Is your dog drinking enough water? July is National Pet Hydration Month, and a good month to remind humans to make sure their dogs are drinking water with all the summer heat! Dehydration in humans and dogs is very dangerous, and nothing to take lightly.
Is Your Dog Drinking Enough Water?
Dogs of all ages need to stay hydrated. Just as with humans the young puppies and older dogs are the ones who often suffer more from dehydration. If water isn’t readily available to your dog, it is difficult for her to stay hydrated. Dehydration is a serious condition as a dog may not be able to re-hydrate on her own. If you think your dog is suffering from dehydration, get her to your vet immediately.
Some Signs Of Dehydration In Dogs
- A dog’s skin loses its elasticity
- Your dog will become lethargic
- The gums will become dry
- Dogs may appear weak
- Worst case, a dog will collapse
How To Prevent Dehydration
Use common sense and don’t keep your dog out in hot sun and humidity for too long. Cut back on exercise. Seek shade, go swimming, and always have water with you in the car and on walks. If you are thirsty, your dog is thirsty too.
Keep Water Available At Home
We have water bowls all over the place! There is one outside, three around the house and a fourth is a porcelain fountain. The porcelain fountain is the summer favorite since it keeps the water cool. Most of our bowls have filtered water too. In the car we always have a gallon jug of water from our house. Sometimes we only like the taste of our home water. You never know when you may need water on the road.
Remember if you have a water bowl outside, stainless steel is not a good choice. It will freeze in the winter, and in the summer it can get extremely hot. Find a safe alternative, and make sure to clean it out every time you refill. Bacteria grows especially fast in the water with the heat and humidity.
Help Save The Planet
Rather than using plastic water bottles, try to use reusable containers. Plastic is causing all kinds of damage to the planet and sea life. There is no need to keep throwing away bottles when there are so many options available to carry water in.
water is important for efurrybuddy ;o) we have bowls everywhere in da house and sometimes our dad gets a free bath at night bOL
We have to be careful at Gramma’s house because we get water on the floor and she slips.
Good job girls on the water reminders. We get really angry when peebles leave their dogs in hot cars or in the back of trucks. If mom sees it in person she calls the police. XOXO, Sparkle
My mom gets upset about that too, but especially letting dogs ride in the back of a pick up unrestrained!
Yes, yes, drink that water, it’s plenty good and good for you too!
So simple, and so important.
You can never drink too much water in the summer especially!
That is right. Always stay nicely hydrated.
Great reminder, Girls!
Ducky won’t drink out of a bowl out here in the yard, so I just bring her inside every 10 or 15 minutes. We go inside to get our water and relax for a little while and then come back outside for another 10-15 minutes. And sometimes we just stay inside if it’s really hot.
We drink pretty much anywhere around home, but when we are out and about I don’t like to drink much water, and I prefer water from our house.
With Summer, water and LESS exercise are musts. Olivia is just too darn cute!!! Don’t let her get the cap off – choking hazard!
Mom always has an eye on the little one, but she grabs stuff super fast!
We were always so careful to makes sure our Little Bit had water and often. Not just in the summer but year around. Staying hydrated is just as important to them as it is for us.
Olivia is adorable.
Have a fabulous day. Scritches to the pups. ♥
Here in MN, it is important in the winter too because of the heat in the house, our air is very dry.
Great reminders girls. We are lucky it and it doesn’t get too hot in our area, but we still have water upstairs, downstairs and outside!
xoxo,
Rosy, Jakey & Arty
I think I will call your part of the country the neutral weather zone.
Good tips on the water and chilling out during the summer heat! We have 3 bowls inside (and a water fountain for Clarence our cat). We don’t spend much time outside and we can come inside for water. Our Mom usually puts ice in our bowl in the kitchen.
The fountain was for the cat, but we kind of took it over, LOL! We love it.
Great post! We especially love the save the planet part! I don’t keep water outside for Luke anymore, simply because he doesn’t spend as much time out there as he did when we had the girls. But he has two in the house, and we freshen it every day!
I always worried he didn’t drink enough water, so I sometimes add just a little bit to his meals too, just to be on the safe side.
We are big drinkers, so our bowls are always being filled up. The one outside gets warm, but we still drink it when we are hot.
Thanks for sharing the wonderful tips. With this summer so far there has been a really high jump in heat and humidity from last year. We hope it cools down slightly soon. Have a wonderful day.
Until recently, it has been cooler here, but now it is super hot and humid.
The boys have two water bowls in the house and we always carry water for them when we go anywhere. Bentley drinks like a camel and will empty the bowl if we don’t watch him.
Hmmm…we never noticed the hump on his back??? Glad they drink well.
We keep cool water available for everyone all the time — dogs, cats, and people.
My mom is always drinking water, and we dogs love it too. The cats are hard to tell, but they must drink enough.
Thanks for sharing this important information.
Some people just don’t think about it, and that is a bad thing.
Excellent tips! Water is very important 🙂
Our kitties love the fountain, but we dogs just love any water.