I have a young puppy, they claim she was born on or around 12/23/10 and if that's right she's just barely 5 weeks old and probably shouldn't have been given away. None the less I have her eating puppy food and supplementing with vitamin paste and protein boosters. She was given away by a local rescue.
I can't seem to get her to drink water from the dish. I'm slightly concerned about her hydration so I alternate between sodium free chicken broth and water mixed with her puppy food when I feed her.
She goes to the bathroom regularly and has plenty of energy. I was just wondering if it's normal for a younger puppy to not drink water from the dish. I've never actually had a puppy this young before. Many of the others we had growing up and all were older. So if you have any suggestions for how to get her to drink or if things should be alright just let me know.
By eee
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You might try a baby bottle with the flat nipple, if your puppy was used to nursing, that might work. Hope that helps.
Many years ago, I had the same problem with a very young puppy. My vet told me to buy some "puppy formula" Place some in a bowl (very small amount to start) next time puppy goes to empty bowl, put more formula in but this time add water.
If he is that young you should get a nursing bottle for puppies and puppy formula so he can get all the vitamins he still needs. You can gradually dilute it to all water as he gets older and keep the water dish down for him so he can drink when he wants to and is ready to. If he was older then the answer would be find out where he does like drinking from, tub, toilet, etc. and put the water dish right where he usually gets his water and praise him when he drinks from it. I have a cat that only drinks from the tub, it had a constant leak, now it is fixed and we have to train him to drink from a dish. He has been drinking that way since he was 6 weeks old, he is now 9 years old!
At 5 weeks old if she's eating from a dish she should be drinking too. Is she drinking the broth? If so, gradually start mixing water into the broth, slowly increasing the ratio of water to broth till she's drinking just water.
If she's not drinking even the broth, then try lowering her snout to the bowl. Don't push her head into the water (you don't want to scare her at all) but just barely touch her nose to it. And only do it 1-2 times at a time. But do it several times a day. But if she fights you and tries to get away when you do this, then don't do it. In this case bring her over to the bowl after she's calmed down and put your fingers in the water and bring it up and touch her snout with your wet fingers. This takes longer but she'll get the idea.
In the mean time tho, continue to add water to her food like you said you've been doing. I've had to bottle feed puppies and kittens from birth and had to wean them to dishes many many times and this system has always worked within just a couple of days at most.
I would like to say the above comment on metal dishes changing the color of dogs noses is wrong. It's actually the opposite.
Plastic dishes cause it to do so.
Use a small shallow bowl and elevate it a few inches off the ground. Put your finger in the water, pull out and let puppy lick water off your finger. Just keep repeating this until your dog is comfortable licking the water from your finger. Slowly get closer and closer to the bowl of water until the dog is drinking from the bowl and your finger without realizing it. Depending on the dog, it could take 1 day or 1 week. Just keep repeating this over and over. Give praise softly and calmly the entire time.
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