I wasn't sure where to put this... When my dog was a puppy he was a BIG drinker. He drank water like there was no tomorrow and now that he is getting older he doesn't drink nearly as much. After a good hard play or a nice hike I expect him to drink a little, not a lot, but a little to cool him down. I am reluctant to add anything to his water because I don't want him to think that is the only way to drink water from here on... On occasion I add in a little canned food to his dinner to give him a little extra moisture. He had a urinary infection a while back (part of the 8.5 pH club at work) and I did a dietary change for him. He does excellent on his food now and I don't wish to change that. Any suggestions for getting him to drink more water? Anyone??

Maybe you could try giving him some fresh fruits and veggies with his dinner? I like to give the kids carrots, squash, melon, papaya, mango, and the like. They help to add water without having to drink it. And, yes, my dogs are spoiled. I give them filtered water from a Britta pitcher. Does it taste better, maybe. I did some research a while back on water requirements for dogs, and, of course, I can't remeber the results exactly at this point. But, it was something like 1.5 -2 times the amount of food your dog ate a day. If he eats 1 cup, he needs 2 cups water. The exact requirements are listed in my Disaster Preparedness post from a while back.

You could also try giving Byngham Frosty Paws ice cream for dogs, or one of the other brands. Anything that melts can be considered a fluid--doesn't always have to be water. Ice cubes could be fun to munch on as well. And, although you don't want to do it, you could add some chicken broth or juice to the water bowel.

Hope this helps!

Byngham loves 'sharing' food. This includes apples, bananas, carrots, watermelon... basically anything I will eat he thinks is pretty good. Occasionally i will add some of these to his food. When he was having urinary problems we had to go on bottled water for a while to see if the tap was causing his high pH. It was a tiny bit of a change, but not that much of one. Byngham gets 1/3 cup of kibble twice daily with snacks in between. Sometimes he gets a 'pupcicle' which is a frozen cube of canned food. Maybe I am being silly about his water consumption, maybe he is getting enough water after all.

I saw a product called Ice Pups by Honest Kitchen which can be frozen and given as a treat. I may consider that if my local natural pet food store carries it. Thanks for the ideas!