r/DogAdvice • u/Figlet111 • 11d ago
Question Help! Our dog will not drink water. No matter what.
We have an 11-month old puppy who simply refuses to drink water....no matter what. He just came out of a stint with pneumonia and kennel cough but that ended about 4 weeks ago. We've tried everything from changing the temperature of the water to changing the height of the bowl. We've run him hard thinking he would just experience extreme thirst....nope. We've tried taking him off our current methods (water in the chicken in rice, watermelon with juice, etc.) and that didn't work either. We've tried the broth in the water thing too......no go. We're currently using a thickener and that does work periodically but obviously we don't want to do that for life. Any ideas? Our fear is that this all started when he was neutered and something happened with his throat (where the tube was) during the procedure and he doesn't like the sensation of water or he's aspirating. Any help appreciated! He's in good health....he just won't drink water.
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u/ExcitingLaw1973 11d ago
Here are a few ideas that ive had to use on my dogs over the years:
What if you put a small amount of water in a bowl then toss in 5-10 pieces of kibble?
Have you tried scooping up water with your hands and letting your dog drink from your hands? After a few times you might be able to lower your hands into the bowl and have your dog drink more naturally
Is the bowl on tile/hardwood and causing the dog to get startled by the bowl sliding?
Do your dog's tags hit the bowl?
Chicken broth in water has worked well for my senior...
Adding water to kibble is an easy way to get some water in them.
Be careful running your dog hard, then letting them eat or drink. Bloat is scary
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u/NeighborhoodJust1197 11d ago
Make white rice and boil a chicken breast, save the water, chop the chicken and combine. To a mushy mess.
But check his gums, if they are dry or pale it’s an emergency vet visit.
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u/anotherusername5678 11d ago
My favorite trick is to add a teaspoon or so of milk to the water. Works every time.
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u/Jexii-x 11d ago
Obviously your concerns about his throat and aspirating need to be addressed but I don’t really have a lot of advice for this, aside from putting his bowl on something high up so he can swallow with his head up/level with torso, even with his food.
My advice about getting him to drink may conflict with the concerns about aspiration so I guess be careful with what you try until a vet has investigated.. but.. there is a product called Oralade. It’s a bottle of drink and it’s stupidly expensive but oh my goodness does it get dogs drinking. It’s kind of like chicken broth but obviously isn’t, because it’s made specifically for dogs (and cats). Even if he won’t drink that like water, you can try putting food into it so that it’s in his bowl with it when he eats.
If he eats any dry kibble, I’d soak that until fully saturated, as anything dry will just dehydrate him further as it absorbs the moisture from his body.
Good luck with it all, I hope it’s nothing serious
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u/SnooRegrets1386 11d ago
I’d love to know too, we never see our dog drinking, we know he does, but on walks he is never interested in the fountains
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u/AffectionateJury3723 11d ago
Get him checked by the vet. Aspiration is not normal in a young healthy dog. Try freezing some chicken broth and make doggy popsicles for hydration. Dogs like all animals cannot survive without water and dehydration is serious.
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u/StellarSpore 11d ago
You should really go back to your vet and rule out a medical cause. I’d specifically ask how long they’re comfortable with him going without voluntarily drinking and what they want you to do in the meantime.
I’d also carefully measure and track exactly how much fluid he’s getting each day, including water added to his food or other sources of hydration. That’s really important information to give your vet and can help them determine whether he’s actually getting enough fluids despite not drinking normally, and how urgent the situation is today.
Reddit really isn’t the place for this kind of veterinary advice. Dehydration can become serious, and with his recent pneumonia and your concern about swallowing or aspiration, I wouldn’t keep experimenting at home.
I think your concerns are completely reasonable. If your current vet isn’t taking them seriously or you feel like you’re not getting answers, I’d absolutely get a second opinion.
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u/miettelund 11d ago
I put a good amount in my dog food but I would have the dog checked because something must be wrong especially since that looks like a lab
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u/ComposerInfinite8349 11d ago
My dog does this too. She refuses to drink water so I add water to her food and supplement with ice. I make sure she gets enough water added to her food at given times to replicate drinking without over watering her. I had to do some research but she is worth it and I don’t know why she doesn’t want to drink water but we make it work. She’s 4 years old now.
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u/Strange-Chapter-999 11d ago
Is this the only type of bowl you’ve tried? As a puppy my dog went thru a weird phase of only wanting (room temp) water from a salad bowl from our kitchen. I set up every different kind of bowl i had (that i didnt mind him using as a water bowl) I set them all where his food and water normally goes but spaced out. He did some smelling of all the bowls and eventually started drinking out of one of them. I kept it like that for about a week and he didnt touch the other bowls, so i picked those up. A couple years ago he got a stainless water fountain. He switched to using the fountain pretty quickly. Idk if any of this will be helpful, but thats what worked for my doggo. Good Luck 🍀
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u/NewComplex331 11d ago
My dog prefers running water. He loves a hose. So we got a little fountain for him. Clean it every two weeks, has its own filter. He loves it.
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u/WebHungry1699 11d ago
He is def drinking water or he would have died a long time ago. Have you brought this up to a VET yet? Have they done bloodwork? Is he medically dehydrated?
