How much water does your dog drink?

[minniesmom]

Just got to thinking about this, because of that woman that died of water intoxication..

How much water does your dog drink?

Minnie's water dish works like one of those cooler water dispensers. I fill the bottle and it drains into the bowl.

It holds about 3/4 of a gallon. I fill it every two days. Is this alot?

[mmgy]

If I'm not mistaken, the accepted amount is about one cup of water per 20 lbs of dog. But I can tell you, that my sporting dogs have consumed much more water than my non-sporting dogs.

[LoveMy2]

It's just a guesstimate because they have an outside water dish, an inside one (1/2 gallon each) and also water in their crates when they are in them and we do not wait for the dishes to be completely empty to rinse them and refill. So I would say that in winter, they drink around 3/4 gallon per day (for 2 dogs). That goes up in summer probably to at least a gallon. If I am right, they drink about the same Minnie does.

[minniesmom]

the accepted amount is about one cup of water per 20 lbs of dog.

So Minnie weighs about 55..  she should be drinking 2 1/2 cups .

[LoveNewfies]

Hm - good question.  Mine usually go through a half gallon or so a day - sometimes more, sometimes less.  I end up emptying and rinsing the bowl twice a day, though, so I can't be certain.

So Minnie weighs about 55..  she should be drinking 2 1/2 cups .

That doesn't sound like enough 

[minniesmom]

I think she drank  just about a cup now..

[LoveNewfies]

With feeding kibble, I would think she'd drink more than 2 1/2 cups 

[minniesmom]

She does drink more.. 3/4 gallon every 2 days.  I was going by what mmgy posted.

[Kim H]

I know all of mine drink more than a cup per 20 lbs. 

[A.J.]

Cana doesn't drink that much water....maybe because I put water in her food.   

She always has water in her bowl.

[KivaLuver]

Kiva's water dish holds one quart. I dump it out and refill it every morning. But I guess she drinks no more than a quarter of a cup on a thirsty day of being outside and playing with her toys. She eats a raw diet which has a high moisture content. Sometimes in the dead heat of summer she might drink as much as half cup I would guess.

[janpo1]

Molly doesn't seem to drink that much water either~ especially in the winter.

The most she drinks is after her dinner at night.  Although she does drink from the bathtup spigot when i fill my bath.

Summertime she drinks much more especially after playing outside and i have to stop her from drinking the entire bowl at one time.

I change her bowl of water twice a day.

[pittygrrl]

Just read this online - thoughts?

"A general rule of thumb is that an animal needs to consume 2.5 times the amount of water, as its daily intake of food. If an animal eats 2 lbs. of dry food it should consume 5 lbs. of water. (There are 8 lbs. in a gallon.) If he eats 4 oz. of dry food, he should drink 10 ounces of water (1¼ cup). Factors such as high heat and exercise or lactation can increase the needed amount two or three times above normal. Most animals consume more than their daily requirement. A little extra water consumption never hurts, but too little can be catastrophic. Animals that eat canned foods get most of their moisture from the food and may drink much less than an animal on dry food."

I'll have to measure my water bowl to see how many cups it is full. Siris drinks two full bowls a day, minimum, and seems to be thirstier lately.  I actually suspect she might be getting Cushings - I think she's been drinking more than normal lately.  Course, Senor Snuggles drinks out of the same bowl. I *think* it's Siris who's been the water hog lately but who knows. I'm gonna talk to my vet about it at our next check up.

[LoveNewfies]

My kitties drink out of the dog's water bowl, too 

[mmgy]

Here're some other online quotes:

50 milliliters (a little less than 2 ounces) per pound of the dog’s weight in a 24-hour period

at least 6 teaspoons of water for every pound of body weight

 A dog requiring 1000 kcals per day, therefore, would require 1000 ml of water or approximately 1 quart.

Dogs require about sixty milliliters of water per day for each kilogram of body weight (although sometimes much more, depending on conditions such as hot weather, sporting activity, gestation and lactation).

[dyan]

Gee, thats a good question, I have NO idea how much Bubblegum drinks,,but I do know not that much.  I fill her bowl in the morning at breakfast time and she never touches it.  I DO add at least a cup of water to her kibble twice a day just to make sure she is getting liquid.  Now, when I take her for a walk, no matter if its cold out or hot,,,she comes in and runs to her bowl for water,,,but I bet she doesn't drink that bowl of water per day.   
Ollie on the other hand, is ALWAYS drinking water.  He loves water. At my house he drank it out of the laundry room faucet and every time you couldn't find Ollie,,,just go look in the laundry room and he was there,,,waiting for someone to come in and turn the water on.

[LoveMy2]

Ollie's picture just cracks me up. Smart doggie, he wants to be sure to get it as fresh as he can !

I've been trying to make sense of all the quantity quotes you gave. I felt like I was back in 5th grade converting units of measurements. I did the math for my 2 (with Internet help  ) and the results are kinda interesting.

For 140 lbs of dog eating 4 cups of dry food together, assuming that no water is added to the dry food.

Quote 1 : one cup of water for 20 lbs of dogs
Results : 7 cups or  0.44 gallon (seems low)

Quote 2 : amount of water = 2.5 amount of food
Results : 10 cups = 0.62 gallon (seems about right for winter)

Quote 3 : 50 milliliters per pound of dog
Results : 7000 ml = 29.5 cups = 1.85 gallon (are we talking fish or dog ?)

Quote 4 : 6 teaspoons per pound of dog
Results : 840 teaspoons = 17.5 cups = 1.09 gallon (seems a little high for winter, OK for summer)

Early morning headache coming, not related to partying. Anybody has more quotes ??? 

[mmgy]

Okay, to further confuse you, do you realize that an 8 oz measured cup of kibble only weighs about 4 ounces? You're feeding about one lb of food.

[LoveMy2]

Thank you, I needed that . Now I can start worrying whether I feed too much or not 

[LoveNewfies]

 

[mmgy]

Sorry! 


Nah, don't think you're feeding too much, but it does upset one of your calculations. Number 2, where the water consumed should be 2.5 times in weight. It would be one lb of food, so therefore 2.5 lbs of water, which would be closer to a a quart and a half.

[LoveMy2]

Aargh, fluid versus solid ounces !!!

I am happy to let you all know that as the result of the last corrections and according to quote # 2, I now know that my dogs should drink 1,183 scruples or 394 drachms of water a day. 

[LoveNewfies]

 

See, there's something new to learn on DA every day