[Lisa]

Don't feel sorry for him. Many puppies drink out of habit and boredom rather than necessity. Put the bowl up and offer him water periodically throughout the day rather than allowing him free access. Also, no need to allow him to drink a whole bowl. There is no need for it unless he has a medical condition which I guess is possible but I do doubt it. I honestly think its just a habit and your best bet is just limiting his water intake. I do this with any puppy I bring home, unless of course they are spending the day outside in their kennel in which case I leave them a bucket of water. Do you leave food down all the time too?

 

[Lisa]

Leaving food down all the time is a big no no. He should be eating when the food is offered and that's it. You should call the shots at meal time, not him.

I am not a fan of feeding puppies from bowls but if you insist, I would put the bowl down and if he doesn't start eating immediately or stops mid way through, take the bowl away! Black and White. If he was a mature adult I would say don't offer again until the next meal time but since he's a growing puppy I would try again in a few hours. This is a crucial time and you want to imprint your puppy right. Leaving food down all the time is allowing him to manipulate you. Would you let your child leave their partially eaten breakfast on the table to nibble at all day long? I doubt it so why is it ok to allow a dog to get away with that? They should eat what and when is offered or go hungry. If you allow them to "pick" all day you can create a finicky eater which there are many threads on this board about. This topic is a real pet peeve of mine.

I would ditch the milk bones for now, and reward with his kibble. Subtract what kibble you use for rewards in training from his daily meal ration. I prefer feeding ALL my puppies food from my hand through training but realize not everyone is willing to do this.

ps how much kibble are you putting down per day?

 

[Lisa]

i wish bella drank more water. it is the oposite with us, the vet even made us change to wet food fot awlile so she would get more water do to crystals.

Why not just add water to the kibble? Canned food is expensive and very low in protein and fat. Not the best form of nutrition, especially when you factor in how much it costs compared to kibble. Adding water seems like a much better alternative imo.

 

[Lisa]

Here's a water related question as the owner of a new male EB puppy (10 weeks), when we get to the point when we're crating him for 3 or so hours at a time while we're away from the house or at work, do we make water accessible to him in his crate, or just allow him to drink with his morning meal and when we're home and have him out of his crate. I would guess that having water available to him while in his crate would pose a problem of over drinking at not being able to get out to go potty (as mentioned before they will drink out of boredom or just because it's there). So I'm guessing that only offering water to our puppy while he's out of his crate and under our supervision would be best? Thoughts, Comments?
Thanks!

My puppies are not given free access to water unless they are spending the day outside. It is not necessary to leave water in the crate imo and can lead to accidents if they drink too much. No puppy is going to dehydrate by not having water for a few hours. Especially if they are lying still in a crate in a climate controlled house.

 

[Lisa]

How exactly do you regulate water when using dishes. Like do you only allow them to drink at feedng times? I don't quite understand. Please help clear my mind! Thank you

Do you have something to drink sitting in front of you 24 hrs per day? I don't think anyone does. It just comes down to common sense. I don't leave water constantly available to puppies unless they are left outside in the kennel run for the day, where they can urinate whenever they need to. When inside I offer it periodically when I see fit otherwise they tend to over drink out of boredom or habit which can interfere with housebreaking. Once they are out of puppyhood I will keep the water down unless I start seeing them drinking it just because it is there. I have noticed that sometimes even my adult dogs drink water out of habit or boredom as well. It won't kill a dog to go a few hours without drinking when they are inside a climate controlled home holding up the couch.