Silly Stupid Question About My Dog

In my experience most dogs will eat the dirt out of a ditch if they're in the mood for it. If it's been a few weeks of him not eating normally, try mixing a bit of rice into his kibble. A call to the vet might be in order. Sounds like something else going on.

It wasn't me, I was just quoting Mr Murphy and his law. :)

The question is if you shut the toilet seats will he drink from his bowl? What he is getting from the toilet and your hands is fresh water. What he gets from the bowl is not. If you don't believe there is a huge difference pour yourself a glass of water and set it out for say six to eight hours. Pour yourself a fresh glass, taste that, taste the stale water. Huge difference!!!

I have a freaking recirculating water bowl for my cat or the ruddy beast will knock our glasses over looking for fresh water! He won't use the toilet unless the kids aren't home, I think Genna tipped him in once, only once!

Oh, one more thing, is how old is the dog? We had to get elevated dog bowls when our goldens hit around six. When they get older stooping to the floor is less than comfortable.
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After reading the what happened: All the cool dogs have the elevated dog bowls and he just wants to fit in? I mean you wouldn't want the other dogs laughing at him would you?

We had a dog once that mom and dad got from a family that was being shipped (military PCS) to a european country and they couldn't take their dog.

They spoiled their dog. The dog would only eat a very expensive dog food and turned his nose up at what my mom gave him. My mom put the dog food she bought for him in his dog dish and placed it on the floor for about 30 minutes and then put it up high after that. It took the dog about 7 days to decide that the dog food we had was good enough. We never had a problem after that. He ate what was put in front of him.

I suggest you do the same.

ETA: I just thought of this. Once, after a flood, we had mice in our house. They stole dog food out our dog's dish. They hid it in our piano. It could be he caught the mouse stealing his food. He may have bitten by the mouse as he killed and ate it and he associates the pain of the bite with his dish instead of with the mouse.

Good luck to you and yours.

did you put mouse poison down? could he have ingested some?
will he eat from his bowl if you put something yummy like chicken and rice in there? are his bowel movements good still (chekc to make sure he's going and not backed up)

if his stomach is upset from something its probably coincidence. when my dog i had with my ex was sick the vet told us to boil chicken and plain rice and feed it for a while. it worked. maybe try that? i agree with jo about the water.

That's weird! Did you change dog foods? Have you ever noticed how some things taste better out of a bottle than can, or in a glass better than in a bottle? Maybe if he has a new dog food it tastes funny in the bowl.

Another thought (and probably more likely) is that if the bowl is on the floor he may have trouble eating it. As our dog got older we had to elevate her food and water bowls for her comfort. Maybe you should try that.

Otherwise, I got nothing.

I would find it extremely unlikely that a mouse (dead or otherwise) would have any effect on your dog eating/drinking out of his dishes. I'd look for another cause altogether.

Some dogs (especially GSD's) are so smart that they can train YOU without you realizing it. Maybe your dog has successfully trained you to hand feed him? I know toilet drinking is pretty common for dogs, b/c the water is typically "fresher" than what is in a bowl on the kitchen floor. Sounds gross to US, but for them? Fresh water. :)

Have you changed anything about your feeding habits with him? Some people feed at set times and then remove anything left over. Some people free feed (leave food out all the time for whenever the dog wants to eat at their leisure). We free feed. My GSD usually will only eat after everyone in the house is gone to bed for the night. If we have guests, she doesn't eat at all, usually. At least the first night.

Maybe if you try putting his bowls in a different location? Maybe somewhere more "private"?

Could be a lot of things. Could be he just trained you guys.
But a call to the vet can't hurt if he suddenly is refusing to eat altogether.
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ETA: So I must have a cool dog, cause she's always had elevated bowls (even as a puppy).
;)

While you're bored at work, give your vet a call. Better safe than sorry. You can always get him new bowls if he turns out healthy.

I guess the mouse could have turned him off of his food bowl. If the bowls are plastic, even when washed, they can retain smells that your sniffer can't detect but his can.

I don't know what his problem is, but I've seen a lot of posts here about getting elevated dog bowls. Don't. They are associated with an increased risk of bloat in dogs. They are only really helpful for dogs with back or neck problems, and even then you really have to be careful about bloat.