Water

[deb9017]

I am pretty new to the raw feeding thing, but I love it! I know that it is normal for dogs to drink less water on raw, but my 16 year old Great Dane seems to drink almost NO water anymore. Is this normal? He looks fantastic, hair is shiny, and he has tons of energy. But I live in East Texas, and it is HOT here, and he is barely drinking. It just freaks me out a little!

[BrownieM]

I'm sorry, small topic aversion.... did you just say you have a 16 year old Great Dane? WOW! That is amazing! I should definitely be getting dog nutritional help from you!

[DaneMama]

WOW! 16 years old! That is awesome for a Dane!

Well, I would say that drinking almost no water isn't normal, especially in hot weather.

How often are you offering fresh, cold water?

[deb9017]

Haha, sorry, he is 16 months old!! Though it would be awesome if he made it to 16 years....

I rinse and refill his water obsessively. I used to have to do it all the time because he drank so much and it quickly turned into a nasty water/drool mix. Now I just pick it up and rinse it and refill it a few times a day as I pass by there and think about it.

He certainly is not showing any signs of illness, his water intake just seems really low. He loves ice cubes though, so he does get a few of those here and there when we drop them.

[DaneMama]

Since he's young I wouldn't worry too much about it. Dogs get 70% of their moisture they need from their raw food. So if you'd say that he is drinking about 70% less, then you shouldn't be worried at all!

[ubershann]

I noticed a big reduction in Tiki's water intake, but a huge increase in how often she pees. The pee didn't start right away though, only over the last week or so

[deb9017]

I have not really noticed a big difference either way in how often he pees. It seems to be about the same, which is another reason I have not been TOO worried.

But the smaller amount of poo is fantastic!!!!!

[Jodysmom]

My GSD drinks much less water.

[hbwright]

Both of mine drink MUCH less water, almost to the point that I thought about worrying and then decided not to. My boxer still loves to swim and drink from the pond and probably drinks maybe once a day the fresh water I provide and the doberman may go through one bowl. I used to refill about 4-5 times a day and now once and that is it, even with how hot it has been. One of my biggest raw surprises.

Now if Jubes quit getting dirty in the pond that would worry me. She'd be at the vet weeks ago. LOL.

[magicre]

both of my dogs drink less....but pee more..not much more, though....

there's a lot of moisture in what they eat....