Water in a crate

[colin]

Well, the toilet training is coming along quite well thanks to the crate and Janis's liver cake!

Regarding the crate though...

If I go out for a couple of hours - should I be leaving water in the inside of the crate so he can have a drink? I was thinking that if I didnt leave it - there will be less of a need for him to go, making toilet training easier.

He is never panting when I take him out nor does he make a bee-line for his water in the kitchen but a neighbour told me I should be doing this.

Colin

[Janis]

colin i have two lots of water in the crate for my two.....one is a bowl which is attched to the side or the cage and the other is a bottle very much like a rabbit water bottle that i got of all places in poundland!.......you just attach a used bottle of juice to it and when they lick it the little ball rotates allowing the water to come out!

i have to admit i don't think they drink much when in the cage more so just after their dinner at night and through the day!
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[linsey]

same with Leon... when he was in the crate he never touched any water in his bowl and i was maybe leaving him there for up to 3 hours...

besides, like Janis said, i think that they are more interested in water after walks or after meals... i very very rarely see Leon taking a drink thru the day unless it is a very warm day and he's been out in the garden.

Also, he goes all night without a drink, as do we, and that doesn't do him any harm!

What you don't want to do is leave water, the pup drinks it all and is then busting for the toilet! It's a balancing act - just keep an eye on the pup and get to learn his wee routine... see how much water he drinks normally and you will get an sense for what to do...

the wee rabbit bottle is a good idea tho - stop him spilling it everywhere!

L
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[shirley c]

We dont leave water in with Luka and he can be in the crate up to 4 hrs at the longest and he is never desperate for a drink when we let him out of it.
He does drink a lot, mostly at night but then he is such a big dog that I think its a lot compared to the other 3 and it hasnt increased since we started crating him
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[Ashley]

I don't leave water for my two either. If they are in during the day the really only drink when they have eaten or have been outside playing and running around. If I need to go out then they go in to their crates until I get home when they are walked straight away. If they had water I would worry that they had drank it all and then needed the toilet!
As Linsey says, they go through the whole night without water and are fine. When Holly was young I used to take the water away an hour before going to bed so that she wasnt drinking right before bed time either.
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Ashley with Holly & Murphy.
I hope to one day be as great as my dog thinks I am right now!!

[Jack]

I always leave water in the crates for my girls even if only out for a short time. They drink what they want IF they want it and never just because it's there. We've never had a single incident of crate wetting except with Ella when she had a tummy upset.

Dogs can dehydrate really quickly so it's very important to make sure they have access to fresh clean water, especially during warmer months.

I'm a bit paranoid about them dehydrating (can you tell ) so even have a big water bowl in our bedroom, where they sleep at night...just in case they get too hot and thirsty throughout the night.
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[Suzanne H]

When Otto was a puppy we didn't leave any to help him with bladder control, but if it was hot we chucked a few ice cubes in.

But now he's bigger and got full control, we leave water in it. He doesn't drink it though unless it's a really hot day.

Depends on the weather and how active they were before they go in the crate.