My Lab puppy won't drink water, but pees often. Is he okay?

Hello, thank you for your question about Teddy. It is possible that Teddy doesn't have the urge to drink water because he is already getting lots of liquid in his diet from the milk. It is also possible that the milk is leading to the change in consistency of his feces. I would recommend trying to lower the amount of milk and see if he will eat rice mixed with water or ground chicken. If his feces continue to be watery I would recommend having him evaluated by a veterinarian to look for an underlying health problem! Hope this helps!

Hi and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I wouldn't withhold water from Chester as this could lead to dehydration in a young puppy. His drinking and urinating sound like it may be normal for a puppy his age but to be entirely sure you may want to take home to a veterinarian to have his urine checked. A puppy his age cannot hold his urine very long so I suspect he is having accidents because he physically cannot hold it that long.

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.

Kudos to you for being so concerned about Buddy! :-) As long as Buddy is at a healthy body weight, he is likely getting plenty to eat. To make sure he seems to be a healthy body weight, run your hands over his ribs to assure that you can easily feel (but not see) his ribs. You should also be able to see a "waistline" when looking down at him. I can't see Buddy well enough in the pictures to help you determine if his weight is appropriate. Some dogs are naturally picky or have been conditioned to eat less dog food because they know that treats or more appealing food is coming. I always recommend offering food twice daily as you are doing, but some dogs choose to only eat once a day. Avoid midday treats or snacks to try to train Buddy to eat at mealtimes and continue avoiding table scraps. Make sure that Buddy is being offered a high quality kibble (I generally recommend Science Diet, Purina ProPlan or Royal Canin foods) and if you choose to switch foods, be sure to do so by mixing old and new foods together over 5-7 days. If the canned diet seems to tempt him to eat, you can continue mixing a bit in with the kibble, but I would recommend avoiding Beneful and looking for a higher quality canned option. Feel free to request a consultation or post additional questions if you have further concerns! :-)

Chewing rocks and other strange objects is common in puppies. It is part of their oral exploration of their environment as they develop. It is also common while they are teething. Try not prevent the behaviour if you can by replacing the rocks with more appropriate chew toys. Most dogs need about an ounce of fluids per pound of body weight per day, so a 10-pound dog needs a bit over a cup of clean water daily. I would advise measuring this amount out in fresh water every morning. Then monitor if the bowl is empty by th end of the day. It is normal for a dog to spread out his drinking throughout the day. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach and please post any further questions you may have.

It could be that the amount of water that he is drinking is appropriate for his weight and age, without any other clinical signs I would not worry too much. Just make sure that you change his water regularly so that it is always fresh. If you are really worried, you could add plain lukewarm water to his biscuits, leave them to soak 5 minutes and the offer.

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!