Whenever someone new follows me on Twitter, I always have a boo at their timeline to decide whether I want to follow them back, or to make sure they aren't a spammer. I was looking at a new follower last night, and saw this in their timeline. How much water should a dog drink in a day? The amount shocked me, and made me question lots of stuff in this article.
The article says that dogs should drink an ounce of water for every pound of weight they have. That means Trixeroo should be drinking something in the neighbourhood of 52 ounces of water! Yeesh! She certainly goes and has frequent drinks, but I don't know if she drinks that much. Nor do I think she could hold all of that. If she drinks more than usual, she has to pee a lot more, and it will actually cause her poop to be kind of runny. Ah, always back to the poop. Or there was that one time when she and another dog had a water drinking contest and then she couldn't contain it and had a big ol' accident on the carpet. She never has accidents, so that was a shocker for me.
And here's another thing the article says. It recommends having a drinking fountin for dogs. Now, how the hell does that work? Does it just keep dripping water all day? Isn't that kind of wasteful? Or does the dog being near set it off? If that's the case, wouldn't it be hard to show the dog that there is water if they just put their ugly mug under the tap?
It says water consumption will go up drastically. Now, is that because of the whole running fresh water thing being more appealing like the article suggests, or is it because the dog feels compelled to finish it all? "Ooo! The water's still coming! Must drink more and more and more! Glug glug glug!"
So dog experts, is this article a pile of hooey?
3 weeks ago
3 comments:
Hi Carin, I have between five (the dogs who live here) and twelve (depending on who's visiting) dogs here a day. I refill their water pail, which is a horse feed/water bucket that hold probably four gallons of water, with fresh water in the morning and then change it at least twice during the day (and again after the visitors leave) whether it's low or not because they definitely prefer fresh water. I would never install a water fountain for them because they play in it more than they drink it and it would be a tremendous waste. The amount they drink varies but even on the hottest day with two or three hour long sessions of ball throwing, they never empty the bucket even by half by just drinking. Dipping their paws, stomping their feet in it and knocking it around account for most of the water loss. It is available to them all day, rain or shine, cold or hot so they can drink any time they want. I'd be hard pressed to force 52 ounces of water down Paxil's throat every day, and, by those standards, 95 pound Axel would require more water than he could safely hold without chancing gastric torsion. Obviously, a working dog requires water at regular intervals throughout the day but she also needs to be regulated because her pee breaks are regulated. I'm sure she has learned to drink when it's offered if she isn't used to having it all the time. If not, and you're worried, you could offer her ice cubes throughout the day on hot days so you could keep her hydrated without spending your whole day taking her out to pee. My guess is that if she isn't rushing to her water bowl to gulp down water when you get home, she's fine. Optimum and necessary/practical are not the same thing. Even in my car, I have a bowl of fresh water at all times in case Paxil gets into the hot car after a shopping spree and needs water. People are constantly telling me that I should give her water when we are out and she's working because she often pants when she's on the move. Panting means she's excited (she pants in the winter while working, even just after having a drink) or perhaps hot but not necessarily thirsty, and she doesn't do nearly as much pulling into her harness as Trixie needs to. Just my two-cents but I wouldn't worry too much.
BTW, I went to a clothing store yesterday and after finding something to try on, I entered the fitting room area with Paxil. The attendant saw Paxil and assumed I was blind. She immediately spoke to me about the dog so I would know she was speaking to me and not any of the other women milling around. She asked the others to wait, and again mentioning the beautiful dog so I'd know she meant me, she told me to follow her and directed me to the handicapped fitting room. I thanked her and as I entered, i told her she didn't need to help me return to the desk when I was finished because I wasn't blind. She was so embarrassed and apologized over and over until I told her that what she'd done was wonderful, stressing that she hadn't touched me, had let me know she was speaking to me without being annoying, had told me to follow her instead of dragging me somewhere, had shown me the room with enough instructions that I would have been comfortable without having a ton of attention called to me, and told me her name in case I needed to call her for assistance. She was practically crying in her embarrassment so I spoke to a manager before I left saying that she had been incredibly helpful and, if I had been blind, I would have been very happy to have her service in place of the usual dumbass who grabs and yells and points. I thought you would appreciate a story about someone who did the right thing whether she knew it or not.
Sorry I haven't been around in a while. Been off the internet mostly, and trying to write. If I actually finish something, I will forward it to you so you can tell me if it sucks. I trust your opinion!
Your stuff would never suck. Ever.
Thanks. I'm comforted to know I'm not crazy.
And thanks for helping that poor woman realize she did the right thing. I love stories like that.
That amount seems excessive to me. I don't think the dogs here drink anything close to that :) I just always have fresh water available and let them decide how much they need.
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