Hello, I was hoping someone can relate to my dog's strange behavioural
problem. She is frightened of her water bowl. When she's thirsty, she is
very hesitant in approaching the water bowl to drink. She stretches her
body, takes a quick lap and then retreats, sometimes whimpering. She's the
same with any type of bowl. I've tried using different colors, sizes,
placing it inside and outside, and she's the same with all of them. I try to
encourage her by dipping in my finger, letting her lick the drop of water to
show her that there's nothing worry about and she will drink, but she seems
to be under a lot of stress for some reason.
She has been like this for a very long time but the problem can't be that
bad because she hasn't died of thirst. It's just a very strange thing to see
a dog with water bowl phobia.
I've been thinking of some things that may have set her off. 1. A Bee or a
Wasp way have stung her while she was drinking (I could understand that). 2.
Her reflection (why would this be so scary?). 3. The noise of her collar's
tags hitting the side and making a noise (when we used a stainless steel
bowl for the first time).
One clue, I suppose, is that she's less frightened when the bowl is full to
the brim.
Has anyone's dog had a similar phobia and how did you manage it?
As I said, she hasn't died of thirst so is this problem worth me worrying
about anyway?
Mitzy is a 6 year old poodle-maltese cross.
Any help, suggestions would be much appreciated.
Trev.

Sorry I have no ideas but will be interested to see the responses. My dog
George has some behavioural problems which we cope and live with but he
seems afraid of his food bowl. He doesn't have a problem with his water bowl
(which is stainless steel) when I put his food down he runs away then slinks
back and strains his neck to eat eventually relaxing and eating properly.
Like you I have tried different bowls but it doesn't make a difference.

Shell

"TrevorVA" wrote in message
u...
Hello, I was hoping someone can relate to my dog's strange behavioural
problem. She is frightened of her water bowl. When she's thirsty, she is
very hesitant in approaching the water bowl to drink. She stretches her
body, takes a quick lap and then retreats, sometimes whimpering. She's the
same with any type of bowl. I've tried using different colors, sizes,
placing it inside and outside, and she's the same with all of them. I try
to
encourage her by dipping in my finger, letting her lick the drop of water
to
show her that there's nothing worry about and she will drink, but she
seems
to be under a lot of stress for some reason.
She has been like this for a very long time but the problem can't be that
bad because she hasn't died of thirst. It's just a very strange thing to
see
a dog with water bowl phobia.
I've been thinking of some things that may have set her off. 1. A Bee or a
Wasp way have stung her while she was drinking (I could understand that).
2.
Her reflection (why would this be so scary?). 3. The noise of her collar's
tags hitting the side and making a noise (when we used a stainless steel
bowl for the first time).
One clue, I suppose, is that she's less frightened when the bowl is full
to
the brim.
Has anyone's dog had a similar phobia and how did you manage it?
As I said, she hasn't died of thirst so is this problem worth me worrying
about anyway?
Mitzy is a 6 year old poodle-maltese cross.
Any help, suggestions would be much appreciated.
Trev.

Sorry I have no ideas but will be interested to see the responses. My dog
George has some behavioural problems which we cope and live with but he
seems afraid of his food bowl. He doesn't have a problem with his water bowl
(which is stainless steel) when I put his food down he runs away then slinks
back and strains his neck to eat eventually relaxing and eating properly.
Like you I have tried different bowls but it doesn't make a difference.

