Like all Irish, Kerries Must Drink

If you lead a Kerry to water, but she will not drink, what then?

The following is a summary by Marian Tyson, of reader responses KB-L during the first week of June 2008. For full text of responses, please access the archives.

Eileen Andrade wrote for suggestions concerning her Kerry Livy, who refused to drink water from a bowl. She had tried bowls of varying types (metal, ceramic) and varying heights. Livy seemed to subsist by licking the dew off the grass or by drinking from mud puddles.

Our readers offered the following suggestions:

• Offer the water from cupped hands (Susanne Saint)
• Use a shallow plate to collect rainwater. Many dogs don’t like tap water, or prefer it very fresh, not after some other pet has already drunk from that bowl. Other pets like to access water from a variety of locations: a drip spout; bathtubs, and/or puddles. (Irene Landau)
• Using a puppy nursing bottle with a bit of honey
• Supplying water from a plant spray bottle
• Water dispensers used for rabbits, which Janet Beeby uses on trips.
• Small trickling fountains was suggested by Judith Bruno
• As a last resort, using a medicine syringe to squirt the water into the mouth.

As a caveat, Diane Rudd reminds Kerry owners that Kerries pick up on what stresses out their owners. Try to response calmly with whatever option you choose to avoid a Kerry/human battle of wills.

As usual, the key to Kerry behavioral issues is to remember that one remedy does not fit all. We choose Kerries as companions partly because they are so smart and plucky, but that behavior demands more creativity on the part of the owner when looking for solutions.