getting our dog to drink from a dog bowl.
Discussion
We've had a rescue king charles cavalier for 3-4mnths now and on the whole has settled in brilliantly, she (3yrs old) does seem to have a sensitive stomach which was are working out the best food for her (that she will eat).
But what I've noticed is that she just doesn't drink from the dog bowl, she goes out side and gets "water" from eating grass or puddles or buckets of old rain water. The eating grass is a problem as it always comes out the other end making the poo's pretty awful. So ideally I want to get her to drink relatively clean water from the tap.
as an example I've seen that when we come back from a walk she wants to dart out to eat grass!
Not sure if its a catch22 that if she eats better then the poo'ing will get better, but behaviorally is there anything we can do to get her drinking from the indoor dog bowl ? we've had a similar dog stay who does drink from the bowl and I'd hoped she would follow suit, but no !
Any thoughts welcome
My dog never seems to drink enough and often chooses puddles - but after 3 years, I'm used to it. 
I've settled on two water bowls - one inside and one just outside the back door.
She tends to use inside once during the day and the outside one last thing at night.
I did try a water fountain dog bowl thingy but it didn't appeal to her - maybe worth a try with yours?
I've settled on two water bowls - one inside and one just outside the back door.
She tends to use inside once during the day and the outside one last thing at night.
I did try a water fountain dog bowl thingy but it didn't appeal to her - maybe worth a try with yours?
Could try ice cubes, our dog loves them.
Could give one to try and if she likes it then try putting some in the bowl every so often to get used to drinking from it, if she is trying to eat them out of the water she will be drinking the water while doing so, you can also freeze treats in the ice cubes as extra incentive to eat/drink.
I've heard of people using those kong toys to freeze peanut butter etc inside to have a long lasting treat for the dogs to play with, but haven't tried this myself.
Could give one to try and if she likes it then try putting some in the bowl every so often to get used to drinking from it, if she is trying to eat them out of the water she will be drinking the water while doing so, you can also freeze treats in the ice cubes as extra incentive to eat/drink.
I've heard of people using those kong toys to freeze peanut butter etc inside to have a long lasting treat for the dogs to play with, but haven't tried this myself.
Bear in mind that tap water is full of things that you can't necessarily detect but Fido can. He might not like the flouride or chlorine in the water.
Frankly though, I've never known a dog that doesn't seem to prefer the most disgusting bog or muddy puddle to clean, fresh water - I think they're just mingers in general!
It would be worth checking with your vet whether hypoallergenic food would be worth a try. Many dogs have allergies and most food has allergens, apparently.
Frankly though, I've never known a dog that doesn't seem to prefer the most disgusting bog or muddy puddle to clean, fresh water - I think they're just mingers in general!
It would be worth checking with your vet whether hypoallergenic food would be worth a try. Many dogs have allergies and most food has allergens, apparently.
We only give ours water from the brita filter too, maybe worth trying that along with ice cubes.
We also use ice cubes in summer time to help cool him down after a walk, being a frenchie he is not a fan of extreme temps, he loves them as if they are treats and runs off to the rug to crunch them up
Hope the ice cubes help
We also use ice cubes in summer time to help cool him down after a walk, being a frenchie he is not a fan of extreme temps, he loves them as if they are treats and runs off to the rug to crunch them up
Hope the ice cubes help
Our Cocker has always preferred his outside water bowl topped up from a rainwater butt next to it and will also lick the wet grass and drink from puddles. Only occasionally will he drink tap water but I cannot fathom why he switches as he has access to both all the time. 
Eating LOTS of grass is not unusual but as others have said, have a word with your vet if she persists.
Eating LOTS of grass is not unusual but as others have said, have a word with your vet if she persists.
We have two dogs. We have two water bowls, one in the house and one outside the back door.
The small dog will drink anything from anywhere, including puddles, ponds etc, but the big one steadfastly refuses to drink from anywhere other than the outside bowl, which we fill with fresh water not rainwater. It's exactly the same water as the inside bowl but he will ask to go out for a drink and would rather go thirsty than drink inside!
The small dog will drink anything from anywhere, including puddles, ponds etc, but the big one steadfastly refuses to drink from anywhere other than the outside bowl, which we fill with fresh water not rainwater. It's exactly the same water as the inside bowl but he will ask to go out for a drink and would rather go thirsty than drink inside!
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