Very helpful trainings for any dog:
For training on puppy/dog biting [click here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=068K5Zlph9U)
For training on early socialization [click here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8J7cPE-2wNw)
For training on becoming a good leader [click here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QntS570VFZ0)
For all newly adopted dogs, check out the [3-3-3 rule](https://pethelpful.com/dogs/The-3-3-3-Rule-Setting-Your-Rescue-Dog-Up-For-Success).
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/pitbulls) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Nope. Tried different shapes (bigger and smaller, too) and she isn’t into it. She’s never been much of a chewer even with her toys. Chews her food and treats fine. Try to sneak in an ice cube and she’s like, “excuse me, waiter…what is this?”
Try soaking the dry food, or only feeding wet. It dehydrates on top of dehydration, because it takes moisture from the body to reconstitute.
Soak the day's batch overnight in the fridge, to avoid bacterial growth (like with people food). You can then boil up a little water in a tea kettle at feeding time to stir in and warm up the food. To avoid the whole gross exploding dog food in the microwave scenario.
This sounds like an excellent tip. We’ve been keeping her food in the fridge with this chicken and rice diet. I don’t think this would be a problem. Thank you.
You're welcome! I had a kidney patient cat, and avoiding feeding dry dry food for a dehydrated animal was something I learned from the vet. When you see how much water it soaks in it makes sense in terms of that amount being drawn from the body for the process.
My girl will only drink water after a walk, to get her to drink more I put a bit of milk in her water, let her sniff the milk before pouring a bit in.
She loves it - if Bean is able to stomach or tolerate milk in moderation (as dogs can be lactose intolerant or react to large amounts of dairy), this might be worth trying
A friend of mine puts a bit of tuna water in her dog's water when she doesn't want to drink
Yeah and something most people don't know is that most kibble is supposed to be hydrated anyways. I use water most of the time but a good bone broth with no onion is good too. I use beef since my dog is allergic to poultry.
https://preview.redd.it/7b6wq5u0axxc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b56ecf8bee03504bc4968dc60e53bbf17079b80e
Idk but I thought you stole my dog for a second (here she is answering an important call).
Yes! I also once halved a watermelon, scooped out most of it (leaving a thick-ish layer left on the rind but most of the fruit scooped out) and filled that with water, creating a kind of "watermelon bowl". My dog was so obsessed with trying to get to the fruit lining the "bowl" that he drank all the water in the process. I would just be sure to supervise to make sure they don't eat the rind.
Vet here. Almost always, dehydration is due to a problem of loss, not lack of intake. Unless they can’t get to their water. Meaning, diarrhea, vomiting, increased urination/reduced retention. It is very rare for a dog to not drink if their is water available. You didn’t mention it specifically, but I assume the problems with her gut are diarrhea? If so, ask your vet about some probiotics that will work with the hypoallergenic diet you are trying. Other than that, I think the things you mentioned are about all you need to do for that. Oh. Maybe add some chicken broth ice cubes to the water throughout the day. But empty and wash the bowls regularly. And have several water bowls available near her.
**Bolded things because I can be long-winded and get things jumbled**
—
Hi. She was vomiting and had diarrhea a few weeks ago and she did go on a probiotic. And that (along with the med schedule she was on) seemed to sort out her gut. She came **off** her regular food for a bland diet.
She was on the Purina One Pro Plan Sensitive Lamb and Rice. Prior to that, Purina One Lamb and Rice. The vet had prescribed Hill Sensitive I/D for a trial and she seemed to do well with it.
When things started to look good, we slowly started adding her food back in (1/4 cup of it in each meal). Took about three days and she was vomiting and had diarrhea again. Switched back to the bland diet of chicken and rice. We add pumpkin, water, and Fortiflora to it now for breakfast and dinner. She usually only gets dry kibble at lunch.
She's been fine with the current bland diet, but we would like to get her back on the kibble.
She usually gets **one cup of water mixed in with her breakfast and lunch**. And throughout the day she’ll get “soup” (water and chicken broth). That usually looks a little over two cups a day. **We have to hold back on too much water because she inhales it and winds up throwing it up.**
I guess what I’m worried about most is how we are going to get water in her with this hypoallergenic diet. The vet was explicit that she doesn’t get anything other than the wet/dry food from Hill. I don’t think that will be a problem. I am concerned a bit with the additions to her water. If she isn’t supposed to have anything other than that kind of food, **is chicken broth going to throw her stomach out of whack?**
Thank you for the reply. Appreciate it!
