Hi everyone. I'm a new member here with a five-year-old basenji that just entered our home two days ago. It's been great so far. She doesn't have a name yet, because my partner and I haven't been able to decide, but we'll probably come to a decision by the end of the week.
My question here is about water intake. As her previous owner mentioned, she doesn't drink very much water. So she was getting her meals mixed with water, which is something that I'd rather not do. She has pretty bad breath, and I suspect the mushy meals don't help in that regard. Mushy meals also seem to make for mushy poops, which is a bother to pick up when this girl has a curious habit of walking while she poops, leaving a trail of liquid feces. Yeck.
Anyway, I've seen her drink water exactly ONCE since she's been here – only about a third of a cup, it seemed. This was after we spent a good two hours outside at the dog park and the pet store. So I'm inclined to think that she'll drink when she's thirsty, as she knows where the water bowl is and it's always available. But it does seem a little weird that she has had so little to drink (she's mostly been sleeping -- pretty low energy). Any suggestions on how to encourage her to drink? Or is this common with Basenjis?