drinking and urinating

Hi! I am a new puppy owner and Miles is 6 months and I wanted to ask a few questions. Is it normal that he doesn't drink water unless I put his food in it?
I can only get him to have liquid even after we run if I force him to eat little ice cubes.

I've noticed when walking other dogs, they urinate so many times during a 30 minute walk. When I walk or jog with Miles for at least 40 minutes, we never have to stop for him to urinate. Is this normal and if so, will he urinate more as he gets older on walks?

It is recommended that Miles gets neutered soon but will getting neutered sooner rather than later make him taller or heavier? I think I read that on some posts about sealing off the growth plates which seemed counter-intuitive to me.

ARe most cavaliers not barkers? Miles never barks and the only sounds he ever makes is when he whines to go out/come back into the house.

Just wondering if he's normal?!!

As regards the water, I'm no expert but I would suspect as long as Miles has access to water all day he'll take what he needs. If you lift up the skin on the back of his neck and let it go, it should pop straight back into place. If it doesn't it could suggest dehydration. (the vet showed us this when our pup had diahrroea and I was worried she'd get dehydrated).
If Miles is getting a lot of fuss and attention over drinking water he may have decided he likes this attention and won't drink unless he gets it! I really don't think he'll let himself die of thirst. If he has plenty of energy and is otherwise healthy I'd say he's just taking you for a ride a little :roll:

As for urinating when walking... I think for most dogs a lot of that is just marking their scent as opposed to actually needing to go! When we would walk Aggie (our cavalier that passed away) she NEVER went on a walk because she was too excited and busy exploring to bother. Aggie wasn't a barker either. I think we heard her bark maybe twice before she died at 6 months. Our new cavalier does bark however, so I guess it's a personal thing for them?!

Have you considered that he could be scared of the bowl? Will he lick water from your fingers?

well anyway welcome to the site!

well i think that Miles should be fine as long as he has access to water all the time...as cecily says if he wants water he will take what he needs! i dont think he will let himself die of thirst when he has a nice bowl of water beside him.. yes he might be scared of the actual bowl or just not like it.. My two basically gulped down water from this one bowl but it was a bowl that was very easy to be turned over so that didnt really work out...so i got a steel bowl that could not be turned over and i think they definitely preferred the other bowl better because i never saw them drinking from the steel one! but i do notice that if they are ever thirsty they will go and drink to their hearts content... for the urinating on walks

i also agree with cecily when she says that most dogs are just marking their scent...my friends dog when taken for a walk at almost every 5 trees seen he will urinate....my two however maybe once and sometimes never..as for barking...i have spoken to a lot of people that own cav's and lots of them say their cavs rarely bark at all except for the rare occasion...well i guess all dogs are different...one of mine - monty - is quite the little barker!! whenever he plays he barks his head off, when i leave him he starts barking, when wild ducks come and land in our pool he starts barking! milo on the other hand barks rarely but their is still some bark in him...when i first got them they barely ever barked...but they soon started!...
im not quite sure about the neutuering business (my two were neutered and 6 mnths) but i was told by vet that they gain weight a bit easier now...however my boys are still quite small

Water should be down all day and he probably drinks this without you noticing, my lot seem to stop at every plant and have a wee after each other - this is mainly due to marking, Mollie, who is Darren's mums dog would sometimes go out for a walk and then wait til she got home and then go and wee in the garden.

:rah: I think I have an answer for you :rah:
I was having trouble getting my little one to drink as well. She would take it from my fingers but not from the bowl and when she did she would choke a little. My vet said that she might not drink much because she is on wet food which has a good bit of water in it.
Last night I found the answer to getting her to drink and she seems to enjoy it - I got her a gerbil water bottle - you know that kind that attaches to the cage and drips when pressure is applied. Click on me for link

Whatever works!!!