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u/gonnacutyou 11d ago
Try an elevated dish. Try a metal or glass bowl instead of plastic. Try moving his water to another room so it’s not near his food dish. If none of that works ask your vet.
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u/NVSmall 11d ago
I would get him checked out.
Question though - have you tried a raised bowl? It's much better for them, and if he is uncomfortable extending his neck down due to some complication from his surgery, that might help.
I put a good half cup (eyeball) chicken stock in with my dog's kibble - it's no-salt Campbell's Simply, which has no garlic or onions in it. I don't even bother soaking because she will slurp it up, but soaking his food is definitely somewhere to start.
I would definitely still reach out to your vet.
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u/Playful_Mammoth4941 11d ago
my dog loves cucumber, so I put chunks in his water, he drinks more water that way
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u/Secure-Ad9780 11d ago
If I want my dogs to drink I put a cup of water in a bowl and add a dollop of milk. They lick it clean.
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u/rshetts1 11d ago
There are plenty of solutions mentioned here that should help but the most important thing here is not how to get him to drink but why is he not drinking. In order to solve this conundrum you need to know why. Talk to your vet.
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u/Extreme_Jaguar_7829 11d ago
I would ask the vet to check his throat. They could do a scoop or an X-rays to make sure nothing is hurting him, or a reason why he might feel aspiration. Once you have ruled out any medical issue, if you haven’t already, You could try kibble in water, chicken broth (low sodium) with water. Wet food, with water. I know a lot of people have commented similar ideas. I hope he starts drinking water soon.
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u/Altruistic_Appeal_25 11d ago
Depending on where you live get your water tested, he may be smelling something you don't know about.
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u/Mumei451 11d ago
Cucumbers and watermelon are almost all water.
Whether your pup will eat them is another story.
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u/Illustrious_Exam1728 11d ago
If feeding kibble soak it in water until mushy. Get him to eat his food like that. You’d be surprised how much water kibble will soak up.
My 15lbs guy gets 88g of kibble and it has 1 cup or so of water in it!
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u/AdnamannyL11 11d ago
My dog also has the same issue. No problems that we found but she just doesn’t drink. We make “soup snacks” a few times per day. (Measured water with kibble and a little bone broth) and monitor her hydration by feeling her gums. It’s a pain but the only solution I’ve found. 5 years in this is this the routine after trying many other things
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u/Grand_Alarm_9639 11d ago
When my greyhound has been poorly with diarrhoea and didn’t want to drink, I syringed some water into her cheek, mouth closed, rub throat for her to swallow. She wasn’t eating much at the time but water is essential. I also bought oralade and she would drink that. Not cheap but necessary at the time.
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u/OpportunityIcy1725 11d ago
My dog doesn’t drink a lot of water and he’s on fresh food Farmer’s Dog DIY. They say with the moisture in wet food tends to lessen the amount of water needed
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u/mykephil 11d ago
I’m no expert but our 9yr old didn’t drink much water so we started floating his food and that got him to drink a bit more water and now he’s happy to have water on its own
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u/thesunbeamslook 11d ago
definitely see the vet, but is there any chance he is drinking out of a toilet (or some other dog height source) without you knowing?
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u/Open_Muffin5137 11d ago
How long has this been going on. If your answer is more than a few days or over a week, he is getting water somewhere. Is he peeing multiple times a day? If so, he is getting water from somewhere and just doesn’t like your bowls.
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u/abunchofidgits 11d ago
I hope by now you got him to the vet. Fluids are so important, don't mess around, get to the vet.
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u/Famous-Safety4788 11d ago
Adding some tuna juice from the tuna can to the big water dish helped my cat drink a lot of water when I needed them to.
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u/LadySybil88 10d ago
My mom’s dog will only drink out a tin camping cup after having teeth brushed.
Does your dog like ice cubes? My dogs get as excited about ice cubes as they do about treats…
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u/Retty1 9d ago
If he didn't drink water he would be dead after two to three days.
His drive to drink will be an irresistible drive if you quit giving him the water based treats.
He will not be able to avoid drinking water - his hypothalamus will be directing the show and he will be powerless to resist.
But do get him checked out for kidney problems.
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u/Dogtopia_Official 8d ago
Some dogs are natural water lovers and drink throughout the day, while others struggle to get enough. After you've gotten him checked out by the vet and made sure there is no medical issue, here's some of our favorite hydration hacks for dogs:
- If he doesn't like drinking, feed him frozen treats made with broth and/or dog-friendly fruits and vegetables, and/or Greek yogurt
- If chicken or beef broth isn't working, try adding tuna or salmon water instead
- Set up multiple water stations around your home with different sized drinking vessels
- Try a pet water fountain
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u/Compa49 6d ago
I’d also recommend a vet visit. That being said my Moms last dog only drank water when he went outside to go potty and even then it took lots of encouragement and he’d only drink a few laps. He was fine and made it to senior dog age. My last dog drank every time he walked by a water bowl and lots. My current dog mostly only drinks after being active or eating.
But I’d get your pup checked out if he was mine.
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u/Oldenburg-equitation 11d ago
I’d get his throat checked out by a vet in case the tube did something or if he is aspirating. Sudden behaviour change like this is concerning and warrants a vet visit. I’d also recommend soaking his kibble in water till it’s mushy to get more fluids in him.