my 12wk puppy is feed on beta puppy food (dry mix) i take the water away at 8.30pm so she doesnt wet her bed and during the day she drinks all the water in her bowl which is just under a pint my husband thinks this is too much but being my first pup im not sure if this is ok or not and if i should take her to the vets she is growing fine and shows no signs of anything being wrong and has housetrained very well.
Thanks for any advice     She is a english springer spaniel from field background (not sure if it makes a difference)

Dear Guest

Dogs, like cats and humans are 70% water, being correctly hydrated is the single most important consideration before all others (apart from breathing).  You are feeding a dry complete food and thus your dog will drink more than if she were on a raw or tinned diet.  Personally I never restrict my dog's access to water, this can make an animal drink more because they are afraid it will be taken away.

HTH

IMO pups being fed dry food should have access to water at all times, withholding could cause the pup damage. You can't train a pup by withholding water from the pups bladder you have to wait till the pups bladder is able to manage to hold water.

Water should always be available with dry food - plus if she is playing this is bound to make her thirsty too :)

Hi, agree with the others & under a pint of water is not enough for a young pup fed on dry food to be drinking. Mine aren`t fed dry food but still have access to water in & outdoors 24hrs a day. To have access to a drink of water whenever needed is a basic necessity, not a luxury.

Christine, Spain

Hi Guest. Next time you are in a Supermarket go and have a read on the tins of dog food and see just how much water is in it. As a dog that is fed on tins is also given access to water surely you would expect a dog to drink more when fed on dry food. I always leave water for my dogs and they are fed a dry food. I'm forever re-filling the water bowl, but at least I know they are getting enough. How would you like it if you were thirsty and not allowed to drink? Several years ago a dog I sold was returned to me. It had been restricted in its access to water. All it did for a week was empty the water bowl every time it was filled. The vet said it was purely because it hadn't had access all the time.  Please don't remove the water bowl. ;)

I too have a dog that was denied water in his previous home.  He would drink enough water to sink the navy when we first had him. He did eventually drink sensibly but it took him a while to cotton on that it would always be available.

i agree with the others, there should always be clean water available, i have a big bowl always full indoors and a bucket in the garden full of water, and in the hot summer weather i leave the paddling pool full of water so he can drink it and get in and keep cool.

Heidi

I've always taken water upstairs for Millie at night because she can't get down the stairs to her water, originally placed within her cage, and now that she sleeps on the bed, I still take a bowl up to put on the side in case she asks for a drink (which she sometimes does).

Even as a tiny un-housetrained puppy, i couldn't have kept her away from water at night :-(

Agree with everyone else.

But I would say, whether the pup is fed on a dry or wet food diet.....clean fresh water should always be available.

We always have buckets of fresh water available for our dogs, whenever they want it.

Witholding water won't help with training a pup, and it's dangerous.

Best of luck,

Lisa

I once saw a table that showed expected water consumption for dsogs on dry and wet food.  I calculated that my 20kg dogs on dry food should be drinking about 2 pints a day (more in hot weather), so a pint a day for your pup I would not think excessive, in fact it probably isn't enough, as I wpil;d expect yours would need the dame as mine being of similar size. 

Please never restrict it's access to water.  You can cause Kidney problems.