My 5-month-old puppy drinks too fast and eats rocks. What should I do?

If it's a warm day out, or he just exercised, it's normal that he would be thirsty. A dog normally drinks 50-60ml per kg of bodyweight, so without knowing Reminton's weight, I can't say for sure if he is drinking an excessive amount. I would weight him, convert his weight to kg (divide his weight by 2.2), and multiple that number by 60 to get the number of mL he should be drinking per day. If he is drinking more than that, then that isn't normal, and I would take him into a vet for an exam.

The average dog drinks about a 1/2 ounce to 1 ounce of water per pound of body weight in a day. If your puppy weighs almost 10 pounds she would need between 5 and 10 ounces of water for the day to stay hydrated.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Puppies should eat three times a day until they are 4-6 months old. The bag of dog food you bought should say how much dog food to feed per day. Split that amount into 3 meals. Dogs will drink when they are thirsty, they don’t dehydrate if they are healthy. If you are feeding canned dog food there is excess water in it so dogs drink less. I wouldn’t force water as Pepper will drink when it’s necessary. Kisses to Pepper!

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.

My rule of thumb is approximately 30mL per pound. It isn’t always exact and that’s ok! So if she is 1.5-2 pounds then she would need about 45-60mL per day. There is 30 mL in an ounce so 1.5-2 ounces a day. This will vary depending on activity level (may drink more if active) and whether she eats canned food (will drink less because canned food has water in it). This should also increase as she grows. I hope this helps.

The amount of water your puppy should drink will depend on whetheer he is fed dry or wet food and his weight. On average a dog needs at the most 60ml/kg of water within 24 hours. Sometimes dogs drink more due to liver disease or a congenital liver condition (calle "shunt"), excessive heat , or even out of a bad habit. There is also a disease called diabetes insipidus and excessive drinking can also be psychogenic. If your puppy drinks more than 60ml/kg over 24 hrs in an AC environment, you will need to take him to a vet for an exam and diagnostics to find out the cause.

Puppies absolutely do like to get into things they shouldn't, as frustrating as this can be. Exploring their environment, including rocks, is in most cases a normal developmental stage. To keep Atlas safe from the possible harmful effects of eating or chewing on rocks, such as broken teeth or intestinal concerns after ingestion, such as blockage, try to remove rocks from her environment as much as possible. One reason why puppies are known for their destructive or explorative tendencies is they are in need of more stimulation, or experience anxiety when separated from you. There currently are several toys on the market which will interact with Atlas and release treats, that can be used while you are out. Atlas also possibly benefit from plenty of exercise, as well as puppy socialisation classes. Though less likely, there is also a possibility that Atlas could have something else wrong that causes him to seek out strange foods. For instance, metabolic disorders, parasites, and vitamin deficiencies can all be underlying causes. In order to rule out these causes a trip to the veterinarian would be needed. The vet would check on the parameters of Atlas's blood, and check a fecal sample for parasites. Hope that was a helpful answer! Warmest regards and best of luck to you both