This is our dog Wilson (aka Wee-Wee). You've been introduced to him before. His major talents include: sprinkling his hair on our culinary delights, getting hair on our furniture in the middle of the night, licking up baby puke, peeing in the exact same spot every day in a vain attempt to kill all living things in a one square foot area in our yard...and chasing balls. Oh my heavens, does Wilson love to chase balls! He's freakin' ball-crazy! Today he dug up a ball in our backyard that was circa 265 A.D. and was so gross I could not even let a dog touch it. But taking it away was like taking candy from a baby. The pathetic look of dispair! Wilson is actually one of those dogs that will chase a ball nine hundred times in a row until he collapses in a convulsive heap at your feet, but even then if you pick that ball back up, by golly he's back up, too! He would rather run himself to death than not chase a ball.
However, as we live in a rather balmy climate and Wilson is unfortunate enough to have a jet black coat that sucks up the sun's heat rays like a Dyson bagless, all that ball-chasing leads to one hot and thirsty dog. Here's where the dilemna comes in. Wilson is very picky about where his water comes from. You might call him the Shannon Doherty of dogs--a canine diva of sorts. He will not--WILL NOT-- drink from the water bowl he has outside. Take the above photo for example. See the bowl of water not two feet from him? See his Gene Simmons-like tongue panting away in an effort to keep cool? What would any normal mammal do? Take a drink of water!!! Not Wilson...he would literally rather die a slow death from dehydration than drink from that bowl.
Inside the house is a completely different story. He LOVES to drink from this water bowl. It holds at least two quarts, maybe a gallon, and he would easily drink it all at once if I let him (but I don't, because then he throws up mucus all over the house). When the inside bowl is empty, Wilson is very obvious in reminding us to fill it again. He will sprawl beside it and lick it completely dry, drop by drop. He will stick his tongue up into the resevoir to try and get every last drop. And when he finally gives up, he will lay his head in the empty basin and dream of the sweet, refreshing water that is hopefully in his near future...