Shell

"TrevorVA" wrote in message
u...
Hello, I was hoping someone can relate to my dog's strange behavioural
problem. She is frightened of her water bowl. When she's thirsty, she is
very hesitant in approaching the water bowl to drink. She stretches her
body, takes a quick lap and then retreats, sometimes whimpering. She's the
same with any type of bowl. I've tried using different colors, sizes,
placing it inside and outside, and she's the same with all of them. I try
to
encourage her by dipping in my finger, letting her lick the drop of water
to
show her that there's nothing worry about and she will drink, but she
seems
to be under a lot of stress for some reason.
She has been like this for a very long time but the problem can't be that
bad because she hasn't died of thirst. It's just a very strange thing to
see
a dog with water bowl phobia.
I've been thinking of some things that may have set her off. 1. A Bee or a
Wasp way have stung her while she was drinking (I could understand that).
2.
Her reflection (why would this be so scary?). 3. The noise of her collar's
tags hitting the side and making a noise (when we used a stainless steel
bowl for the first time).
One clue, I suppose, is that she's less frightened when the bowl is full
to
the brim.
Has anyone's dog had a similar phobia and how did you manage it?
As I said, she hasn't died of thirst so is this problem worth me worrying
about anyway?
Mitzy is a 6 year old poodle-maltese cross.
Any help, suggestions would be much appreciated.
Trev.

In article ,
"TrevorVA" wrote:

I was hoping someone can relate to my dog's strange behavioural
problem. She is frightened of her water bowl. When she's thirsty, she is
very hesitant in approaching the water bowl to drink. She stretches her
body, takes a quick lap and then retreats, sometimes whimpering. She's the
same with any type of bowl. I've tried using different colors, sizes,
placing it inside and outside, and she's the same with all of them.

Have you tried the water dispensers that don't really look like a bowl?
What about the hanging water bottles?

When we came back from a short vacation, we went to feed the dogs. Bella
saw something (a bug?) that spooked her. It wasn't near her bowl, but
she wouldn't go near her bowl. We took her bowl to a different location.
Same deal. We changed the bowl and took her food outside. I hand fed her
a little bit of food, then just stood by as she ate. We fed her outside
for a day or two, then I took her (new) bowl back to the basement, but
in a different location. We stood by her while she ate.

DH feeds the dogs breakfast & I feed them dinner. Bella would not
breakfast in the basement, so she dined al fresco, but I finally (about
a week later) got tired of this new routine and brought her old bowl
back into play, back to its regular spot & she's been eating normally
ever since. Evidently breaking the pattern was helpful.

In article ,
"TrevorVA" wrote:

I was hoping someone can relate to my dog's strange behavioural
problem. She is frightened of her water bowl. When she's thirsty, she is
very hesitant in approaching the water bowl to drink. She stretches her
body, takes a quick lap and then retreats, sometimes whimpering. She's the
same with any type of bowl. I've tried using different colors, sizes,
placing it inside and outside, and she's the same with all of them.

Have you tried the water dispensers that don't really look like a bowl?
What about the hanging water bottles?

When we came back from a short vacation, we went to feed the dogs. Bella
saw something (a bug?) that spooked her. It wasn't near her bowl, but
she wouldn't go near her bowl. We took her bowl to a different location.
Same deal. We changed the bowl and took her food outside. I hand fed her
a little bit of food, then just stood by as she ate. We fed her outside
for a day or two, then I took her (new) bowl back to the basement, but
in a different location. We stood by her while she ate.

DH feeds the dogs breakfast & I feed them dinner. Bella would not
breakfast in the basement, so she dined al fresco, but I finally (about
a week later) got tired of this new routine and brought her old bowl
back into play, back to its regular spot & she's been eating normally
ever since. Evidently breaking the pattern was helpful.

Might have some vision problems that involve depth perception and when she is
close to the bowl, can't tell how deep the water is. So she is guessing at
where her nose hits the water. Might be something altogether different.

Might have some vision problems that involve depth perception and when she is
close to the bowl, can't tell how deep the water is. So she is guessing at
where her nose hits the water. Might be something altogether different.

One of the dogs from Brittany rescue who was recently adopted had the same
problem. Turned out to be the tags hitting the stainless steel bowl. Have you
tried removing the tags?
Janice

One of the dogs from Brittany rescue who was recently adopted had the same
problem. Turned out to be the tags hitting the stainless steel bowl. Have you
tried removing the tags?
Janice