# Dog Alcoholic? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 21, 2009, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-alcoholic/482319 "2009-01-21T17:03:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-alcoholic/482319/1 "2009-01-21T17:03:28Z")
Has there ever been a case of a dog addicted to alcohol? First, dogs do not like the taste of whisky, wine, beer, etc.-I have offered beer to my dog-he turns his head away from it. But, i seem to remember that the dog in the old Dick Powell movies (Astrid) would drink champagne. Anybody know if this is true? ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-alcoholic/482319/2 "2009-01-21T17:19:17Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > But, i seem to remember that the dog in the old Dick Powell movies (Astrid) would drink champagne. If you’re referring to the Thin Man films with William Powell, the dog’s name was Asta. [/nitpick x 2] ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-alcoholic/482319/3 "2009-01-21T17:36:27Z")
As in it preferred Asta whisky, wine and beer? ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-alcoholic/482319/4 "2009-01-21T17:38:10Z")
I have known dogs who’ve enjoyed beer. Just saying… ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-alcoholic/482319/5 "2009-01-21T17:41:15Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > dogs do not like the taste of whisky, wine, beer, etc.-I have offered beer to my dog-he turns his head away from it. Shenanigans. My dog Marli loves beer. (I haven’t given her very much however!). Dogs are like people, some like it, some don’t. My other dog Hannah does not like it. ---
**Author:** ![picker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/picker/32/13969_2.png) [@picker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picker)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-alcoholic/482319/6 "2009-01-21T17:42:38Z")
Every dog i’ve ever had has loved beer, fwiw. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_Stimulus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Digital\_Stimulus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_Stimulus)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-alcoholic/482319/7 "2009-01-21T18:06:47Z")
We have two miniature dachshunds, brother and sister. The female likes both wine and beer, and she’ll drink whenever she gets the chance. The male doesn’t, and neither like hard alcohol. Prime example: my wife went to a small house-warming party where the owner didn’t yet have furniture; she stepped away and left her wine glass on the floor, and when she went back about 10 minutes later, our dog was licking the inside of the now-empty glass. In the middle of the night, yes, my wife had to take her out to puke. So, we have one anecdotal data point that says that some dogs do like alcohol. Now, since we don’t intentionally _give_ our dogs alcohol, calling our littler one an _alcoholic_ is a bit of a stretch. After all, there is that lack of opposable thumbs (makes manipulating bottles a bit difficult), in addition to the fact that she can’t reach anything above knee-level. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-alcoholic/482319/8 "2009-01-21T18:21:54Z")
How would a dog get addicted to alcohol without a human enabler? And enjoying alcohol does not mean that one is “addicted.” That said… One New Year’s day, I was at my friends’ house with Spot the Wonderpup. I had some champagne in an ordinary tumbler which I set down on the floor. You can guess what happened. Within a few minutes, he was sprawled out in the middle of the floor, trying to get as flat as possible and moaning. He, quite obviously, had a major case of the spins. After a while, he got on the couch, put his head in my friend’s lap, and just laid there, letting out a loud groan every now and then. We felt _horrible_, especially because we couldn’t stop laughing. It was hysterically funny to see a dog displaying the exact same behavior as a college freshman who didn’t know how to handle his alcohol. We got him to drink as much water as we could, but he spent the next day nursing a hangover. Poor puppy. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-alcoholic/482319/9 "2009-01-21T18:28:54Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > First, dogs do not like the taste of whisky, wine, beer, etc.-I have offered beer to my dog-he turns his head away from it. Your dog is not “dogs.” ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-alcoholic/482319/10 "2009-01-21T18:35:54Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > If you’re referring to the Thin Man films with William Powell, the dog’s name was Asta. > > [/nitpick x 2] Only someone who once wrote crosswords would care about that. ---
