labrador not drinking water (home, live in, buses)

[nitynity]

My 5 year old lab is not drinking water lately. We just moved from Denver and not quite sure if the heat is a problem for him. We leave him in the patio during day time and its kind of hot outside though its covered patio. Not sure if the water temp. is the issue. We saw him drinking out of the plant pot few times which was in the patio. May be he likes the cold water in the soil. I put some ice cubes in his water feeder, still he is not drinking it. Is it normal?

We have a 2 year old who messes with the dog a lot so we cant keep the dog inside unless the baby is sleeping.

[MckinneyOwnr]

He may smell something in the water than he's not used to. I fill up my dog's bowl from the sink in the laundry room every day. He normally drinks the water just fine, but a couple months ago, he absolutely refused to drink any water from his bowl that came from the sink.

I filled up with water from our refrigerator, which was filtered, and he drank it with no issues. After a couple days of doing that, I switched back to the sink, and he was ok with it. I have no idea what he smelled or why he stopped drinking from the sink, but you might try using filtered water and see if that helps.

[Brookside]

Respectfully - a dog should not be kept outdoors in the Texas heat.

And Labradors especially are *social* dogs. If you separate him/her from your family, i.e., "the pack" - he is going to be a lonely, unhappy, maladjusted dog.

You can train him not to misbehave around your 2-year-old. It just takes time and patience.

ASPCA on Teaching Your Dog to Behave Around Children

Link also includes info on finding professional/certified trainers, just in case.

[DoneWithDallas]

Labs are very social and want to be everyone's friend. He might be acting out especially if he has been an inside dog before. He will dehydrate extremely quick if left outside and he is not drinking. Labs are extremely intelligent, train him to be calm around the baby.

[ChristieP]

Originally Posted by Brookside

Respectfully - a dog should not be kept outdoors in the Texas heat.

And Labradors especially are *social* dogs. If you separate him/her from your family, i.e., "the pack" - he is going to be a lonely, unhappy, maladjusted dog.

You can train him not to misbehave around your 2-year-old. It just takes time and patience.

ASPCA on Teaching Your Dog to Behave Around Children

Link also includes info on finding professional/certified trainers, just in case.

Agree 100%. Both dog and child need to learn how to interact properly. If you aren't willing to teach the child how to treat a pet, then find a rescue organization to rehome the dog. Throwing the dog outside in a Texas summer is not a viable solution.

[LV702]

It's also possible the dog is giving you the middle finger for leaving it outside...

...or the water tastes funny

...or it has a health condition.

....If the dog doesn't drink soon get it to a vet.

[ChrisPlano]

+1 You cannot leave the dog outside. Keep Your Pets Safe in Summer Heat - SPCA of Texas

Remember, dogs don't sweat the way we do. They have limited capacity to cool themselves off.

You may want to try staying out on your patio all day long without a break to get an accurate picture of what temperatures are like, then imagine being in a fur coat, with no ability to sweat.

Do you live in a one room studio? Can't you put the dog in a bedroom?

[keribeth818]

So, Im not going to give you a lecture on animal safety as that isnt the advice you were seeking. But I did have some issues with my dog, similar age as yours when we had our first child, to the point we had to think about re-homing him. I am happy to tell you everything worked out with some training, diligence on our side, and time. Both my children love their dog and he is happy for any and all attention he receives. So hang in there!

That said, we moved from another area as well where our (black) dog loved to lay in the sun and bake for as long as we would let him. Here in Texas? He lasts about 5 minutes and begs to come inside. There are still times where the dog and kids need to be separated or we need to leave the house. A huge wire crate in our cool master closet is where he hangs out when the temperatures climb.

It also too us all quite awhile to get used to the lake-water taste in the summer. Even filtered, I could still taste it. Try giving him filtered water for awhile if you have it and see if that makes a difference.

[nitynity]

Thanks all. I felt the water with a different flavor compared to CO as well. May be that could be a reason. I will try giving him filtered water. Also its not the dog but the kid that abuses him.

[ChristieP]

Again, if the kid can't be taught how to properly act around an animal, find another home for the dog. It's not right to throw the dog out in the summer heat!!