Observing my dog drinking water from his bowl-it appears that his tongue curls up and splashes water into his mouth-but this seems to be a very inefficient way of drinking-have dogs ever been observed to suck water into their mouths?
Oh. I remember the mechanics of dog-lapping turning a GQ thread into a heated debate some time ago.
Dogs (like many other carnivores) have very wide mouths and loose lips/cheeks; they can’t purse their lips in order to suck.
After a quick experiment in the bathroom sink I find that I can drink water pretty quickly without the use of lips. Even when pulling the lips back (in a sort of snarl) I find I can suck water up far faster than I could lapping it up.
I remember reading that dogs form a kind of spoon with their tongues, which are thinner and more flexible than the human tongue, in order to scoop up the water. Part of it may be that when they get going fast enough, they end up splashing water into their mouths at the same time.
Dogs don’t suck up water though; they lap it.
This involves dipping the tongue into the water, then drawing it back into the mouth.
The hot debate I mentioned above consisted of a number of different opinions as to how the water was drawn up; some people said the end of the dog’s tongue formed a spoon shape that scooped the water into the mouth; others argued that the simple act of rapidly retracting the tongue caused water to splash up (in a very controlled fashion).
Dogs curl their tongue which helps to sort of spoon water into their mouth. I have a German Shepherd and have been amazed at just how fast she can drink. While it appears inefficient on the face of it she seems to be quite good at spooning water into her mouth.
Here is a link to a high speed video of a dog drinking water. If you look closely you will see the tongue curl backwards as it draws water into the mouth.
http://www.engr.colostate.edu/~dga/high_speed_video/Stupid%20Animal%20Tricks/dog_drinking_water.wmv <— Links directly to video!
Do puppies nurse by sucking, or lapping? Does the shape of their little faces when born (usually more flat than when they grow up) let them suck?
They hang around the liquor stores with their big sad eyes and wagging tails until the break down the resistance of someone with a valid ID.
Neither, exactly. They get milk like human babies do - by “chomping”. They’ll massage the mother’s milk ducts with their jaws, which squirts milk into their mouths through the nipple. After a few “chomps”, when they have a mouthful of milk, then they swallow.
Human babies only truly suck at a baby bottle and on fingers, not at the breast. They form a seal with their mouths, but they don’t suck to draw out the milk. (This is one reason why breast pumps are only marginally effective - the breast wasn’t “designed” to empty to suction, but to massage.)
This is the kind of industrious thirst for truth that sets this board apart.
As pointed out by others they can’t suck it up.
How Do Dogs Drink Water
I’ll bet you’d have more trouble doing this from moving source of water, such as a small stream.
Of course we’re not physiologically set up for lapping either, but yes, sucking up water is easy when you have lips that can be pursed, a flat pool of water and an undisturbed moment to approach the task with necessary care. Dogs in the wild have none of these.
The shape is very important in nursing. The puppy’s face needs to be fairly flat in order to form a reasonalby liquid-tight seal around the nipple. Otherwise the milk would leak out, instead of getting to the puppy.
Long-nosed dogs (like a collie, for example) start out as puppies with a very flat face, and only develop their characteristic nose after they are old enough to be weaned, and eat regular dog food.
The same is true of cats also; they start out as kittens with flatter faces than adults. (Some types, persians and some siamese for example, have been bred to retain this flatness even as adults. To the extent that breathing problems are common in them.)
And others have said, the puppies neither suck nor lap, really – they massage the nipple to squirt milk out. Cats retain this behavior even as adults – when feeling affectionate, they will sit on your lap and ‘knead’ your stomach with their sharp little claws.
That’s what SHE said… 
Not to hijack, but I’ve read that cats drink “backwards” - that while dogs curl their tongues up towards their noses, cats curl them down towards their chins. How can that possibly work? (My cat gets freaked out when I try to watch him lap up water. I think he thinks I’m some sort of pervert.)
That was me (It was I?) who mentioned it earlier this week.
This video (link goes right to video) shows it pretty well, although it’d be clearer if it was slowed down like the dog one.
Basically, it curls its tongue down to make it a flatter surface. Water sticks to the barbs on the tongue and, surface tension doing what it does, pulls a bit of water off the top and the cat pulls his tongue back in his mouth.
[hijack]OhmyOg! Check out the x-ray footage of a cat drinking milk on that page! It’s so freaking’ cool![/hijack]
[More Hikack]That lead me to this cat shown drinking from the sink tap. One day that cat will have its revenge.
Also, underwater shots.[/MH]