My 5-week-old puppies won't drink water. Is this normal for them?

At this point mom has generally begun to wean her puppies. Offer water, regular dry kibble, kibble soaked in warm water and canned food. This does need to be a large breed puppy formula for the food. There’s a brand that makes a food specific for weaning puppies called Royal Canin and I recommend to pick some up at the pet store or online. You may need to smear some of the food on the puppy’s mouth so that it gets the idea. Also allow him to see mom eating so that he has the desire to copy her. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

This is VERY normal. If you are adding water to her food then she likely doesn't need any additional water. Being only 2 pounds, she really only needs about 1/4-1/2 cup of water per day to maintain hydration.

Three or four weeks is way too young for a puppy to be separated from its mother! A puppy should not leave it's mother until it's at least eight weeks of age. Canned puppy food has a high moisture content, so Princess will be getting water from eating that food, but I recommend adding water to the canned food to get more water into her system. You can also try mixing the replacement milk in with her canned food. She likely wasn't fully weaned from her mother, and that may be contributing to her not drinking water from a bowl. I will put a link below on how to teach a puppy to drink water from a bowl. I hope this helps! https://pets.thenest.com/could-teach-puppies-drink-water-bowl-5748.html

Six weeks is young, it's better to wait until the puppy is eight weeks of age, but it can be fine to take Milo now as long as he is weaned from his mother and eating puppy food. Try adding some water to his puppy food to get moisture into him. If he continues to refuse to drink water, have him seen by a vet. Best of luck.

Hi and thanks for visiting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. I understand your concern here. I also assume that the age you put on here is incorrect since it says that Louis is already 1 years old. A puppy is considered to be under 1 year. You can simply place water from the faucet into a regular dog bowl and offer it to him. He should drink readily and know what to do from there. If he doesn't seem interested at first, you can place a few drops on your finger and offer it to his lips for him to lick off. Do this a few times and he should begin to drink on his own. You can also give him canned puppy food in the beginning, just in case he doesn't drink an adequate amount of water initially, and this can help supplement his water intake. I hope this helps! Best wishes moving forward with your puppy. Take care.

She is very young, i am assuming her diet consists of puppy milk replacer and wet dog food, in that case it is normal she is not drinking water, once she starts eating dry dog food she will start drinking water.

They should be able to eat canned puppy food with added water or moistened puppy dry that is made into a gruel. To teach them put some food on your finger and get them to lick it off then gradually have your finger over a flat plate with the food in it so they learn to lap the food. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for your puppies.