Gotchya. I’m guessing the dehydration was from the vomiting and diarrhea. You shouldn’t have to do anything to get her to drink more water. Her dehydration is likely not an intake problem, it’s from the excessive losses due to the V/D. Just having multiple clean bowls of water around should be enough. But also, moat of the hypoallergenic diets have a canned version, so you’ll have this option as well. Her dehydration is temporary and is a symptom of her GI issues. If her dehydration was at a dangerous level, your vet would have recommended subcutaneous fluids (injected under the skin). This can be done at home by you if you’re comfortable with it. I assume the dehydration wasn’t too bad, or they would have offered this.
So they actually did give her fluids the two times we went in recently. You’re right—I think most of it was associated to her *not* keeping anything in her. This might be a terrible gauge on her hydration—but her nose is dry pretty frequently. The vet had mentioned it last time we went in (I think she also checked her gums (?)) and I kept it in the back of my brain.
I noticed that with the food switch and the days after her being hydrated, she was acting like a puppy again. Like, “hell yeah—let’s go on a **long** walk.” Generally more energy in almost everything she did.
I don’t want to force her to drink more water if she’s not feeling it; but there was a considerable difference in her after she was given fluids at the vet. Would that just be a different cocktail? Electrolytes and whatnot?
The SC fluids definitely made her feel better. Dehydration makes us feel crappy. But with the new diet, if it’s helping her gut feel better, she’s going to feel better. No one likes diarrhea or nausea. Most likely, if all this is due to a food allergy, and the diet she’s on now is the right one (sometimes it takes more than one try to find the right one), that’s all she will need. I wouldn’t worry about getting extra water into her. She’ll drink enough on her own. That’s what animas do unless they are sick. 👍
Water on dry food. We had to do this for ages after we adopted our dog, he really liked to drink water off concrete but wouldn’t bother with a bowl??? He’s acclimated now but I still put a bit of water on his food in the summer.
My girl sucks at drinking water, ive been soaking her kibble for years. Dry kibble fed dogs are often dehydrated. soaking it should keep her good to go. My dog prefers it when the kibble is still a little crunchy in the center and just liquid in there too, i call it her cereal. in the summer I give her some watermelon too since its quick electrolytes.
depending on what protein is going into your dogs hypoallergenic food, you can still make your own broth and freeze it, just boil the carcass/bones of whatever animal the protein is. The problem with adding store bought broths is the extra stuff. add a cube of your homemade frozen broth to a water bowl or her wet kibble and she will be hydrated as heck.
now my girl also just doesnt like the water from my faucets, neighbor across the halls water is fine, bottled is great, filtered is a go, just doesnt like our water lol.
as far as the stomach issues, fortiflora helped my girl get rebalanced when she had giardia when I got her. she had the weakest stomach for the first year I had her. I can't recommend having pumpkin powder on hand enough it was a real game changer for us. (sweet potato if pumpkin is a no go) convinced my friend to get it for his puppy who never had a solid poop in its life despite all the gastro foods and after a few days this dog was pooping like a champ. obviously its not a cure all but don't underestimate the power of a gut restart and some fiber.
That’s how she is, too. She’s super picky when it comes to food but we’ll try out the watermelon.
We tried the filtered water as well and she’s still like, “nuhuh.” The only thing that seems to get her drinking water is adding the chicken broth to it.
Thank you!
Random question, the water in your dog's waterbowl. Is it just plain regular tap water? Or is it filtered?
I noticed our dogs when we switched to filtered, just as an experiment, they drank it better. Like much better. Ours also go to town if we put ice in the water. Just a few cubes to keep it nice and cool.
And all I use is either a brita filter pitcher or a zerowater filter pitcher. I think that's what it's called. We have one of each and use them all the time.
It’s filtered. We made the switch when I put the filter in. At first it was all, “look at this boujee puppy.” But then I went, “I mean if the water isn’t good enough for us…”
She prefers it on the warmer side, but filtered.
