Author Topic: What's the "correct" daily amount of water for an 80-lb., 6-7 month old Saint?  (Read 4403 times)

Offline declanssexymama

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We evidentally have to limit Crede's water intake as he peed on the floor this morning after having been out only 2.5 hours earlier.

So, how much should he be drinking a day?  He'd drink himself into a stupor if we let him...
God help me to be the person my dog thinks I am.

Offline Kermit

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Do you think he drank too much water or is it just that he's not housebroken? ( or a combo! )
My dog Nigel is just now 8 months, he's part Saint Bernard, and he will sometimes drink an entire bowl of water right before my eyes.  :o I learned not to let him do that anymore, because it often led to accidents. He is much better lately, but I honestly don't think he had great bladder control until just a few weeks ago. If I hear him at the water bowl and he is getting carried away... I call him to me and then take up the water for while. For a long time I struggled because just when I thought he was housetrained he would pee inside again. It has taken a lot of work and definitely some catching him in the act and running him out the door, with much praise as he finished taking a leak out in the yard. I have read before that Saint Bernards are "difficult to housetrain"... I don't know if everybody finds that to be true or not. Nigel has been more of a challnge than I was ready for!
I try to take him out about once an hour when I am home. I won't wake him up from a nap to go out, but as soon as he wakes up we're outside, and anytime he has been playing for a while that is usually a sign he's ready to go.
Hope my experiences help a little...
good luck!
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Offline shangrila

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According to the American Animal Hospital Association, average animals need 28ml per lb per day. If you do that math, round, and convert, that ends up to about 10 cups per day for an 80lb dog ( http://www.healthypet.com/library_view.aspx?ID=128&sid=1 ). You have to keep in mind though that if it is hot or he has been active, that number will increase. You also have to make sure to spread the water out throughout the day so he doesn't 'camel' it and have way more than he needs at once.

That being said, most dogs will drink only what they need, so when you feel confident in his housetraining, I would make sure that he always has fresh water down. Until then, I would say its ok to limit his water to about 10 cups a day unless he is particularly thirsty (from playing, excersizing, chewing something salty, being hot, etc).

We keep zoey's water bowl full now, and she will drink little bits at a time throughout the day, except when she has been out excersizing or playing (during really rowdy play sessions, it is not unheard of for her to go through 2 big bowls :o ). When she was a puppy we would limit her water, but she learned how to tell us she was thirsty.... It's funny, she used to get frequent baths in the tub, so she thought of the tub as 'the water place' and when she was really thirsty she would climb into the tub to tell us. She is so silly ;) Now when she is thirsty and the bowl is empty, she will stare at us until we notice, and scratch at the bathmat under it if that doesn't work.
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Offline Saintgirl

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I'm glad that Crede is settling in so well. Saints do seem to drink alot of water, but what we have to remember is that the length of time they are drinking does not necessarily mean that they are taking in all that much. Saint lips are very loose, hense all of the drooling, and this applies when they are drinking as well. Saints lose alot of the water that they are taking in out of those big loose lips, and we are left with water all over our floors, and the remander of the water in the bowl is a disgusting mixture of water and SLIME!I think this is important to consider when monitoring the amount of water a saint consumes in one day.

I would also watch other factors when deciding whether or not Crede peed becuase he drank too much water. When we brought Hutch home at ten months, he was already house broken. He was fine for the first couple of weeks, and then we found a couple of accidents. I didn't associate this with him forgetting that he was house broken so much, but that he was settling into the home and was testing his boundries within his new home. We reminded him that outside was the place he was praised for peeing, and inside was not a place we responded to at all. It was very short lived, and he has not done this sence.

Perhaps Crede peed on the floor because something had frightened him, I believe that you said that he has shown submission urination already. Or maybe the little one was really excited and forgot his manners!! There are several possibilities to the pee situation, but I am sure that it will all work itself out quickly! Goodluck with the little fella. And oh yeah- he is one beautiful saint puppy!!
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Offline declanssexymama

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Thanks everyone!  We're not too terribly worried about it, but since we're new to the breed, it's a learning experience.  John said that he just looked at Crede with an angry look on his face and in a low, strong voice, said "bad".  That was all it took and poor Crede went and laid in a corner clear across the house from John.

I told John what he might have to do is tether Crede to him during the day so that he's never out of sight and can constantly be monitored.  I've heard good things about this technique and it seems like it would work well, not only for housetraining, but for bonding and establishing the alpha role also.

I'm making sure that he gets at least 8 cups a day now, but I think what happened this morning is that when John brought Crede in from his walk at 6:30am, he immediately FILLED his water bowl, which I never do.  (It's an 8-cup bowl.)  Of course then Crede completely consumed all that water, so in retrospect, it's no wonder he peed.  And I reminded John that even if he's bigger at 6 months than every single dog we come across, he IS still a puppy and we have to remember that.
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Offline Moni

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The umbilical method is awesome!  I highly recommend it.  :D  It helps foster a bond, teaches the pup/dog self control(aka down time), as well as helping keep him out of trouble and speeds the learning of the dogs body language.  Good luck with it!

BTW  I love Crede's markings!  He's got quite a mug.  :)
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Offline declanssexymama

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Yeah, you could be right about the noise thing...they're working on putting in new boilers in the basement of our building (we're on the first floor right above where they're working) so they've been making a lot of noise;  lots of pounding, hammering, drilling, etc.  And we've already realized he doesn't like loud noises...
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I didn't have much problem housebreaking Bubba. In total between 9 weeks to 5 month old he peed 4 times on the carpet. Always after drinking too much water. I do limit his water intake now though. His water bowl is a large ice cream bucket. Probably holds about 15 cups of water. I usually fill it half way or a little under. Lately he's been leaving some but he usually drinks it all. Then I give him more every couple hours. Or if he wants a drink in between he'll stand by the bowl and stare at me until I give him some. He's 9 months old now so he seems to be able to hold it better.

Offline taijinrr

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I didn't have much problem housebreaking Bubba. In total between 9 weeks to 5 month old he peed 4 times on the carpet. Always after drinking too much water. I do limit his water intake now though. His water bowl is a large ice cream bucket. Probably holds about 15 cups of water. I usually fill it half way or a little under. Lately he's been leaving some but he usually drinks it all. Then I give him more every couple hours. Or if he wants a drink in between he'll stand by the bowl and stare at me until I give him some. He's 9 months old now so he seems to be able to hold it better.
all my dogs get water all day, but they also go out  multi times.   our puppy 5 months old has not had an accident in over 2 months.
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