How Much Water to Give a Six Month Old Pup?

[Yaz]

Giving water to puppies has never been an issue for me before  - until we had Gershwin. When housebreaking a puppy, I usually monitor the water intake until they are housebroken. But Gersh seems to be a different case. At six months of age he still needs to have his water monitored. Due to his weight (105 plus pounds) and the amount of water required per pound of water weight, he needs nine cups of water daily, more if he is exercising. The propblem I am finding is that he needs to eliminate pretty soon after drinking, which means I have to be  able to take him outside to pee quite a bit. Which makes it difficult for me to be away from home if I have given him water. But if I limit his water, he pants and whines until I give it to him, so I am in a high maintenance cycle with his water:

 - 5am - out to eliminate
7am - meal one (dry food with water)
8:30  - eliminates, drinks water and 40 minute walk
9:30 - water after the walk
10:30 - wants to go out to eliminate
noon - panting for water, so drinks a bit
1:30 - whining to go out to eliminate
2:30 - whining for water
4pm - wants to go out to eliminate
5:30 - meal 2
6pm - wants to go out to eliminate
7pm - out for walk and has water before going
7:30 - water cut off for evening.

Help! The warm weather is almost here and Gersh will needing even more water, but the big question is will he get better in being able to hold his pee? If I give him free access to water he drinks the entire bowl, and has to go pee at least three times in an hour. Luckilly, I am a stay-at-home mom, but it still is a pain to have to constantly attend to his water needs.

Thanks!

[BabsT]

Do you think he has a UTI or something medical related?... I mean, my dogs even at six months could drink what seemed like gallons and not eliminate for hours later

When he goes to the bathroom is he doing a full bladder elimination or 'marking'?  They dont have to lift their legs to mark

Good Luck

[Yaz]

No, no UTI  - checked with vet. He doesnt lift his leg either - pees like a race horse. Also, is very inactive in the house. I have honestly never had a puppy be so puppy like with their peeing for such a long period of time.

[newflvr]

The Newfs drink a lot of water as well and I keep the bowl outside so that going outside is an all-inclusive event.  They can drink as much as they want then and we stay out for a while while to get all the peeing they want done then.  That way I know they are well-hydrated while I do house stuff. 

Also, have you thought about adding a cup or so to Gersh's food and letting it soak some up before giving it to him?  That way, he won't be so thirsty right after eating.  It also helps, in the long run, to minimize the chance of bloat.  From what I understand, dry food going in expands in the stomach when the stomach juices get to it.  If it's moistened before, the food is the same size when it hits the stomach so less chance of expansion.  Not sure if it's an old wive's tale (and I am one!! ) but it seems to work here....

[Yaz]

This is the crazy part - I add close to four cups of water to his food, in hopes that it will cut down on his thirst/drinking during the day, but it does not make a dent. He gets almost his nine cups of water between his two meals, but he still wants to drink a tonne - which I have no problem with if he could hold his pee!

[newflvr]

You have my sympathy!  Sounds like you are doing everything right, but just have  a thirsty pup!  Probably in time, everything will settle down but for the time being you are a pee-slave!!  I don't think you can cut his water intake....he's still growing a lot and needs lots of food and water to get to the size he's meant to be!!!

Oh, the joys of loving Big Paws!!!  At least we're all in it together!!

[Lyn]

Bubba did this also, and I had to take him outside every 10-15 minutes or he'd pee all over.

I basically started giving him water more often but in smaller amounts. Every hour I put a couple inches of water in his bowl. This way his bladder could hold the amount he was drinking yet he still had water regularly. Plus I gave him ice cubes inbetween on the hot days.

It took awhile for Bubba to be able to hold it longer than 10 minutes.. I think he was 8 months or so when I realized wow it's been 2 hours and he hasen't bugged me to go outside. LOL

[kab416]

Our male saint, Henry, had the same problem.  Always looking for more water, then ringing the bell to go out.  When we werent home, there were always accidents.  I couldnt belive how long it took for him to hold his bladder.  Eventually, as he got bigger he was able to hold it better.  Now he wont really drink much of his water when we go out, until we get home.
Which reminds me of when my husband and I were petting Henry, and he was just laying there, looking straight ahead, not paying any attention to the two of us laying beside him.  We were like..."he's so cute!!", then the puddle took form.  He was just laying there, peeing on himself, in front of us!!  Those were fun times!!

[Yaz]

Thanks for everyone's stories - glad to know that Gersh will improve with age!

[Saintly Girl]

I must say.  Maxwell was EXTREMELY hard to house train!!  I had HUGE puddles of pee in my home.  At seven months he all of a sudden just stopped peeing in the house.  Something clicked in his head and since then he's had no problems.  Max can hold his bladder for at least ten hours and even after that we still have to offer for him to go out for a pee.  My cocker spaniel was completely house trained by 12 weeks!!  Max just seemed to either learn slower or perhaps his bladder had to catch up to the rest of his body.  Don't worry, be patient and make sure you clean your floors with a proper pet stain remover.  No regular floor cleaner will do. 

[ilovebigdogs]

I am so glad I have found this site.  We just got a new to us 4 month old rhodesian ridgeback.  I also have an aging 16 year old springer spaniel, and a rescued St. Bernard.  I have puppy trained before, but this dog needs to go out every 20 minutes, with or without drinking!

It helps to see that others have these problems, although I don't know if I can hang in there for another few months.  It's only been 2 days, and I was hoping to have this settled in 2 weeks!  She came to us "housebroken", so either accidents were acceptable or she is having a setback!