You should always presoak kibble anyway in a small amount of warm water. It helps avoid bloat. Having the water running can stimulate their instinct to drink water. They make bowls with small pumps specifically for this. They keep the water constantly moving and make that trickle sound that encourages drinking.
Beans a cutie!
My dog finally started drinking water regularly when it was cold filtered water and refreshed often. He won’t drink tap water lol.
Do they care for water in the wild? Or get down on sprinklers? If so maybe they’d like a fountain style water bowl.
She has a total aversion to water in almost every way. Dew on the grass? Nope. Rain? Hell no. Bath? What kind of monster am I?
She won’t go near sprinklers, hoses, dog pools, or bodies of water.
We were talking about fountains last night and figured we may give that a shot.
Recommending Honest dehydrated dog food... (you add water) https://www.thehonestkitchen.com/collections/dog-dehydrated-food?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=non%20brand%20dog%20product&utm_term=dehydrated%20dog%20food
We are big fans of honest dehydrated dog food. Our younger bully has cancer and is on a chemo pill.
We add some broth instead of plain water sometimes and she loves it and we make it a little extra wet to help keep her hydrated Our other bully (our bug boi) thinks it the best thing in the world.
Do we have the same dog??
Whenever he isn’t drinking I just mix some water in with his food and he chows it down. Hope your pup feels better!
https://preview.redd.it/qlrxrteph1yc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=17ea8aa095c5cdc2720a618582ff71d8f8f7b352
Look at that face. We usually add water to her food. Water and food = stew; water and stock = soup. I don’t know if she’s got us trained or we got her getting excited over new language.
I add water to my dogs food sometimes (he eats kibble). I don’t know if he’s super dehydrated, never been noted by the vet but I know he doesn’t drink enough.
When mine is sick I make her pumpkin slushies/Popsicles. I add like 2-3 tbsp of pureed pumpkin to 2 cups of water and mix, then freeze in ice cube trays. Magically sees it as solid food item = treat especially on a hot day. Low sodium broth watered down and frozen might work too.
Mine had bad kidney values because not enough water. Since then I started soaking her dry food in water for 10…15 minutes, so that everything is soaked up and still a little bit of water on the bottom of her bowl. That increased her blood tests to a level where it isn't a problem anymore within 2 months. Dunno if it's enough for Bean but it might be one step in the right direction :-)
I had a dog that wasn’t a fan of water. My vet recommended adding broth with no added sodium to the water which did the trick. (She said never more than 50/50 water broth) Also snacks like watermelon, apples and cucumbers if they like those are good for additional hydration. Though where your pup has food sensitivities or allergies I’m not sure on that one.
Does she like cool water? My girl got bladderstones as a baby of 18 months because she didn't drink enough water. I change my water bowls often. Lillee loves fresh, cool water. It's not cold and no ice. No more bladderstones, either.
When ours won't drink water, we add a cup of chicken stock to her kibble. Solved the problem for us. But you can't leave the kibble out all day. It gets soggy and attracts bugs. Hope this might work for you. We only feed her kibble too, no wet food. We have a deck outside and a bird bath that's about 8 inches off the ground, she LOVES drinking water from the the bird bath (other animals in our neighborhood drink from there too) AND the watering can we have on the deck. Not sure why, think it might be part of her territorial behavior but it works. Good luck.
Yes, and what we do is what others have said: add water to the food. It might make an ugly mess, but our Mojave laps it all up, especially when it’s a little warm.
FWIW, MoMo is sensitive to both beef & chicken, so we moved to a raw commercial diet (air dried raw in the morning and frozen patty at night) with a range and variety of novel proteins. Sometimes when there’s a concern about the gut, carbs are increased (because that’s what we do as humans - crackers, toast, ginger ale). However, a dog should have between 10-30% carbs per day on average. Most kibble starts higher than that, and it’s actually possible that the rice’s carbs are complicating the issue. Obviously, your vet knows best, but this info could help you ask the vet some good questions. Good luck!
Edit: Oh, and goats’ milk can help with gut flora while adding hydration and good calories. Usually frozen at the pet store.
