With the heat of the summer just beginning here in South Orange County, it is more important than ever to be sure your dog is staying hydrated.  Just like humans, our dogs will suffer if they do not get enough water each day.  To assist in figuring out just how much is enough for your doggie, I ran across this great chart on Barkpost.com.  Water accounts for about 60% of a dog’s body weight and is lost as they breathe, salivate and urinate.  Therefore, keeping them hydrated throughout the day is key, especially if they are more active as the weather warms up. Here is the chart that I found to be very helpful in figuring out just how much water your pooch should be consuming each day.

Source:  (Petnet) The question you may have now is, so how do I know how much water my dog is actually drinking each day.  Well for me, I have a fridge that tells me, in ounces, how much water is being dispensed.  Makena gets 31 ounces in his water bowl each morning.  I don’t really remember how I ended up giving him 31 ounces, not 30 or 32, but it actually is appropriate being that he weighs around 39 pounds.  He also gets 5 ounces (again with the odd number) added to his breakfast and dinner kibble.  When Makena and I go for his walks and hikes around our neighborhood in Laguna Hills, I also carry along his Gulpy, a fabulous portable drinking device for doggies.  He drinks from that along the way, so that intact is added to his daily calculations. Dogs can be finicky about the freshness of their water.  Be sure that they have fresh, cool, clean water each day, and if you have a super picky pup, you may need to replenish their bowl more than once per day.  Please, please, please, keep their bowl clean – how would you like to drink out of the same dirty glass of water each day.  Wash it daily to help eliminate any of that yucky slime that can grow on the bottom and sides of those bowls.  The same goes for their food bowls, wash them each time they eat out of them. As mentioned above, Makena has water added to his kibble at each meal.  It is a great way to increase their water intake.  They have to drink all the water before they get to their yummy kibble and it actually may make the food taste better, giving it a little gravy affect.  Canned food naturally has a large amount of water added to it so take that into account when calculating how much water your pup is getting.  But you can still add a little water to their wet food to make a little stew. You can also add fresh fruits and vegetables, which contain high water content, as treats.  See my prior blog to get ideas of what treats you can safely feed your dog. https://thepetsitteroc.com/people-food-safe-yummy-pets/ If your dog is not a great water drinker, consider adding a little beef or chicken broth to punch up the flavor of their water.  Over time you may be able to reduce the amount of broth you are adding to their water as they begin to drink enough without the additive. If your dog likes to play with running sprinklers and bite at the water, like Makena and some of my puppy clients do, assume they are ingesting some of that water along with having a ton of fun. Once you figure out how much water your pup should be drinking, keep an eye on his water bowl each day and see how much he is actually consuming.  If you see that he’s not ingesting enough, try some of the tips above and help your pet stay hydrated this summer and each and every day of their life. As a pet sitter and a dog walker, we give fresh water at each visit to the pets in our care.  If you need pet sitting or dog walking services, please check out our services page. Thank you.