Why won't she drink water? How do I...

[mmsimon]

Get some moisture in her diet or get her to drink water? We used to feed a different kibble and could add water to it so we didn't have the problem we have now (she is currently on a kibble with citric acid and adding water can increase the chance of bloat). Liza won't drink much water, I don't know why...and her urine concentration is really high. What can we do? I have tried training her to drink it and she just seems confused about that. I have tried puttin a treat in it...nope, tried putting peanut butter in it...nope!

She is currently on a very restricted diet due to her IBD and I don't know what other foods will agree with her. The first thing I will try is yogurt. But other than that does anybody have any ideas? What about giving her broth? Is that safe on a daily basis? What about adding an artificial flavour? I don't know what else to do. I don't think that canned food is the answer as it seems gross and has other nasties in it (carageenan to name one) and we are not ready for raw yet...

Sorry if I posted this in the wrong place but I wasn't sure if it is behavioral or nutritional or medical. Thanks for any help

 

[Roxygirl2006]

try ice cubes, most dogs love them

 

[sgbtab]

what about pedialyte. it has tons of nutrients in it to replace what has been lost.

 

[wrinkles_mom]

Have you discussed this with your vet? Most dogs drink to their liking if given free access to water. Perhaps she's not a heavy drinker. My mothers Rottie drinks buckets, but our Bailey doesn't drink much at all; his urine is also very concentrated. If she doesn't seem to be in distress or very lethargic (I believe a sign of dehydration) I wouldn't worry too much unless your vet is concerned. I'd try the ice cubes too. It seems to be a boxer trait to love ice cubes!

 

[mmsimon]

thanks for the fast responses

That's funny, I just thought about the ice cubes and posted a thread asking about their safety.

Her vet is concerned and doesn't have any other suggestions except to add or use canned food.

She does often act lethargic and we have finally realized this may be why (we used to think it was the IBD, but on days that she drinks more...she has more energy for sure). She is in at the vets at least weekly so I don't think there is anything else going on...

 

[Zoeys_Mom]

Show her the toilet .... Zoey somehow got confused when she was a puppy that I 'disliked' her drinking out of her bowl. I think it's becuase her tags clangged on the side when she was small and it scared her. I tried everything to get her to drink. Finally she saw my uncles dog drink out of their toilet, and she was all over THAT idea :eek:....
Of course, I didn't WANT her to drink out of the toilet (ewwww), so I put her bowl down BESIDE it... and started taking her collar off when we were at home.
I can now say she drinks out of her bowl with her collar ON, and has no troubles (and it's back beside her food bowl where it's supposed to be)
I can immagine you wouldn't want your pup to drink out of the toilet, so I'd try the ice cube idea like previously posted... Or running water... Zoey loves to drink out of the bathtub tap, or a hose. Good luck

 

[Jill's boxer]

It could possibly be the bowl you are using--with my first boxer, his tags would hit the side of the metal bowl and he got scared and refused to drink from the bowl after that--he'd stand and whine and I finally started to use a ceramic shallow bowl that his tags didn't "clink" against when he drank. Try switching to a different type of bowl. Also--be sure to wash out and refill it often--it may be that she doesn't care for water that has been "sitting out" or sometimes the bowl gets "slimy" from their saliva mixing with the water -- I rinse and wipe Gracie's out before each refill.

I don't think adding a bit of broth to the water would hurt--just enough to flavor it if necessary perhaps? Do you use tap or bottled water? If it is tap water, it may taste funny to her...try bottled instead.

Norton also preferred "fresh water" so we installed a "Lick It" stick to an outdoor hose hookup and he could drink freely whenever he wanted. Petsmart, etc sells them.

 

[mmsimon]

Thanks for the ideas guys but I think the mystery remains...Liza doesn't wear a collar in the house so it's not the bowl (plus she clangs the stainless steel bowl for her food around and it doesn't bother her).

Liza loves to drink out of the hose and the shower head but I don't want to make that a daily requirement.

She gets fresh water all the time and she really doesn't get slimy (she has a dry mouth...at least for a boxer

We give Liza the same water we drink...from a brita filter (and it tastes great...if I can't taste anything in it, she can't

Yeah, the toilet thing is not cool. I don't want to go there...Thanks anyways

 

[rrrmarie]

If you're really concerned,

Here's what I would do:

Take a glass of water,
Drink from it,
Then,
Have Liza drink from the same glass.

I know it seems like alot of work all of the time. But, I know when I didn't think Tre was drinking enough water, that's what I would do. Something with my scent on the glass and him watching me drink the water. He think he's human. He likes to do what I do.

Good luck. It may seem weird, but, it works for me.

 

[kt_brandy]

my inlaws boxer drinks very little, they have been concerned about how little she drinks and made us think our 2 had diabeties because they drink gallons of water, i do think it depends on the dog.

we feed our 2 their dry biscuits with cooked chicken breast we cook it in the microwave then we add water to cool it and it makes a broth at the same time and we give it to them - brandy loves alot of broth and tigger likes only a little - it's another way of getting fluids into them.

when tigger was ill (meninigitis) he wouldn't eat or drink he was in to much pain our vet suggested using a large syringe(not with the needle) draw some water up in it and slowly empty it into his mouth and he never seemed to mind - i think he enjoyed it actually because he was in to much pain in his neck and back to bend down to the water bowl, you could do this if you were really worried she hadn't drunk enough. Tigger had a relapse about 2 weeks ago and i had a bottle of water with a pull up top to drink from and he drank from that and you can squeeze it gently to give it to them a little quicker and he loved it just another thought.

i think you can also get a water thing that as the animals drink from it, it refills with more water so they sort of have fresh running water all the time - you said she liked to drink from a hose so maybe something along these lines would encourage her.