Hi

My 13 week old puppy hardly drinks anything during the day, but then drinks loads in the evening and at night.  We don't restrict water after a certain time in the evening as we don't think this is right.  She has a bowl of water in the kitchen and another one in her playpen which is in the lounge.  We also put one in the garden for her when she's out playing.  We change the water several times a day so she's always got fresh clean water and she has fresh water in her pen at night.  The last few days it's been very warm, but she's drunk hardly anything during the day, then last night she emptied her bowl in her pen during the night which made her desperate for a wee by 4.30am.  We feed her half moist and half dry complete.  Could it be that she's getting enough moisture from the moist food? but why does she drink mainly in the evening and at night?   any thoughts?

If you are feeding a wet food that is around 70 - 75% water therefore she will not be drinking as much as say a dog on dry food.

You say she is having a mixture, not sure why if both are "complete" and you have bought them for that reason, mixing them does not make the diet "more complete" just risks unbalancing it.

All dogs have differing needs, as long as she is healthy and not dehydrated and has free access to water she will take what she requires.

Thanks.  We're feeding her half most and half dry because we're following the diet sheet from the breeder.

I think she might have just been feeling under the weather the last few days because she's started drinking a lot more yesterday and already this morning.

Hi Harry25, Could it be boredom at night that is making her drink?  If there is no one to play with and your pup is awake there is not much else to do unless she has toys to play with.  Iused to use a large rabbit bottle (the ones with the ball bearing in them) in my pups cage at night and I would often wake up to hear her lapping at it but once I woke up and she thought there was someone awake to entertain her it would stop.  Just a thought.

I don't think it's boredom, I'm up til 11pm and my husband lets her out at 12.30am-1am, so he is with her playing etc until then.  She has toys in her pen overnight.  As I said, she does seem to have picked up the last couple of days and is drinking more during the day, so she's OK til I get up at 6am.

Hi

My 9 month old Staff does exactly the same. Some dogs dont like to drink too much when they are too warm and prefer to cool down first. One thing you could try if you are concerned about house training through the night is to measure how much she drinks of a night time and reduce the amount you leave down for her by 10%, offering her this much when you wake in the morning so that shes not thirsty. It may help swing the balance a bit.

If you dont mind her routine the way it is, I would leave her as mine has always done this and is perfectly healthy.

Good Luck