Is your dog a messy drinker?
Here's why your kitchen floor is always soaked.
When he was a puppy, the ends of Rufus’s ears would dip into his water bowl when he drank, leaving trails across the floor when he finished, and it’s only got messier from there which is why his bowl now sits on an old bath mat. If you’ve found yourself mopping up water splashes from the floor around your dog’s bowl more times than you can count, it’s not that they are being careless. There’s actually some fascinating science behind why dogs are such messy drinkers. It all comes down to the unique mechanics of how they drink.
The mechanics of dog drinking
Unlike humans, who can create suction with their mouths, dogs have a different technique when it comes to drinking. Dogs use a rapid, repetitive action to lap up water by curling their tongues backward and flicking it into their mouths. This creates a column of water that the dog then snaps its jaws shut to catch.
The process happens incredibly quickly – often as fast as four or five laps per second – making it difficult for water to stay neatly inside the bowl. The action of pulling water up and out of the bowl means that splashes are inevitable. It’s almost as if dogs are scooping the water, rather than sucking it up like a straw, which is why the area around their water dish tends to get soaked.
Why do dogs drink this way?
The reason dogs lap rather than sip comes down to their anatomy. Dogs, along with other animals that lack full cheeks (like cats), cannot create suction inside their mouths. Humans can purse their lips and draw liquid in, but dogs rely on their tongues’ rapid movement to get water from the bowl to their mouths.
Interestingly, cats also lap water in a similar fashion, but they tend to be much neater about it. One reason for this difference could be that cats are more precise in their lapping technique, flicking their tongues just enough to lift a small amount of water, whereas dogs are more enthusiastic and forceful in their approach. The larger size of many dogs, compared to cats, also means there’s a greater volume of water being displaced, leading to more splashes.
The physics behind those splashes
There’s some impressive physics involved in how dogs drink. As the dog’s tongue hits the water, it creates a column of liquid that rises up behind it. When the dog snaps its jaws shut to capture the water, some of it inevitably escapes. The faster and more forcefully a dog drinks, the more splashing occurs.
The shape of the dog’s tongue, which curls backward into a spoon-like shape, helps scoop up as much water as possible with each lap. However, this technique isn’t the most efficient for keeping water contained, which is why even the most careful drinkers can make a mess. The splashing is just a side effect of a process that has evolved to allow dogs to stay hydrated quickly.
Why some dogs are messier than others
If you’ve noticed that some dogs seem to be messier drinkers than others, you’re not imagining it. The size and shape of a dog’s mouth and tongue can play a role in how much water ends up outside the bowl. Larger breeds, like Labradors or Saint Bernards, tend to make bigger splashes simply because they can scoop more water with their tongues. Breeds with long, floppy jowls, like Bloodhounds, may also be messier because their loose skin can drip water after they lift their heads.
Meanwhile, smaller breeds with more precise drinking habits may leave less of a mess. The speed at which a dog drinks and the enthusiasm they show can also affect just how much water ends up on the floor.
How to keep your floors drier
If your dog’s drinking habits are turning your kitchen into a splash zone, there are a few things you can try to keep the area tidier. Placing a water-absorbent mat under the bowl can help soak up the splashes before they reach the floor. You can also look for specially designed no-spill water bowls that limit how much water the dog can scoop up at a time, reducing the likelihood of big splashes.
Another trick is to offer water in smaller amounts more frequently, encouraging your dog to drink slower and reducing the splashing. Of course, dogs will be dogs, and a bit of mess is just part of the package when you have a furry friend.
Dogs may not be the tidiest drinkers, but there’s a good reason behind it. The unique mechanics of how they drink water evolved to suit their anatomy, even if it does mean a little extra mopping up. Next time you’re cleaning up around the water bowl, just remember that it’s all part of your dog’s natural behaviour and a sign they’re staying healthily hydrated.