Dog Water

That water is essential to living is obvious. Blood, the all-importantcarrier of nutrition to the cells, consists mostly of water. And the ab-sence of water leads to dehydration, dry mouth, dry skin, sunken eyes.Besides its internal uses, the evaporation of water helps regulate bodytemperature.

Fortunately, supplying water is so easy that it is usually not a prob-lem. A bowl of water from which the pet can drink at will is all itneeds. If there is enough water in the pet's food, it is satisfied; if thefood is of such a type that the pet must have additional water, it drinksfrom the bowl.

A dog drinks to replenish water lost by its system. Normally about 20percent of this loss (more in hot weather) passes out as vapor with thebreath. Almost all the rest is eventually passed in the urine.

Severity percent of our pets' bodies is water. Here are the percent-ages of the individual parts:

The water content of foods varies greatly. The juiciest meat containsabout 75 percent water. So do many brands of canned dog food. Dehy-drated meals and baked biscuits contain about 7 to so percent water. Ifthey are dried below that level, they often absorb enough water fromthe air to build back up to the 7 to no percent level. It follows thatsome feeding schedules require a greater water intake than others. Highwater consumption, rather than indicating kidney disease or diabetes,as some pet owners surmise, often means that the diet is too dry.Conversely, dogs fed soft-moist products containing about 25 percentwater will drink less than those dogs on dry diets. Since canned foodscontain about 74 percent water, dogs on this diet need little supple-mental water. But remember the inconsistencies of nature and be as-sured some healthy dogs in similar environments eating similar dietswill consume different amounts of water.

And we have been asked by dog owners whether it is harmful if theirdogs cat snow. Not at all. Sonie dogs prefer it. In the Far North dogseat snow as they would food. Even in areas where water and snow aresimultaneously available, dogs often prefer snow.