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Old January 18th, 2009, 09:41 AM
clsscsrfr clsscsrfr is offline
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7 Week old Saint who likes water more than food.

I just got a 7 week old St. Bernard and he does not take to dry food very well at all, barely eating any. Canned food is a little more interesting to him, he will eat more of it, but the problem is his obsession with water. He will whine and whine and whine until I give him some water, and when I put it down, he will drink until his stomach is literally as tight as a basketball. I'm afraid that this is unhealthy and that he might have a problem. Can he drink so much that his stomach will twist or explode or anything terrible like that?

Just to clear something up, I have already tried moistening his dry food, all he did was drink the little bit of water in the bowl and leave the food, he's pretty clever for 7 weeks old.

Last edited by clsscsrfr; January 18th, 2009 at 03:53 PM.
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Old January 18th, 2009, 10:14 AM
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badger badger is offline
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He's terribly young to be away from his mother, maybe he isn't properly weaned? A puppy should have a healthy appetite.
If you haven't taken him to the vet yet, it would be a good idea.

You could also try adding water to his canned food, making it like a thick soup.
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Old January 18th, 2009, 10:28 AM
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Your pup definitely needs to be vet checked. He should be eating like a...well...like a puppy ...with gusto! Any time a puppy that young is not eating, it should be taken to the vet for check asap. They can decline very quickly at that age.

How are the stools? Is your puppy pooping at all? And is he throwing up any of the water? I'm assuming that he's peeing quite a bit?

If at all possible, bring a stool sample with you to the vet so they can check for parasites.
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Old January 18th, 2009, 10:31 AM
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Sib.HuskyMom Sib.HuskyMom is offline
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I agree with hazelrunpack. Do you know if he's been de-wormed?
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Old January 18th, 2009, 03:41 PM
clsscsrfr clsscsrfr is offline
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he has been de wormed, before i got him. he has a vet appointment, but his stools are pretty firm. but i think he just doesn't like the food, it's nutro ultra large breed puppy, but i also got some of this pet botanicals food, in like sausage packaging. i sprinkled some of that on the nutro, and yeah he went at it. so i think he just doesn't like the nutro. but he is pooping, and they seem pretty healthy, pretty large, but not ridiculously large, yet anyway, and they are firm. i will definitely bring a stool sample in to the vet and bring up the water issue, but he's actually doing pretty good with holding the pee and whining so i know to take him out, i was pretty amazed for such a young puppy. thanks for your help.
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Old January 18th, 2009, 03:46 PM
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some puppies are not use to hard kibble, especially one so young.. you can try putting some warm water on the food to soften it up a bit,

once he is use to the moisten food you can then gradually reduse the amount of water to get him use to the hard kibble.
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Old January 21st, 2009, 12:51 PM
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Does the dog have water available at all times? You really shouldn't restrict their water intake unless it's taking the water away at night to help them not have to potty during the night.

If he drinks this way all the time, I would definitely suggest having an E.R.D. urine test done to detect early signs of kidney problems. My first newf would drink water like there was no tomorrow, and of course she'd pee huge puddles. I had never had a dog with kidney issues, and she was our first newf. I did not realize the significance of her water intake until much later, I thought she just really liked water. She passed at 19 months due to total kidney failure. :sad: She also did not seem to have much interest in food unless I mixed wet food in with her kibble. Even then she didn't eat as much as I would've liked and I was constantly adding things to her kibble to get her to eat.
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Old January 21st, 2009, 01:02 PM
BenMax BenMax is offline
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He is awfully young to be away from the mother. I cannot believe that someone would sell you a dog at this age unless he was orphaned.

I would be definately seeing a vet. What brand of food was he originally on before you got him? Was it kibble or just can or both?
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