Not often, but every once in a while, they will get their hackles up while eating if one or the other approaches while they’re eating. And, back when I was a kid, our hunting dogs would get in fights over food scraps. But I’ve never seen a dog warn off – or fight with – another over water.
Why not? It’s just as essential to their survival. And I don’t think this just applies to dogs. I’ve never seen other animals fight over water. However, I bet thirsty humans would.
Maybe a dumb question, but I would be interested in a scientific explanation.
Well, one factor is that from a dog’s point of view - usually there’s no limit on water consumption - the dog can, usually, drink all it likes without depriving another dog of any water.
Now, in drought conditions you can see nature films of pack animals where the alpha will be the first to drink at a watering hole, if the water is limited compared to the demand. It’s just that for most pets water isn’t limited.
I have, in one particular situation. A friend has a lab/hound mix and a pit mix, both raised together since they were young. The lab mix is typically somewhat submissive to strange dogs, except for a) some very occasional leash aggression b) if another dog comes up and attempts to drink from the water bottle/fountain/bucket he’s drinking from. He doesn’t mind his sibling sticking his head in there - he only objects to strange dogs.
However this sort of behavior does strike me as uncommon. I find it particularly curious considering his otherwise dopey, lab-like happy-go-luckyness.
Excellent questions. And, of course, I don’t fill their food bowls immediately.
However, there have been occasions when we (OK, me) have let their water bowls go dry. When I’ve filled it up, they both lapped up water immediately, together, without fighting. That’s pretty much the genesis of my question.
In pack animals, food distribution is a characteristic of power; the alphas distribute the food. Challenging another animal, even a low status pack member, for food is challenging their position in the pack order. (That’s why teaching a dog to wait for a command before eating is the best single training technique.)
Water is not distributed, or wasn’t when the pack ‘culture’ was evolving.
The lab is probably being territorial, not maintaining pack-order.
I can’t see how they would be predisposed or genetically wired to be water protective. In nature you typically either have no water or effectively unlimited amounts of water. Food is much more scarce.
I have five dogs (four labs and a golden) and they race for the water dish after they eat. There is a pecking order among them for water - after the chow down, they are all thirsty, and only three can drink from the bowl at the same time.
Invariably, one will try to slink in, and one of the other dogs will growl as they are drinking (it’s a pretty funny sound) and one dog will back off.
Exactly. They wash the floor at the same time, even with a large mat underneath the bowl to catch the spillage.
As to why I don’t use two bowls - there would still be the same symptom. Even if had five bowls, one dog would invariably find another’s bowl more attractive.
During the day, one bowl is fine - it’s just dinnertime when there’s a difference. They deal with their pecking order fine. It’s not like they are fighting.
Dogs will challenge other dogs over anything they wish to. I assume you’ve seen mutiple dogs wresting over the same toy, even if they have dozens of them, thye will always want the one the other dog has. Same with treats. If they all have a bone / rawhide or whatever, there’s always a few dogs that would like to “stock up” and will try to take another dogs bone / rawhide.