Today’s guest writer is Stacy Mantle, Founder of PetsWeekly. Stacy is writing about how to get your dogs to drink more water this summer.
It’s Pet Hydration Month – the month we focus on how much water our dogs need and why they need it. Just as with humans, water is essential to your dog’s health. It helps lubricate and cushion joints, making movement easier. Water also helps remove toxins from the body, helping to flush kidneys and liver, which can keep your dog healthy and even reduce pain.
A rule of thumb is that dogs require one ounce of water per one pound of body weight. This means your five-pound dog will require five ounces per day and your 65-lb dog will require 65 ounces of water each day. It can be hard for a pet parent to even drink that much water, and we know how good it is for us. The problem is not all animals love drinking water.
So how do you get your dog to drink more often, especially during the hot summer months? We’ve got a few tricks up our sleeve.
Let’s start with the most obvious:
Adding flavor to your dog’s water is one of the easiest ways to get your dog to drink more water. There are easy ways to do this: One is to use broths from The Honest Kitchen. These are great for your dog and there are a wide variety of flavors so your dog doesn’t get bored. Choose from Turmeric & Beef, Bone Broth, Goat’s Milk, or Golden Milk.
Fountains are a great way to get pets to drink more water. Animals prefer running water and studies show they drink more water when it comes from a fountain. Fountains can also purify water, eliminating dangerous toxins and filtering it to provide the best-tasting water in town.
There are several types of fountains available, from carbon filter styles to fountains that sterilize water using UV light.
Dogs crave interactive activities and a simple change in how you give toys to your dogs can go a long way toward enriching their life. Try freezing your dog’s favorite toy inside a bowl of water. It’s a fun way to encourage them to drink by licking the ice to access the toy.
You can also fill your dog’s favorite KONG toy with low-sodium beef broth or another favorite filling and freeze it as a way to encourage extra drinking.
Shallow pools are so much fun for dogs who love water. When your dog swims in a pool, river, or, ocean you’ll notice they drink a lot of the water. They are often drinking dangerous chemicals like chlorine, acids, and more. This can be dangerous (in fact a dog recently died after drinking too much ocean salt water).
Wading pools can be great fun for your dogs to romp in, all while drinking clean water. Even a dog who may not like deep bodies of water might enjoy a wading pool as a way to cool off.
When we were kids, we would spend hours running through sprinklers on the lawn. Your dogs enjoy the same types of games! Head outside and embrace your inner child – make water rainbows, turn the sprinklers on to run through them, and pick up some dog water toys; these are all things your dogs will enjoy doing with you and they will also encourage your dog to drink while playing.
These are all fun ways you can embrace your dog’s love of water and help him drink more! Don’t forget, any time you and your dog are outside playing or just relaxing in the backyard, have a bowl of fresh water available.
Note: you can even fill a bowl, freeze it and then when you bring it out it will be cold and will melt slowly and be refreshing for your pup.
When the outdoor fun is done and you and your pup are relaxing in the house, turn on some DOGTV, settle in, and while away the gloriously hot summer days together.