My dog is 4 months old and he lost his first baby teeth last week and will only eat soft food, which is understandable, but now for the last 3 days he will not drink water. I had to start adding water to his food and make it like a gravy because he refuses the water completely. I can't afford to go to a vet, does anyone have any suggestions. He is playing and eating soft food, having bowel movements and even urinating a lot, but he is not drinking. Please help.

Thanks
Debbie

Try ice cubes. It's probably not enough to hydrate him, but if he'll eat them it will help! Labman and Ruby will hopefully have some other suggestions when they see this.

Okay, I keep thinking about your pup. 3 days is a long time, he must be dehydrated! Maybe you can tempt him with some chicken broth, use a low sodium. If he goes for it you can start to dilute it with water. I have also heard pedialite is safe for dogs, and some really like it. They even make popsicles. Please update so we know how he is doing.

I am afraid you must find the money for a vet visit. Not drinking for 3 days is a serious problem.

Canned food has a large quantity of water in it. Take that away, as your puppy should only be eating dry puppy chow. Losing baby teeth is not THAT painful and canned food should only be used if you have to give medication (pills) or as a treat. I agree you may to call the vet and talk to them about it just to be sure. If he's acting normal, playful, eating the canned food with gusto, regular BMs and urine, hopefully he's sneaky and drinking when you don't know it in addition to the water in the canned food! Check with your vet.

Hi everyone,

Thanks for your response. I did check with the vet and they were the ones that told me to try canned food for a couple of days. I checked and he has three missing teeth. Today at work I had the good fortune to assist a vet and she told me how to check for dehydration and told me to use chicken or beef broth and dilute with water, I did this and browny drank it all up. My dog is not dehydrated which means my sneeky dog has been getting water somewhere in the yard, possibly a sprinkler and trying to scare me half to death. I am going to start tomorrow getting this little brat back on the dry dog food and giving a very little amount of broth mixed with water until he's back on solid water and dry dog food.

Thank you all for your responses, they were all very helpful

Great news! Thanks for the update. :)

For help on getting the dog back on dry food, see the section of the sticky ''My dog won't eat'' at https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/dogs/information-articles-our-dogs-expert-labman-53153.html#post254171

The person who said "puppies should eat kibble" where do you get your information? Particularly if the dog is not drinking WRONG. And canned is generally much better for your dog.

I hope their dog has drank water in the past 2 years or we would have a problem.

Check the dates please :)