fresh water..

my dog wont drink fresh water at all , never has done .. she would rather drink puddles in the garden , i change her water all the time ,i have tried different bowls (no affect ) she will only drink from the bowl if its "old " water , ive tried bottled water too .. no luck with that either has anyone else had this problem ? our vet says just make sure water is down and when shes ready she will drink it ! i do this but soon as you let her outside to pee she heads for nearest puddle ! any advice would be great ...millie is also 42 days in whelp !! so its a real concern to me , although she is fine in herself

I had a similar problem with an old dog who was not drinking sufficient. My vet advised to add a little chicken/beef stock to the water bowl. If you do this be sure that it is not the very salty stuff. Home-made is best My dogs drink from puddles, but they will not touch water in a bowl if it is not 'home' water. Therefore, if we go anywhere, I have to be sure to carry familiar water with us. They also prefer to drink running water, i.e. from a tap.

The temp was what came to my mind when reading your post.
Ally wont drink her water if its too cold and will hit the "lake" in our backyard if she finds it is.
I´m not sure but could that be it?

If you, for a while, could keep your dog´s acces to water elsewhere limited, you might be able to break the habbit (if its just a habbit). You´d be giving it no choice then and might be able to teach it to have water from the bowl.
If you´re able to, you may have to correct it while outside if it tries to drink puddles there.

When Rosie wouldn't drink after her spaying, I put a tsp of honey in her water.......she soon started drinking......obviously you can't do this all the time, but it may encourage her!

im gonna try what you all have suggested ..... i too wondered about the temp thing , who knows what goes off in their doggie heads !!! ill keep you posted

just to add , millies food was changed a couple of weeks ago to jwb puppy kibble mixed with naturediet i mix this with hot water ... so i suppose shes getting more water than i think she is .... (millie not drinking has been there since i had her at 9 weeks old)

Adding water to their foods will make them drink a lot less. I noticed that when Ally had her food served wet.

But in my opinion, a dog not able to drink "normal" water is annoying and I would want to try and fix it. Also in case you bring her places and has to bring water in a bowl for her. It could be a long day without water and an excausted dog because of what might be a bad habbit

Hi MM I would also think of the temperature, could also be that your water is is heavily chlorinated and may smell horrid to your dog,remember their sense of smell is so much better than ours . When I lived in Dorset we could not drink the water out of the tap because it smelt of bleach. I would try giving slightly warm water that has been standing for a little while ..

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great point !! strange though ... when we go away in the caravan millie will drink the water from there , im really starting to wonder about the temp , cos obviously the water in the van will be warmer than tapwater running through pipes at home.... im gonna check this one out ... next time i change her water im gonna try 2 bowls one straight from cold tap and one warmed up a bit ... ill let you all know what happens!!

tried the cold v warm water test ......... put both bowels down , millie sniffed both then drank nearly a bowlfull of the warmer one !!!! think i got it sorted thanks everyone