My dog is afraid of her water. Your thoughts?

janevicki

Active Member
10 Year Member!
Joined
Oct 3, 2012
Messages
323
Location (City and/or State)
Near Disneyland
Was that after the dog ate and drank perfectly fine before?
Suki was great for a couple of years and the behavior seems to have popped up overnight.
Luckily, I just found that she'll also drink from a bowl while I'm sitting on the couch as long as I'm holding her to make her feel safe.
That'll be easier than getting up off of the floor every few hours.
I've placed 3 other water bowls in 3 other rooms and she does the same thing....Slowly and deliberately walks up to the water. Looks at it. Starts to shake in fear and walks, sometimes runs away. Really, she sometimes spins around in a 180 and takes off at high speed like she just saw something that scared her to death.
Something traumatic happened in, on, or near her old water bowl. I don't think anything else makes sense. And even that is not a great theory. But it's one mentioned before.
Take care! You are very sweet to love your Chihuahua so much. Chihuahuas are lap dogs and they require/expect more TLC (tender loving care) than most other breeds. Hopefully this trauma will pass for her.
 

KarenSoCal

Well-Known Member
Tortoise Club
5 Year Member
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jul 8, 2017
Messages
5,749
Location (City and/or State)
Low desert 50 mi SE of Palm Springs CA
My cat Sammy will drink from any one of the four water dishes in the house. But he has extra places that are his too...he has a cup that sits on the bathroom vanity. It must be refilled every night. If I fail to do so, he will loudly cry until I do.

He likes drinking out of a dirty dish left in the sink that has water in it.

And he understands that when the toilet flushes, it has nice fresh water in it. Yum!

2013-10-16 09.17.55.jpg2013-10-16 09.17.45.jpg
 

Maggie3fan

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jun 30, 2018
Messages
8,046
Location (City and/or State)
PacificNorthWest
My cat Sammy will drink from any one of the four water dishes in the house. But he has extra places that are his too...he has a cup that sits on the bathroom vanity. It must be refilled every night. If I fail to do so, he will loudly cry until I do.

He likes drinking out of a dirty dish left in the sink that has water in it.

And he understands that when the toilet flushes, it has nice fresh water in it. Yum!

View attachment 303269View attachment 303270
Ohhh pretty kitty!
 

VegasJeff

Member
Joined
Jan 23, 2020
Messages
95
Location (City and/or State)
Las Vegas, NV
Small dog??? My son has a Golden Doodle and a dubble doodle...both of them are 80 lbs and more...am I misunderstanding?

Last August I adopted an 11 yr old cat from the local humane place....I was told that he will only eat if you pet him and stay with him while he eats...(oh hell no)...so I set up his bowls and food at the 'feeding station'...and I said" this is your home now and forever...you are safe here" and walked away...it took 3 days before he would eat by himself...I am not in the least suggesting this is your solution...just repeating my experience...and sorry I am not a dog person...but I commented anyway...;)

@maggie3fan Just to clarify, I'm calling our dog a miniature golden doodle now. She is about the size of a cat. Definitely, not as big as the full size ones!
 

ZEROPILOT

REDFOOT WRANGLER
Moderator
Tortoise Club
5 Year Member
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jul 16, 2014
Messages
28,938
Location (City and/or State)
South Eastern Florida (U.S.A.)/Rock Hill S.C.
I thought I'd post an update to this old thread.
Suki still only drinks water if I hold the bowl in my hands. That's still going on.

We also have a routine of her "breakfast" each morning. She gets a very small portion of the turkey/chicken/green bean and carrots food that I prepare for her weekly. (And freeze some) She only eats about 20% commercial dog food.
This morning I couldn't find her bowl. No big deal. I placed her food into a different one. She began trembling and crying and wouldn't get within 2 feet of the bowl.
I had to find her BREAKFAST bowl and place the turkey in that. Then she did a few spins around me and ate it.
The thing is...She ate some hamburger beef as a treat from THAT other bowl just yesterday. She pretty regularly eats from that other bowl. But I guess not in the morning. Because the breakfast bowl is very small. I now have a collection of small bowls and tiny plates in ceramic, plastic and metal. And on different days and at different times of the same day she rejects or accepts them.
Oh, and if I accidentally click two plates together so that they make any sort of a noise, she'll run out of the room.
This dog is weird
 
Last edited:

wellington

Well-Known Member
Moderator
10 Year Member!
Tortoise Club
Joined
Sep 6, 2011
Messages
49,658
Location (City and/or State)
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Oh wow, such a needy little one. The little ones are weird. I have a little pom. I thought my Bull Terrier was weird. Well she was but that's their personality, clowns. This little pom has some weird quirks for such a small dog.
I bet in about a year or so your little one will change back to her old ways of not having a problem with any plate or bowl.
Unless she is likeling the pampering way too much lol.
 

