getting a dog to drink

[Jen W]

On occasion my dog won't drink.  Today, for example, it's 3PM and she's had nothing.  I bring the bowl to her but she just turns up her nose at it.  She's tired b/c she was at daycare yesterday so I don't think there's really anything wrong, I just want her to drink to ward off any dehydration.

I'm thinking of boiling a hot dog in water and then cooling it to entice her to drink.  There shouldn't be any issue with that, should there be?  She gets pieces of hot dog on occasion for treats, so if she eats the actual dog, the water couldn't hurt.  Right?

[F, Calla & Luca]

It shouldn't really hurt but there is salt and fat. Low fat low salt chicken broth would be fine.

[Vivian & Mojo]

Check the chicken broth for onions, I couldn't find any without so made my own when my doodle wasn't drinking much after his neuter surgery. (He loved the broth)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I agree. I could not find any type of broth, chicken or otherwise, that did not contain onions. 

[F, Calla & Luca]

Interesting. I don't think a small amount of onions would hurt but I haven't really ever used chicken broth for the dogs. I do give them very small amounts of human foods cooked with onion but I pick the onions out.

[Deborah Brown]

Hot dog water!  What could be better?

I seriously would not worry.  We call Charlie the camel because it seems like he drinks once a day and then the whole bowl.

[Debbie and Toby]

When we don't feel Toby is drinking enough water, we add about a 1/2 tsp of canned food into his water...he loves it and it works every time. We use the Natural Balance Sweet Potato and Venison canned food. We use this for giving his meds so we always have it available to make the "broth".

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Some FG members have had success getting a dog to drink by adding a tiny bit of unsweetened apple juice to the dog's water. 

You can also try frozen 100% juice bars. A few FG doodles love them.

[F, Calla & Luca]

I know Calla loves apples. Luca does not.

[Jennifer and Lily]

Becareful with adding things to water. She may stop wanting regular water and favor the flavored water. Similar to a picky dog favoring "toppers" on their dog food. One time when Lily was sick I tried to get her to drink from a glass of ice water (she was very dehydrated). Now unless she is very very thirsty she likes to have ice in her water AND drink from a human cup. I always have a water bowl for her, and now also have a human plastic glass on the floor for her. I tried to stop this habit, but I noticed her beard does not get wet when she drinks from a glass (because the rim holds it back). Now we don't have water all over every time she drinks :)

[Deborah Brown]

Funny!  I've never seen a dog who only wants to drink out of a glass.  My dogs actually prefer the toilet but we encourage water bowl.  ;)

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

She might enjoy ice cubes in her water dish.

[Lynda Kamrath]

My goldendoodle, Groucho Too, would never drink from a plastic bowl or water from a plastic bottle.  His lips would never touch plastic.  Are you thinking of trying to get her to drink the water that a hot dog has been boiled in?  What kind of containers are you using?  Try water in a stainless steel bowl and see how that works. Or you could try a ceramic bowl.