lot. Vomiting and diarrhoea are also an indication of dehydration in dogs. Their skin too feels less elastic, and their nose is often dry.
3-What food hydrate dogs?
If water is not enticing to your dog, treat them with watermelons, cucumbers, cantaloupe, and celery. These hydrating fresh fruits and vegetables have 90% or more water in them, thus a good alternative to normal water.
What to do if your dog is scared of drinking water?
It has been stated earlier that it is not the water but the surroundings or the utensil that causes the fear. Try a variety of bowls and change places to see if they drink it or not. Also, avoid feeding them in a new bowl if you have changed their environment.
5-What happens when your dog doesn’t want to eat or drink?
Unlike humans, dogs don’t sweat so water is very important for them to stay cool. Not drinking water will make them dehydrated and lethargic. Immediate help will be required to hydrate the dog.
You know your canine needs water and there is no avoiding it, so you need to be vigilant for the sake of your pet friend.
Read about how you can trick your dogs to drink water to save them from dehydration.
Wet Food:
Instead of dry food, it is a good idea to all water content to the food or feed wet food instead.
Water in any form:
Water intake is essential for dogs, no matter the state of the water! If it is sultry and humid outside, you need to trick your dog into drinking water through the ice! Yes, you read right, dogs love the texture of ice as well, so in no time, they will gobble it all up.
Let them choose a bowl:
We all have our favourite utensils, no? Similarly, our pet friends can be very picky. Choose the bowl they like and the place they like to drink their water in.
Low Sodium Broth:
Some dogs don’t connect well with water. If your dog doesn’t like water, why not provide them with a low-sodium soup option? Filling and yummy too!
Fresh Veggies and Fruits:
Dogs enjoy treats all the time and it is already summer. Watermelons and melons make a good treat, so treat them all you want and keep them hydrated.
Pamper them with your hands:
Dogs love it when you feed them with your hands. How about cupping some water in your hands to let your canine gulp from it?
Add Flavours to water:
If you think your dog is bored with the water, you can add flavours to it. Maybe tuna or chicken juices or a bone broth, that must be its favourite!
Water Fountain:
If your dog is picky, it must not be up for drinking from the bowl. How about adding a water fountain to it? Dogs enjoy lapping from the running water from the water fountain.
Raw Diet:
Time and again feed your dog a raw diet instead of a cooked one. Raw diets have much higher water content than cooked ones.
Ice Cream:
We all melts for ice-cream and so does our furry friend. So choose from variety of fruity flavours for your pet dog. That’s one delicious treat to keep their water intake in check
Make Smoothies:
Yoghurt with fresh fruits will make an amazing smoothie for your lovely pet. In no time your dog will slurp it all.
Make them drink via Syphon:
If your canine is incapacitated, you need to encourage them to drink via syphon. Allow your dog to sit in a comfortable position and once seated, put the pipe in its mouth. All you need to do is gradually squirt the water for it to gulp slowly. Don’t rush, you don’t want to choke your furry friend.
Give dog treats to drink water:
If your dog doesn’t feel motivated to drink water, treat them with treats when it drinks. Treats always assert positive behaviour in dogs.
Keep the bowls filled with cool water:
Dogs prefer cool water to hot one. So, you need to keep cool fresh water in their bowls all the time.