how much water to feed?

[Cooper's Mommy]

Does anyone have any good guidance on how much water a 10 week old/11lb puppy should need? We started out filling making sure that Cooper's bowl was always filled but then I was reading in one of my books that you should only do 1 cup of water per 8lbs. Tried this yesterday and it seemed like he was furiously slurping, so perhaps limiting water was not good. I don't want to overhydrate but certainly don't want to keep him dehydrated.

[Richard Crowe]

I have never limited the water intake of any dog except, when I have a puppy that is not housebroken or which will not sleep through the night without potty trips. In that case, I usually pull the water a couple of hours before bedtime.

I have also never heard any advice regarding limiting water to a certain quantity.

Holly drank a lot of water as a puppy. It seems that she drank more then than she does now. Or perhaps, she drinks more at one filling now which satisfies her and limits her need to return to the water bowl.

We have Holly and four Maltese along with a 25 pound cat. We have three large water bowls situated strategically throughout the house. That way, if we happen to miss filling one, there are always two others than have water in them.

One thing which we appreciate about Holly is the calm and ladylike way that she drinks from a bowl. We have known dogs, our daughter's Lab is one example, that splash so much darn water around the bowl when drinking that the owners keep the water bowls outside the house. Our weather is never a limiting factor and our daughter has a doggie door so her Lab can come and go at will to get a drink.

[Kelly]

Skeet drinks water all day long and lots of it. He gets up in the night to drink as well. (He also slings alot of it on the floor).

[Barb, Murphy, Emmet, & Hudson]

Congrats on the beautiful puppy=) I have a 4 month old puppy & he drinks like a fish haha all day long. I'd say leave the water they run around and play they need to drink. I only pull his water a hour before he goes to bed he's not fully housebroke yet.

[Tammy]

Our trainer said to give them water in the morning, lunch, 3:30, 5:30 and the last time at 8:00 pm for puppies up to 12 weeks. This helps with the housebreaking, so you are not taking them out every 15 minutes. We did this with Zoe and she was housebroken very quickly.

[Janie]

You should never limit you dogs water intake..unless at bedtime. I have clean fresh water out at all times for my two.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I would never limit my dog's water unless there was a night time potty problem - just like you might do with a toddler you are trying to potty train. If you limit your dog's water, how will he tell you he is thirsty? What if he ate something that made him thirstier? What if he exercised more and was thirsty? What if the weather was hotter than it the day before?

[Renee]

We always leave water out as well, except before bedtime we pick it up by 7:30.

[Margot]

Arf! I think Cooper should have as much water as he wants/needs.... until he sleeps through the night without needing to go out for potty. In the first month I had Jennings, I would pick up his water about 2 hrs before bedtime so as not to go out too many times in the middle of the night! It also got very warm at that time (June) so he would have an ice cube to lick/play with at bedtime. Good luck with Cooper!

[Jacque Reynolds]

I think you should never limit water...even when potty training (the idea is to stretch their bladders, not restrict them)...but there may be medical issues if your pup is drinking excessively. Still, don't measure or restrict water.
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