help with westie, please!

my little westie, a rescue dog who was horribly tormented by her previous owners, is petrified of water. i am very concerned that she drinks so little. is there any way i can encourage her to drink more?

currently, she refuses to drink from any container apart from her usual bowl, unless she is absolutely desperate. she has a travel bottle, which she seems terrified of, and will not drink from, aside from once, when she was very hot and bothered. i have tried taking an ordinary dog bowl out with me, and a bottle of water, and she still ignores them. she will occasionally drink from a birdbath, or a puddle! i am at my wits end with this. otherwise, she is perfect! she has no mouth problems, or teeth problems.

i am sure this is a memory, rather than a physical problem, as she is scared of hoses, watering cans, and, basically, anything to do with water.

is there any other drink she could have? tearing my hair out here!

advice needed, please!
sama

Firstly dont worry.
I have two ex breeding bitches from a puppy farm, they obviously never had readily available water, as when we first had them they drank very little and def not out of their travel bottle.
As time has gone on they are a little better, but still dont drink a lot.
I have helped this by feeding a raw diet, so they get lots of moisture there.
I spoke to the vet abot this and he said not to worry, as the diet will def help and they will drink if they are thirsty enough.
If a raw diet is not for you, feed her a wet one.

I gave up with the travel bottle and let them drink the water they find on their travels...most dogs do anyway!
Hope this helps
Gemma

thank you! i am in process of switching her to raw diet, and thought that the moisture would probably be enough for her. i think she was terrorised with water in some way. heaven knows she endured enough at her previous place of residence. i cannot bring myself to even WRITE home, as it obviously wasnt one for her.

thank you again!

It sounds like your doing all the right things .
just remember be calm and dont worry as she will pick up on this.
If you are worried go and see a vet to put you mind at rest, but im confident that as she becomes more secure in her new home and relationship with you, she will drink more, just as mine did.
Gemma

Hi Sama,poor westie. At least she has a loving home now. This is a bit random but years ago I worked for a large horse stud and one of the senior vets wrote a paper on hand-rearing foals. One of his conclusions was that they learnt to drink quicker and `did` better if they were fed their milk/pellets from a red bowl, and it seems to be the same with calves and lambs.It may help,good luck.