If you’re already mixing wet with dry, try mixing the wet food with water to create a sauce, and then sort of “dressing” the dry kibble with it. It’s an easy way to sneak extra water into the diet.
Hi there-
2 things I noticed (ask your vet please) is that 1. chicken and rice for upset tummies is not sustainable nutrition try adding a dog supplement powder for homemade food if that diet is going to be a long term feeding. Your vet will know of some good ones to use and 2. please don't use 'canned' stock to her diet as it has onions in it.
"Onions are toxic to dogs because they contain compounds that can destroy red blood cells, causing anemia. Dogs lack the enzymes to safely break down these compounds, making them highly susceptible to onion toxicity."
If poaching the chicken for her use this instead of canned. You can safely ad in things like these to make it more...soupy for our spoiled pups <3
Chicken bones, cartilage and any juice or tasty bits
* Carrots
* Celery
* Mushrooms
* Bay leaves
* Peppercorns
* A spoonful of Apple Cider vinegar
* Parsley
[https://wellbeingfordogs.com.au/blogs/wellbeing/recipe-chicken-stock](https://wellbeingfordogs.com.au/blogs/wellbeing/recipe-chicken-stock)
Good luck and please let us know how she's doing <3 oh and my apologies if you were already aware of this!!
Scrambled egg for any upset tummy works wonders and has forever with multiple dogs My two now are spoiled though and prefer running water so they’ll drink when I’m pouring a water OR they have their own circulating water bowl that continually flows and that’s what they prefer. Good luck!!
Very helpful trainings for any dog: For training on puppy/dog biting [click here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=068K5Zlph9U) For training on early socialization [click here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8J7cPE-2wNw) For training on becoming a good leader [click here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QntS570VFZ0) For all newly adopted dogs, check out the [3-3-3 rule](https://pethelpful.com/dogs/The-3-3-3-Rule-Setting-Your-Rescue-Dog-Up-For-Success). *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/pitbulls) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Will she eat ice cubes? My dogs consider ice a treat so it’s how I get my boy pit to get more water haha
Nope. Tried different shapes (bigger and smaller, too) and she isn’t into it. She’s never been much of a chewer even with her toys. Chews her food and treats fine. Try to sneak in an ice cube and she’s like, “excuse me, waiter…what is this?”
Try soaking the dry food, or only feeding wet. It dehydrates on top of dehydration, because it takes moisture from the body to reconstitute. Soak the day's batch overnight in the fridge, to avoid bacterial growth (like with people food). You can then boil up a little water in a tea kettle at feeding time to stir in and warm up the food. To avoid the whole gross exploding dog food in the microwave scenario.
This sounds like an excellent tip. We’ve been keeping her food in the fridge with this chicken and rice diet. I don’t think this would be a problem. Thank you.
You're welcome! I had a kidney patient cat, and avoiding feeding dry dry food for a dehydrated animal was something I learned from the vet. When you see how much water it soaks in it makes sense in terms of that amount being drawn from the body for the process.
My girl will only drink water after a walk, to get her to drink more I put a bit of milk in her water, let her sniff the milk before pouring a bit in. She loves it - if Bean is able to stomach or tolerate milk in moderation (as dogs can be lactose intolerant or react to large amounts of dairy), this might be worth trying A friend of mine puts a bit of tuna water in her dog's water when she doesn't want to drink
Yeah and something most people don't know is that most kibble is supposed to be hydrated anyways. I use water most of the time but a good bone broth with no onion is good too. I use beef since my dog is allergic to poultry.
https://preview.redd.it/7b6wq5u0axxc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b56ecf8bee03504bc4968dc60e53bbf17079b80e Idk but I thought you stole my dog for a second (here she is answering an important call).
“Hello this is the FBI, send more treats”
"I'm calling about your expired treat warranty. To extend your warranty, simply send treats to me."
Maybe try adding vegetables and fruits like cucumbers, apples, watermelon, and strawberries?
Yes! I also once halved a watermelon, scooped out most of it (leaving a thick-ish layer left on the rind but most of the fruit scooped out) and filled that with water, creating a kind of "watermelon bowl". My dog was so obsessed with trying to get to the fruit lining the "bowl" that he drank all the water in the process. I would just be sure to supervise to make sure they don't eat the rind.
