Is my dog dehydrated?

Dogs need water to maintain their health.   Keeping their fluid levels constant is essential, sometimes when they are unwell they don’t drink so much and become dehydrated.   How can you tell?   Pull the skin up on the back of your dog’s neck – if it’s loose and doesn’t spring back straight away he could be dangerously low on fluids.   Other symptoms include exhaustion, sunken eyes, a dry mouth as well as the loss of elasticity in the skink.   See the vet straight away.   If you pet has gone a long time without water, don’t give her lots all at once, it could make her sick and then she’ll lose even more fluid.  Give frequent small drinks, a few laps at a time.

Wetting the muzzle helps, although dogs don’t have many sweat glands they can lose quite a lot of fluid by panting.    You can also let your pet lick ice, this is cooling as well.   Prevention is better than cure, if your dog is off colour and stops drinking, see the vet urgently, the dog’s system will start to fail when he is dehydrated.    If the skin on his back doesn’t snap back straight away when you lift it but stays up in a ridge, this is an emergency.

We always put two big dishes of water out for every dog, if one gets knocked over there’s still another to go at.   Change the water frequently, dogs love it when it’s fresh.    Make sure the bowl is clean and has no green slime in it – the reaction of sunlight on the water causes algae to form.   This is toxic and your dog will become ill and might even die if he drinks slime water.    Don’t forget to take water with you and offer your dog a drink while you’re out.    We get thirsty, dogs are wearing a fur coat and need a drink even more.