ZEROPILOT

REDFOOT WRANGLER
Moderator
Tortoise Club
5 Year Member
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jul 16, 2014
Messages
28,938
Location (City and/or State)
South Eastern Florida (U.S.A.)/Rock Hill S.C.
Oh wow, such a needy little one. The little ones are weird. I have a little pom. I thought my Bull Terrier was weird. Well she was but that's their personality, clowns. This little pom has some weird quirks for such a small dog.
I bet in about a year or so your little one will change back to her old ways of not having a problem with any plate or bowl.
Unless she is likeling the pampering way too much lol.
She's treated no differently than my old. Mean, smart as Hell Chihuahua before her.
The vet things She's "special" because she inbred.
 

jeff kushner

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 24, 2020
Messages
2,688
Location (City and/or State)
North of Annapolis
I had to find her BREAKFAST bowl and place the turkey in that.
This dog is weird

LOL......she ain't alone my friend......lol

If she were a child, I would fully expect her to be the most entitled little *****(I can say that cause it's actually correct, right?) one could imagine......LOL

I think she's probably ruined and couldn't cook her own meal if her life depended on it!

I'm just having fun of course.....I'm an "outside dog" person so I find this level of "doting" pretty neat. Reminds me of Kerry around her kids!

I had a fiancé(#2) whose father did the same stuff for his cat....cooked for the can every night, his wife cooked for the kids.....I thought he was very strange. I never married her though............whew!
 

OliveW

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 4, 2022
Messages
286
Location (City and/or State)
Branford, FL
I have been dealing with this same issue with an elderly cat since December of last year! I have at least 15 - 20 water bowls that I've purchased during that time. I've had this cat since he showed up nine years ago (as an older adult cat) and never a problem until the past six months.

We have determined for sure that he won't drink out of anything metallic, for any reason - despite that he's had a metallic bowl since he's lived here. I bought one of those stupid cat fountains because Snowball likes drinking running water out of the sink. He wouldn't have anything to do with the fountain and it's since been donated.

So, for the time being, he has to get up on the vanity in the bathroom and drink running water from the faucet. Obviously, one of us has to stand there while he does so. He's quite vocal about letting us know when we need to come turn it on for him. 🤦‍♀️
 

ZEROPILOT

REDFOOT WRANGLER
Moderator
Tortoise Club
5 Year Member
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jul 16, 2014
Messages
28,938
Location (City and/or State)
South Eastern Florida (U.S.A.)/Rock Hill S.C.
LOL......she ain't alone my friend......lol

If she were a child, I would fully expect her to be the most entitled little *****(I can say that cause it's actually correct, right?) one could imagine......LOL

I think she's probably ruined and couldn't cook her own meal if her life depended on it!

I'm just having fun of course.....I'm an "outside dog" person so I find this level of "doting" pretty neat. Reminds me of Kerry around her kids!

I had a fiancé(#2) whose father did the same stuff for his cat....cooked for the can every night, his wife cooked for the kids.....I thought he was very strange. I never married her though............whew!
This dog would cease to live if I ignored her for a few hours.
 

Cathie G

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Aug 9, 2018
Messages
14,904
Location (City and/or State)
Lancaster
I can't help but laugh about this whole animals training human thing. I guess I'm a well trained human too though 😜 I have yanimals too. Yak yak yak. They never stop talking and we're fool enough to listen 👂 ain't it great fun!😊
 

Cathie G

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Aug 9, 2018
Messages
14,904
Location (City and/or State)
Lancaster
This dog would cease to live if I ignored her for a few hours.
My other brother has a poodle he calls his wife 😊 she gripes and complains if he goes away for too long 😁 when he finally gets home he's has to hear it... too funny 🤣
 

Moozillion

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Apr 26, 2012
Messages
10,744
Location (City and/or State)
Louisiana, USA
Among my 4 cats are 2 half-Siamese littermates that we adopted as kittens from a sanctuary in 2020. I did NOT know that Siamese are described as “high maintenance” cats: intelligent, high energy, vocal and demanding. Both ours have those traits, but the boy, Arlo, has those traits in spades!!!! 😫 I work from home, and he’s especially demanding about wanting us (ie ME!) to play with them ALL morning long. 🤦🏼‍♀️ The only way I can get a little peace to drink my coffee and read the paper is with help from my buddy, Mr. Squirt Bottle! It only contains water, and I seldom am able to hit my target (his backside) but it still works!!
 

Sarah2020

Well-Known Member
Tortoise Club
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Mar 16, 2020
Messages
1,604
Location (City and/or State)
London, UK
I thought I'd post an update to this old thread.
Suki still only drinks water if I hold the bowl in my hands. That's still going on.

We also have a routine of her "breakfast" each morning. She gets a very small portion of the turkey/chicken/green bean and carrots food that I prepare for her weekly. (And freeze some) She only eats about 20% commercial dog food.
This morning I couldn't find her bowl. No big deal. I placed her food into a different one. She began trembling and crying and wouldn't get within 2 feet of the bowl.
I had to find her BREAKFAST bowl and place the turkey in that. Then she did a few spins around me and ate it.
The thing is...She ate some hamburger beef as a treat from THAT other bowl just yesterday. She pretty regularly eats from that other bowl. But I guess not in the morning. Because the breakfast bowl is very small. I now have a collection of small bowls and tiny plates in ceramic, plastic and metal. And on different days and at different times of the same day she rejects or accepts them.
Oh, and if I accidentally click two plates together so that they make any sort of a noise, she'll run out of the room.
This dog is weird
You have a lot of patience. Good luck with this one
 

New Posts

Top