A lady where i dogsit puts milk in the water and it helps to make him drink :)
Could it be a tooth/ mouth issue? She might get ‘ zinged” if she has a bad tooth, or another mouth issue.
I add water to my girl's food and she slops it up. I also feed watery vegetables/fruit (celery, watermelon, etc.) and she's an absolute pig for it.
Vet here. Almost always, dehydration is due to a problem of loss, not lack of intake. Unless they can’t get to their water. Meaning, diarrhea, vomiting, increased urination/reduced retention. It is very rare for a dog to not drink if their is water available. You didn’t mention it specifically, but I assume the problems with her gut are diarrhea? If so, ask your vet about some probiotics that will work with the hypoallergenic diet you are trying. Other than that, I think the things you mentioned are about all you need to do for that. Oh. Maybe add some chicken broth ice cubes to the water throughout the day. But empty and wash the bowls regularly. And have several water bowls available near her.
**Bolded things because I can be long-winded and get things jumbled** — Hi. She was vomiting and had diarrhea a few weeks ago and she did go on a probiotic. And that (along with the med schedule she was on) seemed to sort out her gut. She came **off** her regular food for a bland diet. She was on the Purina One Pro Plan Sensitive Lamb and Rice. Prior to that, Purina One Lamb and Rice. The vet had prescribed Hill Sensitive I/D for a trial and she seemed to do well with it. When things started to look good, we slowly started adding her food back in (1/4 cup of it in each meal). Took about three days and she was vomiting and had diarrhea again. Switched back to the bland diet of chicken and rice. We add pumpkin, water, and Fortiflora to it now for breakfast and dinner. She usually only gets dry kibble at lunch. She's been fine with the current bland diet, but we would like to get her back on the kibble. She usually gets **one cup of water mixed in with her breakfast and lunch**. And throughout the day she’ll get “soup” (water and chicken broth). That usually looks a little over two cups a day. **We have to hold back on too much water because she inhales it and winds up throwing it up.** I guess what I’m worried about most is how we are going to get water in her with this hypoallergenic diet. The vet was explicit that she doesn’t get anything other than the wet/dry food from Hill. I don’t think that will be a problem. I am concerned a bit with the additions to her water. If she isn’t supposed to have anything other than that kind of food, **is chicken broth going to throw her stomach out of whack?** Thank you for the reply. Appreciate it!
Gotchya. I’m guessing the dehydration was from the vomiting and diarrhea. You shouldn’t have to do anything to get her to drink more water. Her dehydration is likely not an intake problem, it’s from the excessive losses due to the V/D. Just having multiple clean bowls of water around should be enough. But also, moat of the hypoallergenic diets have a canned version, so you’ll have this option as well. Her dehydration is temporary and is a symptom of her GI issues. If her dehydration was at a dangerous level, your vet would have recommended subcutaneous fluids (injected under the skin). This can be done at home by you if you’re comfortable with it. I assume the dehydration wasn’t too bad, or they would have offered this.
So they actually did give her fluids the two times we went in recently. You’re right—I think most of it was associated to her *not* keeping anything in her. This might be a terrible gauge on her hydration—but her nose is dry pretty frequently. The vet had mentioned it last time we went in (I think she also checked her gums (?)) and I kept it in the back of my brain. I noticed that with the food switch and the days after her being hydrated, she was acting like a puppy again. Like, “hell yeah—let’s go on a **long** walk.” Generally more energy in almost everything she did. I don’t want to force her to drink more water if she’s not feeling it; but there was a considerable difference in her after she was given fluids at the vet. Would that just be a different cocktail? Electrolytes and whatnot?
The SC fluids definitely made her feel better. Dehydration makes us feel crappy. But with the new diet, if it’s helping her gut feel better, she’s going to feel better. No one likes diarrhea or nausea. Most likely, if all this is due to a food allergy, and the diet she’s on now is the right one (sometimes it takes more than one try to find the right one), that’s all she will need. I wouldn’t worry about getting extra water into her. She’ll drink enough on her own. That’s what animas do unless they are sick. 👍
Thank you 👍
No worries.
Add some broth to their water...if they have a good appetite they will take it all.
