Water water water

 Water;  a transparent, odorless, tasteless liquid, a compound of hydrogen and oxygen, H ₂ O, freezing at 32°F or 0°C and boiling at 212°F or 100°C, that in a more or less impure state constitutes rain, oceans, lakes, rivers, etc.: it contains 11.188 percent hydrogen and 88.812 percent oxygen, by weight.   Okay so we all know what water is but do you know how your dog gets water into them?   Most people know that they lap; but did you know that they lap backwards?  Their tongue turns back into a laddle shape for lifting the water into their mouth.  It is very cool albeit a bit of a slow process.  As I chug my glass of water; pouring into my mouth I consider if I had to drink bit by bit like our dogs.  That would suck.

There are all sorts of differences around the whole aspect of drinking. I have two different drinking method types at my house; two are very tidy about their drinking, just the tongue enters the water. Then I have Luke; he is a muzzle drinker, he does not mind if everything gets wet. When he does take his face out of the bowl he lets it flow. You can see from the first image as he just starts to drink how much lower he is into the water than the other two. I feel like I should have one of those "slippery when wet" signs for my kitchen. It is a common complaint in my house; especially from those who have just put on a fresh pair of socks. Then there is the differences in amount; all three of my dogs are different here. Tilley is the smallest consumption drinker; then Jessie and last but not least Luke, Luke loves to drink.

You can see in the above photo of Jessie; her tongue is curled back scooping up the water.  Below she has just delivered her payload of water.  This is where they lose quite a bit of excess; but if they are drinking fast enough they retain quite a bit.

When we are out Luke likes to drink often; and he is not shy about letting me know when he wants a drink.  The other day he put a hole in his water bottle.  He likes to yank on the bottle or bowl; whatever works.  Jessie might have one sip if I push the issue and Tilley..................forget it.  She will not drink unless perhaps we have just crossed the Sahara Desert.  Even when she was very into frisbee; it was a chore to get any amount of water into her.  But she always had a drink once home; so I stopped worrying about it.

It is very important to make sure that our dogs have access to clean fresh water always.  Luke is my fussiest when it comes to freshness; if it's not fresh he's not drinking it.  I regularly catch him trying to drink out of the water cooler.  He's no dummy; he knows where the good stuff is and he is all about getting it out.  That is my cue to dump the old and pour the new. 

Bacteria can build up quickly in a communal water bowl and with three drinking out of ours it needs changing a couple of times a day.  And it never fails; as soon as they eat they all want a drink, so it is filled with lovely meal backwash.  Tilley is a big fan of drinking outside especially in the morning.  It may be because the water cools down overnight; not quite sure.  It could be because the bowl outside is pink (just kidding.)