A Dog Needs Water

Water is an indispensable element. The organism needs water to function, even though it is only for the regulation of the body's temperature. Liquids permit to even up the loss due to urine and respiration. Water must be healthy and fresh, it is good to give our dogs mineral or spring water if:

• Our water is contaminated;
• Oral administration of medicine to a dog;
• Artificial breast feeding of a new born puppy with no mother;
• A particular problem where water with lots of minerals is required.

The approximation of a dog's water requirements depends on certain individual and environmental characteristics, such ass: size, age, physical activity, temper, state of health, the consistency of the ration of food, the quality and quantity of ingredients, the number of foods a day, climate, etc.

Nevertheless, an adult dog knows how to control its water necessities: it must decide the amount of water and when to drink it. Either way, en general terms, we can calculate about 50-60 ml of water per each kilogram of weight. In the next graphic we can see some of the proportions.

Weight in kg Type of dog Approximate H20 necessities in Liters/day 1 Chihuahua 0.05 5 Teckel 0.25 8 Fox Terrier 0.4 15 Epagneul Breton 0.75 25 Dalmatian 1.25 40 Beauceron 2 50 Rottweiler 2.5 60 Bullmastiff 3 70 Napolitan Mastin 3.5

Dog's Energetic Necessities