How to Trick Your Dog into Drinking Water?

We all know that keeping the body hydrated is equally essential for humans and animals. Being dog owners, we shall take care of the daily water requirement of our pet’s body to maintain the balance of its percentage.

How to Trick Your Dog into Drinking Water? – And sometimes, it can be challenging for the dog owners to get a dog to drink water that is continuously refusing it.

Why do dogs need water?

• Water is essential for bodily functions like digestion, metabolism, and organ health.
• Dehydration can lead to serious health problems or even death.

How much water does a dog need?

• A general guideline is one ounce of water per pound of body weight per day. However, active dogs or those in hot weather may need more.

Reasons dogs may refuse water:

• Change in water source (tap vs. filtered)
• Food type (wet food provides moisture)
• Oral pain (tooth problems)
• Illness (rabies, other diseases)
• Weather changes

How to get your dog to drink more water:

• Add flavor (meat broth, food mix)
• Use ice cubes
• Clean the bowl regularly
• Give fruit slushes (no added sugar)
• Reward good drinking habits
• Multiple water bowls
• More exercise sessions

How to make flavored water:

• Cannedanned food mixed with water
• Frozen dog treats melted into water bowl
• Liver dust sprinkled into water

Tips for a sick dog:

• Offer tap water if the dog prefers it
• Add water to their dry food
• Provide lots of love and attention
• Consult a vet if the dog is seriously ill

How to tell if a dog is dehydrated:

• Skin loses elasticity (pinch test)
• Loss of appetite
• Dry nose
• Lethargy
• Thick saliva
• Panting
• Sticky Gums

Key Takeaways

• Dehydration is dangerous for dogs. Monitor their water intake and look for signs of dehydration.
• There are many ways to encourage your dog to drink, from flavoring water to changing bowls.
• Sick dogs may need extra encouragement or veterinary attention to stay hydrated.

Why Should a Dog Drink Water?

Keeping the body hydrated is very important for a dog’s body to prevent dehydration. Dogs have a risk of dehydration much more than human beings as releasing heat from their body is very slow.

The sweat glands in dogs’ footpads help the body release heat to a greater extent, but it’s not enough to cool the entire body. That is why dogs shall be provided with the required amount of water every day.

How Much Water Does a Dog Need to Drink in a Day?

As per research, there is no scientific evidence based on which you can limit your dog’s water dosage.

A dog might drink water as per its requirement, but one ounce of water per pound per body each day is required to keep its body hydrated. The owners must provide this much water to the pet every day.

Whereas if the dog wants to drink more than that, then it was also acceptable because the above amount was only to prevent the pet from dehydration. The pet might get thirsty and require more water for extra playing sessions, workouts, etc.

Why Sometimes Do Dogs Refuse to Drink Water?

All the dog owners might have gone through this point where their canine friend continuously keeps on refusing water.

The below-mentioned points can be the main reason your canine friend refuses water.

Change in the Water Source

The most probable reason behind your dog refusing to take water can be the change in the water source. For example, if you have been providing your dog with tap water for the first time, it will not be able to drink distilled water, so the pet will keep refusing it.

Liquidity of the Food

If your dog is drinking less water, it can also be because of the type of food it was eating. If the owner provides dry foods like dry kibble to the pet, it will require more water as the dry kibble consists of less moisture, whereas if the dog is getting food with maximum moisture like canned food, it will require less water.

Oral Disease

If your dog drinks less water, oral diseases can also be responsible. This is because if the dog has a broken tooth or a certain kind of tumor in the mouth, then water consumption can be very painful for it. After all, it can refuse water.

Viral Diseases

The dogs might often refuse to drink water if suffering from some viral infections. For example, suppose a dog suffers from a viral disease named rabies.

In that case, the pet will refuse to drink water as there is a stage in this rabies virus where the affected animal loses the capability of sensing the water requirement in its body.

Weather Change

The dogs often use to drink less water during weather changes. If the weather changes to a cool temperature and the dog lacks exercise, then the pet will not get thirsty as the energy is not released from the body.

How to Trick Your Dog into Drinking Water? – How to Get Your Dog to Drink Water?

