Refusing To Drink Water

[Batmom]

I agree with GeorgeofNE. I don't worry too much about water intake in a healthy dog that is eating well and acting normal. If you want to make sure she's getting enough water, just continue to add it to her food.

 

Ditto.

 

I wouldn't add *too* much to the food, just a normal amount to cover the kibbles. You don't want to turn the stomach into a giant, swollen bag o' water that can easily flip over .....

 

Angel Zema almost never took a drink from the water bowl until she was @ 6 or 7, even in the summer in GA when she was running a couple times a day. She was an efficient little system and didn't need to.

[Greytlady94]

As far as the Dyne. I would try that but it's high in calories. I guess I could try it for a bit but in not convinced she'll suddenly turn into a drinker. I should have done a poll on how often other greys visit the water bowl throughout the day. Lol

 

Dyne is high in calories if enough is given. A spoon of it mixed in a bowl of water is not going to give her a boost of calories. I would change to filtered water and Pyrex or crockery bowls. You could try the filtered water first, Britta and Pur both have water filters you can attach to your faucet. There is a lot of crap in water and it could be she can taste it even if you can't. My dogs drink only filtered water. Even I think the water tastes bad.

[Guest verthib]

As far as the Dyne. I would try that but it's high in calories. I guess I could try it for a bit but in not convinced she'll suddenly turn into a drinker. I should have done a poll on how often other greys visit the water bowl throughout the day. Lol

 

Dyne is high in calories if enough is given. A spoon of it mixed in a bowl of water is not going to give her a boost of calories. I would change to filtered water and Pyrex or crockery bowls. You could try the filtered water first, Britta and Pur both have water filters you can attach to your faucet. There is a lot of crap in water and it could be she can taste it even if you can't. My dogs drink only filtered water. Even I think the water tastes bad.

 

Mine drink filtered well water. We have a filter in the basement and another one at the faucet. I think with everything we have tried, she is probably just stubborn... which is frustrating! But I'm probably going to have to accept it.

[KLB]

How are her teeth? Any broken or worn with pulp exposed that could be hurting when she drinks?

[Guest verthib]

She had a dental a few months ago and apparently they were fine.

[cleptogrey]

rice is mostly water....so try making some over cooked rice- instead of the 1 to 2 ration, cook your rice at 1 cup white rice to 3 cups of water. you will need to nuke the rice to warm it up after refridgation. mix rice,kibble and some fresh ground chop meat together then add water and make the food really soupy(most likely you will need a larger food bowl). the chop meat(can be as little as a tablespoon) will boost the taste and most likely she will drink/eat the slurry. 2 meals of ricey soup daily- congee- should help.

 

when my dogs are on rice their water intake always go down since they get so much water in their food. you also may have one of the "snobs" who likes COLD FRESH water every time she wants a sip. i have one who heads straight to the toilet and waits for a flush before drinking. yeah, i clean my bowl daily to say the least and tell overnight guest to leave the lid down.

Edited December 2, 2011 by cleptogrey

[greyhead]

She had a dental a few months ago and apparently they were fine.

How long has this non-drinking behavior been going on? I ask because our Spencer went on kind of a "water strike" after his dental, even though the dental went spectacularly well. Here's the thread I started to ask for GT help: not drinking (When Doggfather there said "bag him," he meant give him some sub-q fluids from a bag.) I'm super-comfortable doing that at home since for years I had a cat in renal failure who needed fluids multiple times a week. For whatever reason, giving Spencer a dose of sub-q's and a couple shots of B-12 did the trick. Of course, his health is quite compromised, and he's not young at all, so dehydration isn't something we can screw around with. By the way, though some say sub-q's aren't effective in dogs, they actually are, at least in these short-term situations. (In long-term kidney disease it would be hard to give big dogs enough sub-q fluids to be helpful.)

 

I don't blame you for being concerned! But as others pointed out, much depends on what "normal" is for your dog. Of course, if he's relatively new to you, then I wouldn't be consoled even if he had shown the behavior since he came to my your home! Oh, and if you use the term "water strike" as a search term in Health & Medical, there are also two other threads that will show up, and one of them may be relevant to your situation. Best luck!

 

Mary

Edited December 9, 2011 by greyhead

[Guest verthib]

Mary, thank you for your nice response!

[TheFullHouse]

Some of mine are big drinkers and some aren't. I soak all their food so they all get what I consider to be a normal amount of water. I've just never been one to fuss over food or water. I don't add anything to their food until they get up to around 12 or 13 and I'm having trouble getting them to eat. Same with the water, it's available at all times for all of them and they drink when they're thirsty. On days when they run more in the yard they drink more and on days when they're just laying around, they drink a lot less. As long as they are all healthy and eating well I don't worry about it.

[Guest verthib]

Mine won't drink even after running or hiking usually. There are exceptions but generally she just doesn't like to drink.