Weird water crazy dog

Question
Hello, I am not sure if you will remember but I was the one who recently asked you all about dog food protein for my dog with skin allergies who was trying Solid Gold. My dog is Eddy (male neutered, 40 lbs, vet up to date). Anyways, I have been noticing this behavior for a while and wondered if you had any insight. One time when he was about 5 months (he is now 1 year) I had no water but that water from my personal bottled water (purified tap water) and he was thirsty so I gave him a hand full to quench his thirst. From that point on whenever he sees a water bottle, no joke, he will pester me to give him some of my bottled water. I drink alot of water so I usually have a bottle of water with me and he sees it and acts as if it was food and stares at me until I give him some or tell him leave it. Ever had a dog who loved bottled water? Any ideas why the bottled water would be so enticing to him? Kind of a funny question but I just really noticed it today and was wondering about it. I though maybe the cold water was what he was after but I would put some regular tap water in the fridge (not filtered) and give it to him and he does not react crazy but if I bring out the filtered bottled water he just wants it as if it was a treat. Thanks.

Answer

Hi Rachel,

Of course I remember you. I hope Eddy is doing well on the Solid Gold dog food.

For reasons you may never know, your dog just really enjoys getting water from a bottle! It's not too unusual for dogs to develop these kinds of habits. Many times it's a food or a word, or a phrase (such as seeing a ball, or the word  "cookie" or phase "go for a walk") that a dog will latch onto, causing the owner to come up with elaborate alternatives to exposing the dog to whatever it's obsessing over.

Since it's just water, there's no harm in giving him some. You probably can use tap water, and your dog would be just as happy with it. My guess is that it's pouring the water from the bottle and drinking from your hand that's the intriguing part of this process.

Of course, if it's an inconvenience to give your dog water from the bottle, you shouldn't cater to his whims. You can save the water from the bottle as a treat, since it's a highly desired item.

Regards,
Patti