If your dog has not been drinking water for a very long time, you can consult with your veterinarian to check if there is any serious problem. If the condition is general, you can go with the below-mentioned steps to make your dog drink water.

Add Flavor to Your Dog’s Water

Sometimes the dog may be fed up with the taste of the water, and because of this, it starts to avoid drinking water. In this condition, the owner can add some flavor to its water-like meaty flavor or a meaty aroma by making some meat extracts using a recipe.

Add Ice Cubes to the Water Bowl

As per research, the majority of the dogs find water with ice cubes more tempting and love to drink it. So if your dog is refusing water intake, you can simply add some ice cubes to its water bowl.

Adopt a Raw Diet

Suppose your dog is suffering from some oral disease and is facing difficulties in water consumption.

All you can do is feed the pet with food having more moisture to fulfill the requirement of water and food consumption. You can start giving your dog a raw diet to maintain a balance.

Always Clean the Water Bowl

Sometimes the dog might also refuse to drink the water due to a dirty bowl, So it’s the responsibility of the owner to clean the water bowl frequently.

Feed the Pet with Fruit Slush

If your dog is not drinking water and you want to keep him hydrated by avoiding water, you can simply prepare some fruit slush for your pet by strictly avoiding other food materials.

A fruit slush doesn’t require any different type of flavor. A mixture of various fruits is enough to prevent your dog from dehydration.

Always Reward Your Dog

To grab a dog’s attention towards drinking water, the owner can simply use the technique of rewarding the pet every time it drinks water. It will make him understand that drinking water gets him a treat, after which the pet will start drinking water to get the treat.

Put Multiple Bowls

You can also make your dog drink water by putting different bowls of water in other places in the entire house. This act increases water availability, prompting the dog to drink more water.

Give More Workout Sessions

If your dog refuses to drink water, you can increase the timing of their workout sessions, which will make them thirsty, and eventually, it will lead to the consumption of water by your dog.

All the above-discussed steps are mentioned after doing experiments on many dogs, so a dog owner can entirely rely upon these tricks to make their dog drink water in a brief period.

How to Make Flavored Water for Your Dog?

As we all know that the plain flavor of water is the primary reason behind your dog not drinking water. Adding flavor to it can be the most excellent way, as discussed above. So, here we will discuss some flavored water names with the process of making it, which will work in tricking your dog into drinking water.

Canned Food Cocktail Water

This is the most effortless process of making flavored water for a dog. This is because all the owner has to do is take a tablespoon of the canned food mix of the pet and mix it in almost 16 oz of water, and then stir it until the chunks get fully dissolved in it.

Frozen Dog Treats Flavored Water

As we know that there are many mixes available in the market used to make your dog’s favorite treat, the owner can simply mix a frozen mixture of the dog’s favorite flavor in the water bowl to make the water enjoyable.

Liver Dust Flavored Water

Liver dust is a type of sprinkle available in the market to make the dog’s water flavorful. The dog owner can even refer to this sprinkle for making their dog’s water delicious.

The above-discussed steps effectively trick your dog into drinking water, so it’s an excellent choice to go with for all the dog owners to make their dogs drink water.

How Can I Get my Dog to Drink More Water?

If you think your dog’s water intake is not enough and needs to increase its water intake, you can go through the following steps to make your dog drink more water.

Change the Position of the Bowl

Dogs develop more interest in doing the same activity in a new place, so you can adopt the technique of changing the position of a dog’s bowl to establish its interest in drinking more water.

Mix Different Food with Water

To develop its interest in drinking water, the owner can also go for adding different mixtures of food to enhance the taste of the water.

Frequent Cleaning of the Bowl

Keeping the bowl clean every time can provide fresh water to the pet that effectively develops its interest in drinking water.

Change the Bowl

Changing the bowl and getting your dog an attractive bowl to drink water can effectively develop the dog’s interest in drinking water.

These steps were based on experiments done on different dogs, and a person can entirely rely on this to increase their pet’s water intake.

How to Get a Sick Dog to Drink Water?

