If the rocks and ball look too much like food, try getting a bowl that has "walls" on the underside. If you turn over a regular bowl, some brands have these connecting bars between the inner and outer bowl walls. Put the food in the underside of the bowl and the dog has to work around these walls.
Dehyrdation - Dog almost refuses to drink the new tap water.
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kjdonkers
I was absolutely devastated when I found out this community voted to keep fluoridation. I grew up without it, never had a cavity, and (all harmful affects aside) why am I paying for something I can do myself? I actually found Mercola’s references to be fairly tight; this is not to say I agree with everything he has to say, but he does back a lot of his information up with professional sources.
I recently was reading pro-fluoridation information which referenced Mercola “as a quack” and had a multitude of references to back this up; however, when I went to look over a couple of their cited sources…those sources did not support their argument whatsoever….I couldn’t believe that they would just blatantly lie about the nature of such content and not expect anyone to notice?
This article also completely poo pooed homeopathy and alternative medicine….so the pro-fluoridation argument lost a lot of credibility in my eyes. I was willing to consider their side of the argument, but it’s not remotely justifiable to me at this point. In Anchorage (AK) “anti-fluoridation” groups have been labeled as fringe elements of the political spectrum. The smear campaign against them was brutal – going so far as to claim that the council members feared for their lives.Aownedbyspencer
I’ve been watering his food down a little more just to make sure he’s getting enough in. Thanks for the suggestion.
Brita filters don’t get rid of fluoride, so it won’t make him want to drink it anymore (I feel).agilebasenji
While I’m researching easy-to-install filters I’ve decided to buy store bought water – it really isn’t that expensive but he seems to like it a lot more. Thanks for the reminder.
tanza
As far as I can see he hasn’t been peeing any less or any more (oddly enough), so I don’t think I’ll have a test done yet. If something changes I’ll have it done. He hasn’t been acting lethargic, and has been playful. After getting the store bought water he’s seemed to have gone back to normal; no signs of dehydration at the moment.
Thanks for the tip on the broth…maybe I used it too preemptively. I normally wouldn’t give him such luxuries ( I was going to use that broth for soup) but I was freaking out slightly, and was concerned with getting water + electrolytes into his system. He never got to the point where I thought it was an emergency…but I didn’t want to wait until it got to that point, just in case.
Is there any other substance that you would recommend using in the future to encourage drinking + Na/K uptake?
DebraDownSouth
While I can’t agree with you on Mercola 100% (though there are a lot of fringe elements I don’t agree with)…..absolutely feel the same way about people putting things in my water that aren’t necessary. It might not be harmful (though I believe otherwise), but so what? I don’t need someone to brush my teeth for me.
My roommate, a dental hygienist, and I are deeply divided on this issue
stash
Interesting that you mention raw, and that’s how your pup gets most of his fluids. I don’t feed raw primarily…but I’ve been kibble + some raw feeding lately, and didn’t really consider that it might be where he’s getting some of the water content from. Wasn’t sure how he was still peeing regularly. Beo, thankfully, is back on track after I bought the store water.
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Timesthemyth, yeah I was amazed at how little water he drinks on raw compared to when I had him on kibble, actually same with the cat I actually never see him drink, so moisture in their food counts for quite a bit I would think. Glad to hear he has found his beverage of choice.
Jolanda and Kaiser
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Kibble is a very unnatural food for dogs. There is a reason all the bags recommend supplying a constant source of water when feeding dry. Always a good idea to add moisture to it, IMO. Pretty much any real food has a lot more moisture content than dry dog foods.
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Yeah, I mean he's never had trouble putting on weight (not counting that batch of tainted food from '12 that he wouldn't touch) but I notice that he's more apt to eat it when I put a little water on the food; after the early puppy stage I stopped putting water on his food but I think I'm going to follow your advice and add water in from now on. My parent's dog is the same way, prefers water directly on the kibble so there's probably something to this.
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eeeefarm… just a heads up. While basenji are not prone to bloat, adding moisture to dry has been linked to bloat. I am going to post this here... newest info
http://www.akcchf.org/news-events/multimedia/video/bloat.html
I was surprised that many things every other site says, she said doesn't matter. (for example, doesn't mention moistening food or that raised food bowls INCREASE bloat) http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?A=672
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eeeefarm… just a heads up. While basenji are not prone to bloat, adding moisture to dry has been linked to bloat. I am going to post this here... newest info
http://www.akcchf.org/news-events/multimedia/video/bloat.html
I was surprised that many things every other site says, she said doesn't matter. (for example, doesn't mention moistening food or that raised food bowls INCREASE bloat) http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?A=672
Thanks. I've certainly dealt with colic in horses, but never had a bloat problem with any dog, but know someone who lost a GSD to it. That particular dog had enzyme insufficiency and ate tremendous amounts of food without gaining weight, so I expect that increased her risk. Never been a fan of dry food, but when I did feed it I always mixed it with canned. Interestingly, a lot of people seem to think raised food bowls help, and withholding water helps. I don't subscribe to either of those things. As natural as you can get is my motto, and if I wasn't lazy, I would make my own food. Can't just feed table scraps (a dog's diet for most of their history with humans) as I am vegetarian.
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The RAW diet website says to not feed a combination of raw and kibble as the kibble takes so much longer to digest and is likely to cause stomach upset.
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I had a look at the sites Debra posted, plus did a little research on my own. The Purdue study appears a bit sketchy, given that their conclusions were based on statistical analysis and not clinical trials. e.g. more dogs suffering bloat were eating from elevated dishes, but the majority of people with bloat prone dogs tend to use those dishes. Cause and effect, or simply related to customs of people owning dogs prone to bloat? Feeding practices (moistening the food), ditto. It would be interesting to see the results of an actual clinical trial with subjects matched for breed and lifestyle in those breeds known to be prone to this problem.
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I looked up some of this information as well….it is recommended that "low-end" kibble not be watered down, since there is a lot of grain products in these types of dry dog foods which can ferment inside the stomach and cause gas build-up. "High-end" kibble contains 'mostly' meat by product and isn't subject to the same guidelines (supposedly).
However, since veterinarians and the like don't claim to know the true cause of bloat, all we have to go on are the 'potential' correlating factors. It's really anyone's guess as to what works and what doesn't. They make it very clear that you can do all the right things and still have a dog go through bloat, while doing all the wrong things does not often result in GDV.
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That's exactly the hell… they aren't sure.. so actually I have to say that after the Purdue study years ago, nearly all my Rottie, chow, Dane and other breeder friends got rid of elevated bowls as NO evidence they helped at all and some they might.
@Mr:
The RAW diet website says to not feed a combination of raw and kibble as the kibble takes so much longer to digest and is likely to cause stomach upset.
They do and it's silliness. Not one single shred of research, not one, backs it. Pseudoscience bothers me, especially pseudoscience made up to get you to feel bad about not doing things they way they want you to. Especially ALSO when that nonsense causes people to not TRY raw because they cannot do it all the time and are told it is bad. I fed both most the time for 15 yrs, as do most of my friends. I wish I had the time and money to have done nothing else back then. I cannot do raw now as I have one dog with autoimmune issues and another who, no matter the meat source, every time I try she gets diarrhea. Sigh. So I feed the $60 per 25 pound best dry I can, with lots of home cooked meat, salmon ears and US source/made chicken treats. But I believe in raw in any situation where you can.
