How to Stop a Dog From Over Drinking Water

For this Omaha dog training session we worked with a pair of big dogs, teaching 5 year-old Newfoundland Riley to stop over drinking water and adding structure to meals so she doesnt take submissive 5 year-old St Bernard Daisy’s food.

We started out by going over the dog’s day to day routine. A lack of exercise, discipline or structure are common issues I find when working with people as a dog behaviorist. These dogs were no exception.

After suggesting some rules, ways to enforce them, how to add structure to petting and providing attention for desired behaviors, I discussed some leadership issues.

Anything a dog is doing when you pet it is what you are rewarding or enhancing. So petting a dog while its un an unbalanced state of mind (over excited, fearful, anxious) or doing something you don’t like (jumping up, nudging, barking, invading your personal space) can easily backfire. Knowing this helps many dog guardians stop many dog behavior problems faster and easier.

Its also important to note that anything a dog does in your presence is considered approved by you if you do not disagree. Because Riley was taking Daisy’s bones and humping her, it will be important for the guardians to consistently disagree and interrupt right away from now on.

Another dog behavior problem the guardians asked me to help with was Riley’s habit of being obsessed with water or drinking all the water in the bowl. I have seen several dogs with this problem and many people make the same mistake trying to stop a dog from drinking too much water. You can get some free dog behavior tips on this problem by watching the video below.

By giving Riley sufficient access to water, but monitoring and interrupting as detailed in the above video will help her learn that she doesn’t have to drink all the water in the bowl each time.

Adding structure to meals will help with the dog dog dynamic as well as help the dogs see the humans as being in a higher status or leadership position. This will also stop Riley from stealing Daisy’s food and help Daisy feel more confident as he humans will be looking out and protecting her food. The more they do this, the more confidence the dogs will have in them as leaders.

I also recommended the guardians change feeding time to a little later in the day as the dogs were leaving surprises for the humans when they get home from work. Dogs digestive tracks are pretty consistent so if you move feeding time, you can help the dogs ability to hold it for longer.

We covered a lot in this in home dog training session so we wrapped things up by shooting a roadmap to success video highlighting all the dog behavior secrets and techniques I shared with the humans during this session.