Puppy Practical Jokes

[Adam, Emily and Butters]

Butters is 12 weeks old and the best puppy we could have ever asked for.  He has learned so much and I made sure to cure mouthing early since I babysit my 2 year old niece everyday.  He still has his puppy antics and unfortunately they are so cute. 

 

A NOT cute habit is he puts his foot in his water bowl. I swear he knows that it drives my crazy cause sometimes he'll look right at me and I tell him "no" and he does it anyway.  He does this at home, at the park, and my sister's house.  He spills the water everywhere and it is so frustrating!!!  I have read the other posts about puppies running away, biting, and taking toys, but what do I do about spilling water all over the floor.  I don't feel like I can take water away from him, but I'm so tired of cleaning up water all day long.

[Deb, Connor & Simon]

Well, honestly, I think Butters' biggest problem is he is 12 weeks old....a really little guy. My newfie used to dig in his water dish....like he was digging in sand...water everywhere! He did outgrow that. I think puppies do that because it is fun...he might be mistaking your correction as your making a "fun" sound - that's why he's looking to you....like "I'm doing that thing you think is funny." I don't know. Don't be surprised, though, if some of the behaviors you've corrected now, come back later. He's not being bad on purpose, just growing up.
Butters sounds like a precious little fellow. Maybe someone else can help you more than me about the water. :-)

[Sandra Griffith]

I have two suggestions that you might try. One is to use a raised water bowl. The other is to use a no-spill water bowl. They have stainless steel no-spill water bowls at Cherrybrook.

[Lynda Kamrath]

My pup went through a short stage of dancing in his water bowl. He knew what he was doing and he just liked to splash the water. Both inside and outside water bowls. But, shortly, the stage was over. Hang in there, there are many worse things he could be doing.

[Becca & Lucy]

Lucy does this too! HA! I got a little mat to put under her bowl. I only fill her dish up half way bc she does not seem to do it as much as when its filled to the top. You just have to watch the dish close and keep filling it through out the day.

[Adam, Emily and Butters]

Thanks.. We do have a no-slip bowl and a mat, but maybe putting it up higher would help. I'm glad to know that he will grow out of it.

[Pam Pieroni]

Simba is 6 months old now; he did this playing with the water bowl a lot. It's getting better now though. I started putting a lot less water in the bowl and fill it as needed. Since it's winter, he really doesn't need tons of water all day long anyway. Sometimes he'll play with the empty steel bowl. He tires of his toys quickly..sigh.....

[Brittany&Sami]

Awwh 12 weeks? How precious!

I actually had a cat that did the same thing her food and water bowl, she was a stray and lots of weird little habits. It would probably help to get a raised or "spill proof" bowl, but chances are he'll still want to play in the water. That was the case with my cat. I know Sam did the same thing because her paws were always soaked and the towel around the bowl wet, I never caught her in the act though. That doesn't seem to be a problem anymore, so I assume she grew out of it :D I'm sure Butter will eventually get over the excitement of water