drinking water

[lance]

Some times Bandit will drink out of his water bowl from a down position. I was more concerned earlier before I saw a few other dogs do it also at dog park.

Reading about some dogs having neck/spinal problems, which I don't believe Bandit has, also concerned me about his ocasional drinking habit.

Does anyone of your dogs do it?

As I've posted before, My last dog was a Great Dane. I don't recall her ever drinking from a down position. If anything, Her food and water was elevated.

[Lunar]

I don't think any of our dogs drinks like that, but I know Oreo frequently eats while laying down. As she got older she got a little more laid-back about it, and being the lazy prissy pants she is, she just takes a much more relaxed pose towards it. I never considered it problems with her neck, she didn't *mind* eating standing up... she'd just sometimes get lazy. (Except when a cat comes around... then she jumps up to block the bowl from the evil kitty.)

[Tammy525]

Scout does this if we feed him late and he is tired. Sometimes he will fall asleep in his bowl waiting for dinner (on his side, head in the bowl, a LOL picture). If we feed him after he has been like this he will just not bother to get up. No health concerns with him at all.

[Kitch]

Dublin will do that if he has been running around at the dog park. He just parks himself in front of the bowl, with his front legs on either side and laps away. I don't discourage it because if he is standing he can get distracted and starts to play with the water instead of drinking it....

[Cheri McDonald]

Both Rob and Briar will lay down in front of the bowl and drink after playing hard.

[BustopherJones]

Our vet recommended that both the food and water dishes be placed on raised platforms appropriate to each dog's height, which enables them to eat and drink in a normal standing position without having to bend down.

[Allie Oop]

Allie has a canvas water bowl we use while hiking and playing at the park. She will frequently run over to the bowl, set the frisbee leaning up on the side of the bowl (so nobody else can get it - including me ) and then plop into a down position to drink.

[Kat's Dogs]

After playing outside Dazzle will sometimes drink laying down. She makes a big mess and spills water everywhere when she does it too!

 

I would get a raised platform for her but right now we only have one water dish and 3 different sized dogs. Hopefully we will be getting a new water dish soon though.

[RaisingRiver]

Does Bandit only do it after he's been running around? As if he's too poop'd to stand?

 

River did it this morning at the dog park after playing fetch. She was really tired - we even had to stop and rest in the shade a bit before making the trek back to the car cuz she kept trying to lay down under every shady tree we passed.

 

Also remember that most dogs don't have a lot of fur on their tummys so laying down cools them faster from the cool ground - and it's also the place you should hose them down (bellies) if you want to help cool them down faster.

 

In the wild, dogs often lay down to eat a meal - don't all the raw eaters here do that?

 

I raise my dogs food bowls for digestive reasons and standing to eat isn't the most natural position, but not water since it is natural for dogs to drink water from the ground - and like horses, it's good for them to stretch their necks sometimes.

 

If Bandit only does it after playing, then I wouldn't worry. If he does it in the house, just to grab a quick drink... then maybe it's habit or something else. You could always raise his water bowl in the house.

[lance]

RaisingRiver

 

Come to think of it, it's mostly after comming back from walk that Bandit drinks while laying down.

[smileyzookie]

Riven lays down in front of her bowl too

[Kitch]

In the wild, dogs often lay down to eat a meal - don't all the raw eaters here do that?

Yep, Dublin eats pretty much every meal on his belly. It is really hard to really get into a slab of ribs while standing...

[donna frankland (uk)]

tikki and brighid both normally eat laying down:D

[Falcon]

Our Golden never does it, but my BC pup does all the time. He will take a nap with his body curled around the water bowl so when he 'wakes up' he can stick his face in the bowl and fall asleep again.

[Allie+Tess&Kipp]

My dog Tess has laid down to drink since she was 7 weeks old. She has always done it. She NEVER stands up to drink.

 

Kipp on the other hand, never lays down to drink and we think he is a weirdo for doing that.

 

Both dogs eat standing up. No health concerns with either dog.

 

Allie + Tess & Kipp

[Allie+Tess&Kipp]

He will take a nap with his body curled around the water bowl so when he 'wakes up' he can stick his face in the bowl and fall asleep again.

 

Tess, when she was little, would use her water bowl as a pillow. When she was very tiny, I would only put a little water in at a time (but I never let her run out) and gave her a bowl with high sides so she would not fall asleep IN the water.

 

She has always been a big water drinker. She has a clean bill of health though. The vets say she is like me--I just drink a lot water because I like it. (:

[smileyzookie]

lol I wish I liked water. I've had a TON of kidney surgeries and 1/3 of a kidney removed so I have to drink it. LOL

[Nik]

In the house all of ours stand up to drink...usually at least 2 dogs at a time in the water bowl. After hearing everybody's replies I guess I have the weird dogs.

 

Outside is a different story...I used to have a bowl constantly filled w/ water but now they WON'T drink out of it. They would rather have the water out of the goldfish pond so I don't bother filling the bowl up outside anymore. Pache will actually get in the pond and lay down and drink though. I don't know, something about drinking water that your whole body has been in just kind of grosses me out, but then again I'm not a dog.