My dog Elvira is a 12 year old black labrador and ever since she was a
little puppy she's been really scared of water and guns..and loud
nosies, and cats, and another animals and probably a million other
things too, but shes really a sweet dog and anyway even though she's
getting old now I've noticed shes groaning a lot and looks depressed
sometimes and I think it's because, well she's pretty fat, and I believe
it's because she doesn't drink enough water. If I take the water bowl
over to her she always looks away. Can someone please tell me how to
get her to drink more water and not be afraid of it? I take her for
walks as much as possible but she still doesnt drink much. Is there any
other ideas? any food I can feed that will make her drink?

Thanks,
Anton.

On Sun, 16 Nov 2003 19:12:58 +1100 anton whittled these words:
My dog Elvira is a 12 year old black labrador and ever since she was a
little puppy she's been really scared of water and guns..and loud
nosies, and cats, and another animals and probably a million other
things too, but shes really a sweet dog and anyway even though she's
getting old now I've noticed shes groaning a lot and looks depressed
sometimes and I think it's because, well she's pretty fat, and I believe
it's because she doesn't drink enough water. If I take the water bowl
over to her she always looks away. Can someone please tell me how to
get her to drink more water and not be afraid of it? I take her for
walks as much as possible but she still doesnt drink much. Is there any
other ideas? any food I can feed that will make her drink?

YOu can help her feel better and extend her life by helping her lose that
extra weight. She probably does not need more water. Your description of
her behavior does not indicae fear of the water. She may not like the
taste, however. Make sure the bowl is scrubbed daily. Use ceramic for
lowest risk of adding "bowl flavor" to the water. To help her lose weight
reduce her food by 1/3 and substitute canned plain pumpkin or green beans.
Make eating more interesting with less food by using a food dispensing
toy. http://www.dog-play.com/toys.html

Diane BLackman