Boca has turned into a water snob

[Adina P]

After Rosco passed I noticed Boca wasn't drinking much in the house, only from a water bucket we keep outside.  I tried refreshing the water, still nothing.  I stuck the bowl in the dishwasher and then refilled it.  Still nothing but a brief sip and then ignoring it.

I used a different bowl thinking maybe there was some weird aversion to Rosco's favorite water dish.  Still no change.

I changed from a metal bowl to a ceramic bowl.  Initially she drank.  But then ignored it again.  In the meantime, the world has frozen over so she can't drink outside except for eating snow.

Bought a plastic bowl just for her and again initially she drank.  Then ignored it.  I literally have to fill it in front of her and point it out to her.  

In the meantime I think she's staying alive by eating snow.  

This is a dog that has drank from the toilet in the past when we've failed to notice the water bowl was empty.  And now it seems she can't be bothered to drink from a bowl if the water has sat for more than 5 minutes.

Any clues what's going on?

[Barbara, Zoey and Zeke]

I don't know that I have any great suggestions, except to change the water in the bowl several times a day.  But I DO know what you are talking about!  Sometimes I feel like Zoey just drinks once really good all day!  But if we are out walking when the snow is melting or after a rain, that running water holds a big lure for her.  She even stops by my garage door and tries to drink from the gutter spout.  

I guess it's like putting a water feature in a bird bath.  Fascination with moving water!  :^)

[Adina P]

I don't even remember to drink water myself several times a day...lol.  I don't know if she likes moving water.  I do change it when I notice she's already pooped/peed and then goes out to eat snow..:-O

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

LOL....my Murphy will only drink fresh cold water.  If it has been in the bowl for more than about 15 minutes he won't drink it.  He lets me know by going to the refrigerator and staring at it.  He knows that I refill his bowl from the water on the door.  Guinness is even more quirky....he likes to drink out of the same bowl as Murph and at the same time....they both get their tongues in their together.  My boys are a bit "odd".

[Adina P]

Have they always been this way?  This is brand new quirk.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Yes, and Murph is so set in his ways that he refuses to drink the water at Daycare.  He goes all day without a drink and when he comes home he is parched.

[BG and Gavin]

Will she drink if you place the bowl outside? Gavin much prefers to drink from his outdoor bowl.

[Adina P]

She loves her outdoor bucket, but it is frozen over.  As would the bowl end up because I'm not serving her fresh water outdoors 10x a day.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

She wants ice cold water. Just like Jane's Murphy.
Jasper is the same way. I keep an empty juice bottle filled with water in the fridge for replenishing his water bowl, since it's colder than the tap water. Putting ice in his bowl doesn;t work because he tries to play with it. 

[Adina P]

Maybe it's coldness.  Why the sudden princess demands?  I may add ice...she doesn't play with it.  But maybe she'll think it's a contaminant (as if her outside water isn't gross at times!)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'm wondering if maybe the dry winter air and the heat on all the time makes them crave very cold water more. Who knows. They're all so weird, lol.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

 I have a giant travel bowl that I fill (and do not clean often) and refill.  My guys are not fussy.  Ned is not much of a drinker and when we are out and I think they need to drink, he will often refuse, but he refuses lots of things. 

What if you put a few drops of something in it like berry juice or slices of cucumber as an enticement.  I wonder if she was always this way, but Rosco's drinking habits masked it? If that's the case then I would just continue what you have always done.

[Adina P]

Well Rosco was always a HUGE drinker compared to her.  Buuuut, she still went to the bowl and drank audibly without prompting and all this fresh water princess treatment.  Like I said, she even lowered herself and drank from the toilet a few times the bowl was empty.  I don't want to start fancy water.  Seriously, she eats socks, raids trash cans, and would eat her kibble off my head if I fed it to her that way...what are a few stray hairs and barely visible dust particles that might make it's way into her water an hour after I fill it?