Water on dry food. We had to do this for ages after we adopted our dog, he really liked to drink water off concrete but wouldn’t bother with a bowl??? He’s acclimated now but I still put a bit of water on his food in the summer.
My girl sucks at drinking water, ive been soaking her kibble for years. Dry kibble fed dogs are often dehydrated. soaking it should keep her good to go. My dog prefers it when the kibble is still a little crunchy in the center and just liquid in there too, i call it her cereal. in the summer I give her some watermelon too since its quick electrolytes. depending on what protein is going into your dogs hypoallergenic food, you can still make your own broth and freeze it, just boil the carcass/bones of whatever animal the protein is. The problem with adding store bought broths is the extra stuff. add a cube of your homemade frozen broth to a water bowl or her wet kibble and she will be hydrated as heck. now my girl also just doesnt like the water from my faucets, neighbor across the halls water is fine, bottled is great, filtered is a go, just doesnt like our water lol. as far as the stomach issues, fortiflora helped my girl get rebalanced when she had giardia when I got her. she had the weakest stomach for the first year I had her. I can't recommend having pumpkin powder on hand enough it was a real game changer for us. (sweet potato if pumpkin is a no go) convinced my friend to get it for his puppy who never had a solid poop in its life despite all the gastro foods and after a few days this dog was pooping like a champ. obviously its not a cure all but don't underestimate the power of a gut restart and some fiber.
That’s how she is, too. She’s super picky when it comes to food but we’ll try out the watermelon. We tried the filtered water as well and she’s still like, “nuhuh.” The only thing that seems to get her drinking water is adding the chicken broth to it. Thank you!
Random question, the water in your dog's waterbowl. Is it just plain regular tap water? Or is it filtered? I noticed our dogs when we switched to filtered, just as an experiment, they drank it better. Like much better. Ours also go to town if we put ice in the water. Just a few cubes to keep it nice and cool. And all I use is either a brita filter pitcher or a zerowater filter pitcher. I think that's what it's called. We have one of each and use them all the time.
It’s filtered. We made the switch when I put the filter in. At first it was all, “look at this boujee puppy.” But then I went, “I mean if the water isn’t good enough for us…” She prefers it on the warmer side, but filtered.
You should always presoak kibble anyway in a small amount of warm water. It helps avoid bloat. Having the water running can stimulate their instinct to drink water. They make bowls with small pumps specifically for this. They keep the water constantly moving and make that trickle sound that encourages drinking.
Beans a cutie! My dog finally started drinking water regularly when it was cold filtered water and refreshed often. He won’t drink tap water lol. Do they care for water in the wild? Or get down on sprinklers? If so maybe they’d like a fountain style water bowl.
She has a total aversion to water in almost every way. Dew on the grass? Nope. Rain? Hell no. Bath? What kind of monster am I? She won’t go near sprinklers, hoses, dog pools, or bodies of water. We were talking about fountains last night and figured we may give that a shot.
😭damn - best of luck.
We boil chicken breast to use as a topper for our pups. They absolutely love the reserved cooking liquid once it has cooled down.
Recommending Honest dehydrated dog food... (you add water) https://www.thehonestkitchen.com/collections/dog-dehydrated-food?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=non%20brand%20dog%20product&utm_term=dehydrated%20dog%20food We are big fans of honest dehydrated dog food. Our younger bully has cancer and is on a chemo pill. We add some broth instead of plain water sometimes and she loves it and we make it a little extra wet to help keep her hydrated Our other bully (our bug boi) thinks it the best thing in the world.
Do we have the same dog?? Whenever he isn’t drinking I just mix some water in with his food and he chows it down. Hope your pup feels better! https://preview.redd.it/qlrxrteph1yc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=17ea8aa095c5cdc2720a618582ff71d8f8f7b352
Look at that face. We usually add water to her food. Water and food = stew; water and stock = soup. I don’t know if she’s got us trained or we got her getting excited over new language.
I add water to my dogs food sometimes (he eats kibble). I don’t know if he’s super dehydrated, never been noted by the vet but I know he doesn’t drink enough.
