Is it normal for a dog to chew ice?

Coincidendentally, this was asked in the pets column in the Daily Telegraph last Saturday.

On a related note, when I was a kid, my dog would only eat snow in the winter. No water for him. It was cool the way he’d be running and lower his head, open his mouth and scoop up a pile of snow.

My neighbor’s dog on the other hand loves puddle water. Give him a choice of fresh clean water or a dirty, muddy puddle with leaves and dead bugs in it, and he’ll choose the puddle every time :slight_smile:

The pet column advice cited above is pretty much what our vet said. Our black lab Patience regularly gets crushed ice in her water bowl and happily crunches her water cookie treats.

Nathan did this last winter. He loved the snow, it was the first time he’d seen it. It was fun to watch him bounding along, and every so often he’d stop and bury his nose in it to nibble on whatever was there.

My dogs just lick them until they melt completely. They’re kinda small, though, and the one that likes ice the most is a chihuahua with bad teeth who can’t bite anything.

BTW, chipped teeth are a big deal with chihuahuas, as they have too small a jaw for their teeth. It’s really easy to crack a jaw. We got lucky that our chihuahua’s teeth fell out with no problems.

For Big Laffs, take a nice big bowl of water outside and put it on the ground so your dog can drink from it, then float a few ice cubes in it. Our Golden Retriever used to bob for the cubes with his muzzle in the bowl up to his eyes, blowing bubbles and splashing water everywhere.

My beagle loves to chew ice. He, who may or may not be spoiled, also prefers iced water in his water bowl after a long walk.

I’d start a thread about whether it’s normal for a dog to chew rocks, but I think I already know what the answer is. :slight_smile: