National Pet Hydration Awareness Month
Summer is heating up, and while we love soaking up the sun and enjoying the warm weather, everyone could use a little help with their hydration, pups included! We do our best to make sure our dogs are getting enough water, it can be hard to get them to drink unless they feel they really need it, and most of them desperately need to drink more water. In a study from the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association (JAVMA), they found that 30% of dogs were diagnosed with dehydration by their vets, meaning that even more dogs need extra hydration. Here are a few helpful tips to help your dog stay happy, healthy, and hydrated all year long!
Ice Treats
Water isn’t the only way your dog can get the hydration they need, and a great way to do that is to make frozen treats out of flavors they love. You can make ice cubes out of bone broth–watch out for sodium, onion, and garlic content–and give them to your dog to chew on throughout the day, or to add to their water making it a little tastier for them. Freezing fruits and vegetables like watermelon or carrots is another great way to provide your dog with added hydration, as well as a tasty treat.
Feeding Fresh Food
**like our delicious FreshCooked meals
Fresh-Cooked food, also known as wet food, retains the moisture that naturally occurs in food which gives your dog added hydrating benefits. Fresh food has 70-80% more moisture in it than kibble–which is literally just dehydrated food–meaning that it is inherently hydrating. If your dog prefers kibble, though, a great tip is to pour some water, bone broth, or coconut water over their food so they get the added hydrating benefits while they eat.
P.S. feeding your pup food like our FreshCooked meals can help manage your pup’s water intake. All of our recipes contain at least 65% moisture. Because we use real ingredients, this means there is a lot of natural moisture present in the meat, fruits, and veggies in the recipes. We also use a state-of-the-art steam-cooking method to retain the nutrients and bring out the natural moisture of all of the premium ingredients we use.
Pack Wisely
When you are heading out for a walk or a trip to the dog park with your dog in the summer, especially if it is while the weather is especially warm, always make sure to pack enough water. There are thousands of different travel dog water bottles and dispensers online, so choose the one that works best for you. You can even add some ice to it before you leave for an extra cooling effect. While many dog friendly shops and dog parks have communal water bowls, they can be breeding grounds for bacteria, viruses like Parvo, fungus, and protozoal infections like Giardia, all of which are more dehydrating in the long run. If you forget to pack water, or it seems like too big of a hassle, plenty of businesses, like Starbucks or Dunkin’, are happy to give you a big glass of ice water for your dog along with their pup cup.
Unfortunately, dogs can’t tote around their Emotional Support Water bottle, but with these tips they can hydrate as if they can. Good hydration is the key to a long healthy life, for all living things, so let’s make sure to give our dogs all they need to thrive this summer and beyond!