He won't drink water from his bowl .

[TheDork]

He just won't drink from any of his bowls. I keep them clean and change the water daily. I've swapped the stainless steel ones for plastic, swapped the plastic for a pottery bowl but nope. He eats from exactly the same type of bowl with no problem. I'm now giving him ice cubes to keep him hydrated. Totally different story when we go on a walk and he ses a puddle. He'll drink those in a heartbeat.
So I don't know what else to do! Any advice please?

How about just putting a very shallow amount of water in the bowl and taking him over to it with a small handful of his kibble. Give him one, two, three bits of food, putting your hand closer to the bowl each time, then drop the next one in the water? If it's shallow enough he should be able to pretty much just pick it out, and you could build slowly from there. Do it very gradually though.

I'm guessing he maybe got a fright when drinking from a bowl when he was young - something as simple as the tags on his collar getting caught on the edge of it or something.

Also if he's comfortable eating ice cubes, what happens if you just place one in the bowl? With no water in it I mean.

Is it too close to the food bowl? Have you tried filling it up outside? Any dental issue? It's very common for dogs to prefer the taste of rainwater.

Is it your tap water? Maybe it's too chlorinated.

Try bottled/filtered/rain water

You could try a water fountain

Generally if he's thirsty he'll drink. I also have a puddle drinker (although he won't put his feet in one ... a lab, go figure!) We just leave a couple of bowls out in different places, changing the water regularly and from time to time he drinks. I work on we supply access, he chooses whether to drink. (Obviously ruling out any medical issue first)
We do have an old plastic childrens sandpit outside which we also fill with water or rain which he prefers. I just think he prefers to drink outside.
If you have a smaller dog a friend had success with a baking tray. Her dog preferred a larger shallower area .... might be a thought.

My dog is like this it’s the chlorine I think. Probably not ideal but I keep a bucket next to the water butt and she has a drink out of there after walks. Also a fan of river water/ streams.

Definitely move it to the other side of the kitchen away from his food!
It’s a ‘thing’ …… worked with mine. To do with perceived contamination of the water from the food

Same with mine. But she will drink outside. So I fill a water bowl up every time we go out for a walk and leave it by the back door. She goes straight to it after her walk and has a long drink. Weird.

We have water bowls inside and out - he prefers the outside one (and it’s not always clean fresh water).

Ours rarely drank from his inside bowl, but he'd drink tap water outside.
Obviously he preferred puddles etc, something with a bit of body.

DDog also prefers Chateau MuddyPuddle!

She will also drink from her bowl though, so we're OK in dry spells.

You could also try adding a small amount of water to her food - it'll all get lapped up - plus feeding more wet than kibble.

My dog prefers the pond in the garden and the shower when we come in and she gets a foot wash- she loves drinking from the smaller shower head held low down- she always has fresh clean water, in a stainless steel bowl and definitely drinks from it {I change it twice a day}

Any animal will drink if it is thirsty, it's a biochemical necessity for biological functions.

Mine will drink tapwater at a push, but prefers rainwater. I guess it's the chemicals because all my dogs have had this preference.

Exactly the same for us, but nothing beats dirty puddle water as far as he is concerned!

Thank you all these are all very good suggestions and I shall try them all until we get the one which works . I have already moved the water bowl away from the food one and put a another outside the back door.

Mine drinks puddles, rainwater collected in pots in the garden, out of the toilet! I too fill a bowl with water everyday, but it never gets used.

If you are worried about getting dehydrated you could try watered down goats milk to get fluid in. My boy prefers rain water to tap water and doesn’t drink much daytime, but does make up in the evening.

Seems to be quite common. Our dog will only drink from the outside watering can,(will try even when icy), or from the cat’s water which is upstairs. Never from her own bowl!

DDog will only drink from muddy puddles, manky streams, potholes… none of your fresh water out of the tap for him.
I’ve given up now and try to remember to always have a bucket from the water butt topped up

Mine was more of a water bowl paddler than a water bowl drinker as a pup, so he started having a little water mixed in with his food, and every time I have a brew, he now has a cuppa.

I say cuppa, it’s just water.

It’s great, except for one small thing. He will sit at my feet as I boil the kettle, and I have to channel my inner Lionel Blair and do a bit of the old Give Us A Clue, miming pouring boiling water in, pretending to dunk a teabag & splash in a little milk. Cuppa Charades.

If I don’t do all of this, he will steadfastly refuse to drink it.

He even has his own mug.

He’ll then merrily drink his ‘tea’ as I hold his cup.

I don’t know who’s more barking, me or the dog.

And there’s 3 water bowls around the house, refreshed twice a day, but you’re more likely to see the cats drinking at them!

That's one of the best things I've ever heard @CentrifugalBumblePuppy

Mine did like actual tea (milk, no sugar) as we discovered when DH first put his mug down on the floor.

This is what it was for my ddog

Does your dog eat wet food? It's like 70% water so they don't need much else. I've found the oil from a can of fish added to the water helps entice mine in the summer when he's not drinking enough, laps it up!