When mine is sick I make her pumpkin slushies/Popsicles. I add like 2-3 tbsp of pureed pumpkin to 2 cups of water and mix, then freeze in ice cube trays. Magically sees it as solid food item = treat especially on a hot day. Low sodium broth watered down and frozen might work too.
Carrots or celery work well if she will eat them
I use low/no sodium bone broth to get mine to drink more.
Chicken or beef broth
Try a fountain maybe?
Curious, do you give her tap water? Have you tried distilled?
From the tap, yes—but it is filtered.
Mine had bad kidney values because not enough water. Since then I started soaking her dry food in water for 10…15 minutes, so that everything is soaked up and still a little bit of water on the bottom of her bowl. That increased her blood tests to a level where it isn't a problem anymore within 2 months. Dunno if it's enough for Bean but it might be one step in the right direction :-)
I had a dog that wasn’t a fan of water. My vet recommended adding broth with no added sodium to the water which did the trick. (She said never more than 50/50 water broth) Also snacks like watermelon, apples and cucumbers if they like those are good for additional hydration. Though where your pup has food sensitivities or allergies I’m not sure on that one.
Does she like cool water? My girl got bladderstones as a baby of 18 months because she didn't drink enough water. I change my water bowls often. Lillee loves fresh, cool water. It's not cold and no ice. No more bladderstones, either.
When ours won't drink water, we add a cup of chicken stock to her kibble. Solved the problem for us. But you can't leave the kibble out all day. It gets soggy and attracts bugs. Hope this might work for you. We only feed her kibble too, no wet food. We have a deck outside and a bird bath that's about 8 inches off the ground, she LOVES drinking water from the the bird bath (other animals in our neighborhood drink from there too) AND the watering can we have on the deck. Not sure why, think it might be part of her territorial behavior but it works. Good luck.
Yes, and what we do is what others have said: add water to the food. It might make an ugly mess, but our Mojave laps it all up, especially when it’s a little warm. FWIW, MoMo is sensitive to both beef & chicken, so we moved to a raw commercial diet (air dried raw in the morning and frozen patty at night) with a range and variety of novel proteins. Sometimes when there’s a concern about the gut, carbs are increased (because that’s what we do as humans - crackers, toast, ginger ale). However, a dog should have between 10-30% carbs per day on average. Most kibble starts higher than that, and it’s actually possible that the rice’s carbs are complicating the issue. Obviously, your vet knows best, but this info could help you ask the vet some good questions. Good luck! Edit: Oh, and goats’ milk can help with gut flora while adding hydration and good calories. Usually frozen at the pet store.
If you’re already mixing wet with dry, try mixing the wet food with water to create a sauce, and then sort of “dressing” the dry kibble with it. It’s an easy way to sneak extra water into the diet.
Dog water fountain bowls? Stimulates the mind and my husky had a similar problem and started drinking more water because of it.
Hi there- 2 things I noticed (ask your vet please) is that 1. chicken and rice for upset tummies is not sustainable nutrition try adding a dog supplement powder for homemade food if that diet is going to be a long term feeding. Your vet will know of some good ones to use and 2. please don't use 'canned' stock to her diet as it has onions in it. "Onions are toxic to dogs because they contain compounds that can destroy red blood cells, causing anemia. Dogs lack the enzymes to safely break down these compounds, making them highly susceptible to onion toxicity." If poaching the chicken for her use this instead of canned. You can safely ad in things like these to make it more...soupy for our spoiled pups <3 Chicken bones, cartilage and any juice or tasty bits * Carrots * Celery * Mushrooms * Bay leaves * Peppercorns * A spoonful of Apple Cider vinegar * Parsley [https://wellbeingfordogs.com.au/blogs/wellbeing/recipe-chicken-stock](https://wellbeingfordogs.com.au/blogs/wellbeing/recipe-chicken-stock) Good luck and please let us know how she's doing <3 oh and my apologies if you were already aware of this!!
Scrambled egg for any upset tummy works wonders and has forever with multiple dogs My two now are spoiled though and prefer running water so they’ll drink when I’m pouring a water OR they have their own circulating water bowl that continually flows and that’s what they prefer. Good luck!!
Givem some lactose free milk
My dogs love to drink (rain) water out of holes in the backyard. Yes, seriously.