# Won't drink from water bowl



## redd (May 25, 2014)

Our typical goofy energetic V doesn't like to drink from a water bowl. He prefers to drink from the bathtub faucet upstairs (so goes upstairs and makes all sorts of ruckus until you come up and turn on the water for him) OR he wants to go outside all the time and drink water from puddles, ice, snow, etc. 

We've tried all sorts of bowls aside from a fountain (which we are buying today). He will drink from a cup or water bottle when we are out exercising but not at home. 

Any thoughts? He doesn't seem scared of it... and once in a blue moon he _will_ drink from the bowl. No barking or pawing at it. He has recently been whining and barking while standing near the refrigerator because he wants ice (which I try not to give him because I don't want to reward him when he is demanding, which is another topic LOL).


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## Zoton (Feb 4, 2014)

We had the same sort of thing with anwen with a feeding bowl, stainless steel type,when she was a puppy we had a name tag which dangled down and made a noise the first time she went to it.It was megs my other dogs bowl,wasn't till she grew out of the collar and had a new type she started being ok with it.


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## charliecoyot (Nov 26, 2012)

Just a quick idea - if you feed kibble - pour a 1/2 inch or so of water over kibble before letting he/she eat. Had kind of same thing when Roothee was pup - thinking it was due to collar 'clanking' on bowl - since she's a quick eater always thinking she's hungry - this seemed to cure the water out of bowl issue pretty quickly. Good luck! Barking by fridge....... Haven't had the joy of that one yet!


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

I would consider a tag hitting the bowl to discourage some dogs from drinking from a stainless steel bowl, others pay no attention to it.
It sounds like he is one of the more vocal vizslas, and wants to include you when he wants something to drink. The let me outside, come to the bathroom, give me ice, are all things that include you. 
While you may want to redirect him to something different when he is asking for ice, or drinking from the tub faucet. You might also need to work with him on things that work his mind. The smarter they are, the more you need to train/keep busy. Smart dogs get bored easily, and then they go about training us.


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## jld640 (Sep 29, 2010)

Savannah preferentially drinks from the cat's water bowl. I can't tell if she prefers it because it is smaller or because it is the cat's. It works out since the cat has now decided that Savannah's water bowl is just fine, particularly when I drop a few ice cubes into it. Savannah also would rather drink from a puddle than from her own bowl. 

With that said, you might try just using a smaller bowl or periodically dropping a few ice cubes into his current bowl until he gets into the habit of drinking from it.


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## redd (May 25, 2014)

We did try the ice idea, he would take the ice cubes out and chew them but still not drink from the bowl. Laughed over that. Otherwise tried soup bowls, ramekins, ceramic bowls, plastic bowls, all to no avail. 

As an update, we got a fountain type bowl and he is all about it. Drinks like a champ. No more demanding behavior upstairs at the bathtub faucet. So, yay!!

Thanks for all the help!


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