how much water for shih tzu puppy????

[jenjenrus]

hello....i am new to this forum. i just got a 6 week old shih tzu. His name is Ditto and he is the cutest little guy! He is a great eater and plays hard...then sleeps hard :D However, i notice that he doesn't drink much. does anyone know how much a shih tzu puppy this age should be drinking? Thanks so much!

[myshihpoo]

I don't know the answer to that ... but can just tell you from experience.... everytime my dogs play, or come in from a long walk, they go to the water bowl and lap it up... for several seconds. They also drink after eating, etc.... The water bowl is never "empty" but I would guess they each drink about 1/2 or 1/3 a bowl of water each. (probably closer to 1/3 normally, and 1/2 on heavy PLAY days!)

Hope that helps...I would recommend that you talk to your vet, because he/she should definitely be drinking water.

[charmedagain]

Firstly at 6weeks he should still be with his mother.

Has the breeder been giving him a milk substitute instead of water as this could be why he is not trying water.
A bowl of fresh clean water should be availbale to the puppy at all times as they usually keep going back to it for a drink.

Find out from the breeder what the pups where drinking as it does sound to me it was not water.
Also i agree with myshipoo see your vet and see what he/she says as puppies can become dehydrated rapidly if not getting enough fluid.

Let us know how things turn out..

Mike

[jenjenrus]

I spoke to the vet and they said about 1 oz per lb...so between 2.5 and 3 oz. That is not too much at all...but he is under 3lbs. The breeder had him drinking water. Also, I am feeding him soft moist food and adding in small dry food that has been softened with water. They said that the moist food has a lot of water in it so that might be why he isn't drinking as much as I think he should. He is urinating frequently (not too frequent) so I think that we are fine. Thanks for the replies.