Suppose your dog is suffering from a severe disease. In that case, it is suggested that the owner take the pet to a veterinarian to get the pet appropriately treated, as the pet’s recovery from the disease will also lead to an increase in your pet’s water consumption.

If you want to get your sick pet to drink water at home, you can go through the following steps.

Make Your Dog Feel Loved

A sick dog needs more love and care to get an instant recovery from the disease. So you can give your cuddle and hugs to your canine friend to convince him to drink water.

Add Water to Dry Food

It may sound weird to humans to add lots of water to food. But dogs don’t have any problems eating their favorite foods floating in the water. So if your sick dog is refusing to drink water, you can add water to its favorite food.

Give Tap Water to the Pet

As per research, most dog breeds find tap water more flavorful than well water or distilled water. So a dog owner can also introduce tap water into the dog’s diet to make him drink water.

How to Hydrate a Dog that Won’t Drink?

Hydrating a dog that won’t drink doesn’t require any other unique process to follow. The owner can prefer the above-discussed steps that are useful for making a dog drink water.

This is because any other nutritious material can not fulfill the requirement for water. To maintain the percentage of water in a dog’s body, a dog has to drink water. No other material like fruits and veggies can replace it as it just provides some moisture to the body to keep it hydrated to an extent.

How do You Identify if a Dog Is Dehydrated?

To identify if your canine friend is dehydrated or not, you can go through the below-mentioned symptoms that usually occur in a dog’s body when it gets dehydrated.

Loosening of the Skin Elasticity

Dehydration leads to the loss of skin elasticity because less amount of water in the body absorbs the moisture from the epidermal layer of the skin.

Loss of Appetite

The reduction in the blood flow and the volume of liquids in the body reduces the delivery of oxygen to the organs, which causes loss of appetite in dogs.

Less Energy Level and Lethargy

Due to the imbalance in the amount of water as per the body’s requirement, the dog’s body loses energy and gets tired frequently.

Dry Nose

Sometimes dehydration in dogs also makes the dog’s nose dry as all the fluid substance gets absorbed.

Thick Saliva

During dehydration, the loss of electrolytes from the dog’s body makes the saliva thick.

Painting of the Dog

Excessive water loss from the pet’s body when suffering from dehydration makes the dog pant.

Affected and Sticky Gums – The gums also get sticky due to the loss of moisture from their roots which is because of dehydration.

A person can refer to the symptoms mentioned above if they want to check the dehydration in their pets. Some dog owners may not be able to detect a dog’s dehydration as it can be difficult for them to check the consistency of the pet’s saliva, for which they have to visit a veterinarian.

If the owner wants to check the pet’s dehydration at home by following simple steps, he can go for the below-mentioned steps.

1. At first, the owner has to pinch the dog’s skin in the area between the shoulder blades.
2. After pinching, the skin needs to be pulled up gently and released after a couple of seconds.
3. Then notice the time taken by the skin to come back to the place.

If the skin takes much time to come back to the place, you can say that the dog is suffering from dehydration.

Why Do Dogs Need to Get Enough Water as Per their Body Requirement?

An adequate amount of water consumption is necessary for dogs because of the following reasons.

Smooth Metabolic Activity

As we know that most bodily functions require an adequate amount of water for completing metabolic activities.

So if the dog will not get a fair amount of water percentage, it can get affected by severe diseases due to slow body functions like metabolism, catabolism, etc.

Moisture to the Organ’s Tissues

The lack of water in a dog’s body for a more extended period can affect the body’s organs. The loss of moisture from the tissues of the organs makes the organs work slowly, and if it lasts for a longer time, the organs may even shut down, which can also lead to death. That is why dogs need their proper dosage of water per day.

Easy Digestion of Food

Consumption of an adequate amount of water is essential for dogs. This is because water helps in the breakdown of the food they eat to make it easier for the digestive system to digest and also to aid the nutrients present in the food.

An adequate amount of water consumption is also necessary because it aids the secretion of enzymes and the acid that helps the digestive system fully perform digestion.

Hence, we can say that the presence of the exact percentage of water in a dog’s body is essential to prevent it from diseases. If the dog keeps on refusing, the dog owners can adopt the techniques discussed in the article to trick them into drinking water.