boxerbongee
Boxer Pal
I actually leave a bowl of water and a "frozen" bone. It's a rubber bone that you fill with water and put it in the freezer. It gives him something to chew on and as it thaws, water begins to leak out.
Pee Pee Everywhere
- Thread starter chiboxer
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Probably good entertainment - but not exactly the same as having sufficient water available to drink 
Most especially if you're feeding dry food, he needs to have unrestricted access to drinking water (though even with a hydrated diet, I wouldn't recommend leaving any animal more than a couple of hours without).
Water is just a basic animal welfare requirement. It should not ever be withheld or limited. A frozen bone won't do much more than wet his mouth - it won't help much in terms of keeping him properly hydrated (for that, he needs to drink).
Most especially if you're feeding dry food, he needs to have unrestricted access to drinking water (though even with a hydrated diet, I wouldn't recommend leaving any animal more than a couple of hours without).Water is just a basic animal welfare requirement. It should not ever be withheld or limited. A frozen bone won't do much more than wet his mouth - it won't help much in terms of keeping him properly hydrated (for that, he needs to drink).
BxrMommieNAZ
Boxer Insane
This may have been asked, I apologize I have not read the entire thread yet, but could you put in a doggie door and then gate a portion or whatever so that his area is restricted but he has access to the doggie door? That way you could leave a bowl of water down but also not teach him to potty in his crate or the house? I've even heard of some people making a pathway from the doggy door to where they want their pup to go potty so that they can't dig out of the yard, get into trouble, etc, all they can do is go out the door, go potty and come back in. Just an idea (which again may have been mentioned).
boxerbongee
Boxer Pal
No, I leave a bowl of water and the frozen bone. Therefore, he would have plenty of water.
How much of it is he actually consuming?
BxrMommieNAZ
Boxer Insane
Have you thought about having a pet sitter come in once a day to let him out, give him water, food, play with him, etc? I pet sit and only charge $15 per visit and my visits last 40 minutes long so you could have someone come in 5 days a week at that price for $75 total which isn't too terrible. Also what about maybe a stay at home mom in your area, a teenager wanting to make some extra money, college student, retired person, someone you could give $10-$15 a day to to come by, let him out, play with him for a little bit, maybe give him something to eat, and give him a chance to drink.
Honestly, I'm pretty "hard core" and I've done the 8-10 hours with full grown dogs when I worked outside the home and had to, but I would NEVER do that with a 9 weekd old puppy. My puppy is 11 months and there is just no way I would have done that at that age.
BxrMommieNAZ
Boxer Insane
I am no expert by any means, but if my puppy had drank 3 large bowls of water at 9 weeks old he would have been vomiting water for hours. Now my "large bowls" are at least 1 gallon, they may be 1 1/2 so that's what I'm thinking of when you say "large bowl", I know darn well I couldn't drink that much without feeling sick! That can't possibly be healthy to drink that much water all at once.
boxerbongee
Boxer Pal
No, I just started leaving the water and the frozen bone. He'll drink some of the water, but there is some left when I get home. I don't know the size of the bowl, but it's for an adult dog.
He doesn't actually drink all of the water in the 3 bowls that I give him in the morning. He drinks what he wants and leaves to play. When he returns, I give him fresh water and so forth. He just drinks what he wants. Even the bowl I leave in his crate, he barely touches.
He had his 2nd round of shots on Saturday and the vet looked him over and said he's in great health. He's up to 16 pounds at 9 weeks.
He doesn't actually drink all of the water in the 3 bowls that I give him in the morning. He drinks what he wants and leaves to play. When he returns, I give him fresh water and so forth. He just drinks what he wants. Even the bowl I leave in his crate, he barely touches.
He had his 2nd round of shots on Saturday and the vet looked him over and said he's in great health. He's up to 16 pounds at 9 weeks.
BxrMommieNAZ
Boxer Insane
All the more reason he should be consuming more water as he is getting bigger. I have (2) Boxers, a girl who is 6 1/2 years who is 65 pounds and a puppy who is 10 1/2 months who is also around 65 pounds, between the 2 of them I go through at least 1 bowl of water a day (and as I said it's 1 1/2 gallons) in the house and around 1/2 of a bowl (which is 1 1/2 gallons as well so 3/4 gallon that they drink) outside. Now granted I live in Arizona where right now it's been 110-115 during the day, but my girl stays inside all day except to go out to potty sometimes and my boy only has 1 play session in the heat of the day and then another one in the early evening (around 5:00 or so) and then another one after dark all anywhere from 10 minutes to 30 minutes other than that he is in the house the rest of the day minus going out to potty. So, yes they are bigger than your puppy obviously, but with (2) 65 pounders I go through over 2 gallons of water per day just to give you a comparison.
And just an FYI, "great health" is a relative term. Unless blood work is being drawn you don't know that for sure. There can be high protein levels, a UTI, etc which cannot be detected on a physical exam alone all of the time, so I'm not saying anything is wrong, but that isn't always a sure fire thing either. To look at my girl she looks just fine too, her heart sounds just fine too, yet she has multiple major things wrong with her, looks can be deceiving.
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boxerbongee
Boxer Pal
I appreciate your advice. But, i feel as though I give my pup plenty of water. He, now, has water available to him 24 hours a day. I made the mistake of not doing that before.
But, I'm not going to encourage him to go in the house. He's doing so well holding it until he gets outside. I don't want to stunt his progress.
Yes, you're correct. The vet drew blood and looked it over. It was a complete physical.
But, I'm not going to encourage him to go in the house. He's doing so well holding it until he gets outside. I don't want to stunt his progress.
Yes, you're correct. The vet drew blood and looked it over. It was a complete physical.
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