Why does my dog forget to drink water?
Dogs often fail to seek out water on their own because they get distracted and literally forget it exists. This lack of consistent hydration leaves owners constantly trying to force or trick their pets into drinking throughout the day.
What the numbers show
Counted from the threads quoted below. How we count
- It goes quiet, then comes back — 3 separate clusters since October 2025.
- This comes up 18.3× more often in r/puppy101 than across the site as a whole.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1mixing treats, kibble, or broth into water bowlsDid this help you?
- 2giving ice cubes as treatsDid this help you?
- 3using freezer topple bowls or slow feedersDid this help you?
- 4Buying multiple duplicates of favorite items or backup glasswareDid this help you?
- 5Leaving glasses of water around the house that humans have sipped fromDid this help you?
- 6Visiting multiple stores or ordering items from overseas to find exact replacementsDid this help you?
- 7mixing lickable treats directly into a bowl of waterDid this help you?
- 8dunking a spoon with puree into a bowl of water to layer water over the treatDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“For the past week Toasty has been hiding, refusing meals, and only licking the moisture out of his wet food.”source ↗
“Spent so much at the vet for them to tell me nothing is wrong with him, but he is dropping significant weight.”source ↗
“My cat did this… $2300 vet bill later to find out he was picky about water.”source ↗
“I was looking for tips to get my cat to drink more water.”source ↗
“I tried the water-churu method where you just mix a bowl of water with churu to entice your cat to drink, but my cat completely turned his nose up because it was like a new substance to him”source ↗
“Plus, he is very adhd and forgets to drink water even when I shove it in his face.”source ↗
“My dog also forgets water exists lol.”source ↗
“We just discovered a similar hack for our pup that drinks very little.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 5Can I use Brita filters for hard water to protect my cat's urinary health?
- 25Why does my cat only drink fresh water from the bowl?
- 14Why are pet water fountains such a pain to clean?
- 3How to get a kitten used to water and the bath?
- 2How do you provide drinking water in a remote portable classroom?
- 6Why does my dog carry water in their mouth and spill it everywhere?