We have a golden retriever puppy aged 13 weeks and I am confused. I have read in various places that restricting water at night can help housetrain your puppy, which is what we are currently doing (Although she still pees twice in the night). However, I am worried that when we give he water first thing in the morning she is very thirsty so is drinking very fast which I am worried is causing her to gulp down air which in turn I have read can cause bloat. I have also read many conflicting things about bloat, some saying to raise the food bowl some saying not to, some saying dont play or exercise 1 hour before and 2 after and some saying longer but as I work and only pop home at lunch to feed her and then come home at about 4.30pm and we feed her at about 7pm it means that I can play with her for an hour then leave her for an hour and a half, which then means that we have to leave her until 9pm before we take her for a walk and then she would go straight to bed, which doesnt seem much stimulation ! Any advise would be appreciated. Thanks.

OK - at 13 weeks she should still be on three/four meals a day - I would be feeding her at 8am, 12, 5, and then a bonio or similar at about ten. I would not restrict her water intake at night - she will be clean overnight in her own time (assuming the rest of the housetraining is going well). I'm not sure about raising food bowls for GR's - but someone will be along shortly who will know.

Familiarise yourself with the symptoms of bloat too. As a puppy, she will want to sleep after her meals anyway - play with her before you feed her.

HTH
Chloe

I replied to this on the Visitor's Questions board....
:)

In My opinion no dog should be restricted water at all ! especially if fed on dry food she is a baby animal and justt like human babies they cannot control their bladders you will need to be patient and the housetraining will come I dont believe there is a quick fix for this just patience and understanding

Thanks a lot for the advice. At the moment we feed her at 6.30am, 12pm and 7pm and taking her out for a walk when I get home sounds like a good idea (She hasnt been going out for walks as yet because she only had her second vaccination on saturday). I have familiarised myself with the symptoms for bloat so I hopefully know what to look out for but obviously I want to do anything possible to reduce the risk. I think you all agree that restricting her water isnt a good idea so we will let her have it at night but should we stop it for a while after shes eaten ? While I am wiriting this does anybody have any advice about stopping her from trying to run out of the room when we are going to leave her ? Thanks again everyone.

Do you give her dried food? If you do, is it given dry or soaked? I still moisten my dogs' dry food, because then they don't seem to get so thirsty afterwards, and they need moisture in the stomach (have you seen how much the food swells when it is wet?). I have bowls of water down all the time. Unless the weather's very hot they only seem to get through one bowl between them each day (4 dalmatians).
:)

Yes I give her Pedigre dried puppy mix and I give it dry. I havent seen hour much it swells up when wet though. I think we will definately leave the water out for her now. How much water should you use to moisten the mix ?

Try soaking a small amount of the mix overnight and you will see how much it swells out. You shouldn't feed soaked food that has been left out for long periods, as it goes sour, especially in hot weather, but do soak a little so you can see for yourself just how much it changes. Don't worry so much about bloat, my breed is far more susceptable to bloat than your golden retriever will be and I have found that so long as you are aware of the symptoms and know what to,look for you will be ok. As to raising food bowls, I always have done this and have bought stands which my dogs find easy to get along with. My friends elderly golden is fed from a raised bowl, as the dog finds it easier. As with any breed which is prone to bloat I do always feed my adult dogs twice a day, rather than one large meal a day.

Hi,

What else do puppies do but sleep, poo&pee, run and play, eat, run and play, sleep, poo&pee, run ....

If puppies were highly likely to bloat from eating or drinking before or after play there would not be many adult large breed dogs!

When I had large breeds I always kept them calm a half hour or so before eating and an hour or so after eating. I also fed them twice a day, rather than in one large meal. I had several friends with GSDs that died of bloat - none of them came down with bloat which could be related to eating too close to exercise.

The fact is nobody knows what causes some dogs to bloat and others never have a problem. So, please do not worry about it constantly. It is likely never to happen to your dog.

Stacey

Stacey

Thanks everyone for your advice. You have helped me a lot and made me feel much better.