With summer temperatures in full swing in Knoxville and many dog owners taking to Market Square with their pets, several shop owners have been nice enough to set doggy water bowls outside of their shops. But will your dog stop and take a drink? Or does he/she give it a sniff, turn up his/her nose, and keep walking?

One shop owner shares this story about dogs and the water bowl that she sets outside of her store …

We keep a bowl of fresh water outside the store. I change the water at least once a day (twice if it’s really hot out), and make sure that it’s clean and refreshing for the many four-legged walkers around town. But you know what’s weird? The number of dogs that turn down a perfectly good bowl of water.

Dogs that take dust baths, bury their noses in other dogs’ rear ends and eat poo seem to have tastes so refined that sipping out of a public water bowl is beneath them. I’ve seen dogs panting so hard that their tongues nearly touch the ground hover their noses right above the water bowl, breathing in the scent of what looks to me like mountain-fresh hydration, only to turn and walk away. It’s obvious that they want to drink – some of them need to drink – so I’ll take the dish to the sink, rinse it out and offer new, clean, colder water to the thirsty dog. No dice.

Breed doesn’t always come in to play when it comes to drinking from the public bowl. Sure, a dainty pampered dog might be more likely to skip public water, but we’ve had some big bruiser guys take a pass too. Sometimes the reason for the disdain is obvious; few dogs will drink from a drool-swirled water bowl. I’m sure the water itself plays a major role in the decision to drink or not … perhaps dogs get so used to the water they drink at home that nothing else tastes as sweet?

So is your dog a public water drinker?

Credit: Does Your Dog Turn Down a Public Water Bowl by Victoria Schade