**Author:** ![FallenAngel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@FallenAngel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FallenAngel)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-alcoholic/482319/11 "2009-01-21T18:43:03Z")
My recently departed Wondermutt Bitz liked booze, and so does our Bulldog Sydney. That said, with only one exception neither ever had more than a few drops off our fingertips. That exception was a doozy. During a camping trip, one of the guys set his plastic tumbler of Captain and Diet Coke between two stones so it wouldn’t fall over and wandered to the woodline to pee. Those stones made a great support when Bitz wandered over and started lapping. When he got back, she’d finished the 5 or so ounces that had been left. She didn’t get weird or miserable, but she did curl up next to the tent and stayed there all night. The next day she was moving slowly, didn’t care for any loud noises and was, quite obviously, hung over to beat the band. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-alcoholic/482319/12 "2009-01-21T21:40:08Z")
The notable alcoholic dog isn’t Asta from The Thin Man movies, but **Neil** , the alcoholic St. Bernard ghost from the 1953-5 TV series **Topper**. There’s the sliver of justification, in that St. Bernards were always depictede in caroons as carrying thatr little keg of brandy around their necks when used as rescue dogs in the Alps. I don’t think Neil’s in the original 1937 movie or the Thorne Smith novel. ---
**Author:** ![PopeJewish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@PopeJewish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PopeJewish)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-alcoholic/482319/13 "2009-01-22T00:38:34Z")
a buddy of mine lived in a house with a dog (belonged to a housemate) that LOVED beer. At parties this dog would walk around and, if you weren’t paying attention, would try and knock your beer cup out of your hand. It would then lap up the spilled beer. We also had to keep the keg spout up above the dog’s level or it would just go over and start licking it Dunno if the dog was an alcoholic, but he certainly loved his beer ---
**Author:** ![Lucretia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@Lucretia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucretia)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-alcoholic/482319/14 "2009-01-22T02:55:53Z")
My beloved husband had a dog that was an alcoholic in his (my husband’s) youth. The dog was a former police bloodhound named (I swear) Lightnin’. My husband lived in a rural part of Tennessee at the time, and Lightnin’ would take off over the hill to the local waterin’ hole, where the patrons found it hilarious to get him drunk. Apparently Lighnin’ was a mean drunk, and finally his behavior got so uncontrollable that his (my husband’s) father had to give him away, as he was no longer safe around the children. ---
**Author:** ![Pyper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pyper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pyper)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-alcoholic/482319/15 "2009-01-22T03:48:20Z")
My old greyhound Indy loved wine. My mother used to like to have a glass of wine at night while she read a book. Indy would follow her around until she sat, then attempt to dunk his long greyhound nose into the glass to get a taste. ---
**Author:** ![PapSett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@PapSett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapSett)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-alcoholic/482319/16 "2009-01-22T03:54:40Z")
most of my dogs have always loved beer; my second Gordon Abbie used to knock beer cans over so she could steal! My present Gordie girl Kharma happens to like tequila sunrises. she would drink as much as I would give her (which isn’t much!) but she does NOT like beer. They are all individuals. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-alcoholic/482319/17 "2009-01-22T04:13:21Z")
What’s really bad is when the dog gets into smack. Stuff starts disappearing from your home to pay for his habit. ---
**Author:** ![Vihaga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Vihaga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vihaga)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-alcoholic/482319/18 "2009-01-22T04:20:55Z")
One of our dogs doesn’t like beer, and one LOVES some kinds, but is picky. She likes most stouts and some wits, but no pilsners, no fruit flavored beers, and nothing that’s too hoppy. She’s never had more than enough to barely cover the bottom of a custard dish (about a tablespoon or so), so she’s never had enough to count as an alcoholic. She might be if she could get it, though. ---
**Author:** ![Bacon\_Salt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/65b543/32.png) [@Bacon\_Salt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bacon_Salt)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-alcoholic/482319/19 "2009-01-22T04:28:51Z")
Ha, that reminds me of [this](http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/bos/243881936.html) story on Craigslist. (SFW)