[Influence of eating modalities on water intake in dog (author's transl)]

Food and water intake of a dog which had free access to water were studied in three experimental circumstances: 1) Food given ad libitum. 2) Food given at fixed hours. 3) Food deprivation for four days followed by resumption of food intake. A) The results indicate the water intake follows a pattern, the profile, range and duration of which can be modified within 24 hrs. In spite of modifications related to food intake, a typical profile remains which suggests that water is taken according to a program which is at least partly indepdent of food intake. B) Under experimental condition 1, food and water intake were weakly related, probably revealing an acquired relationship between the meal weight and the water intake which immediately precedes and follows food intake. The correlation was strengthened when the dog was forced to eat only once a day (observation 2). On the contrary, after a period of starvation (observation 3) the previous relationship between meal weight and water intake lessens and others appear which suggest the action of direct mechanisms of shortage compensation as far as water and food are concerned.