Until now, many believed that dogs drink water like cats do. A new study reveals how dogs actually drink water, and why they are so sloppy while doing it.
Apparently, dogs and cats have different tactic while water. The same team that explained years ago how cats drink liquids, returns to explain to us how dogs drink water.
The team of researchers also explained why bigger dogs are messier when drinking water than smaller doggies.
We all knew that cats and dogs have a different tactic while drinking water than their human family members. But how do they do it? Dogs and cats do not have cheeks suitable for drinking water like we do. Cats suck up the liquids through a process of plunging and pulling. The cats use their little tongue on the water surface and withdraw it with water in it. The process creates something like a water column, right underneath the cat’s retracting tongue.
The recent study reveals the dogs’ tactic while drinking water, too. Initially they believed dogs use the same technique to drink liquids. Now they discovered that dogs actually smash their tongues on the water’s surface, which cats never do. When the dog withdraws its tongue from the water, a water column is created lifting the water inside the dog’s mouth.
The scientists have placed cameras under the water surface to see exactly what happens when a dog drinks its water. The camera shows that larger dogs drink water using a bigger wetted area of their tongue. That is why bigger dogs are sloppier than smaller dogs when it comes to drinking water.
The recent study that shed some light on how dogs drink water was discussed at the American Physical Society’s Division of Fluid Dynamics Meeting that took place in San Francisco. The study offers new insights into mysterious animal behavior.
One of the scientists involved in the study, Sunghwan Jung said that the drinking technique can vary from one animal to another, just like humans. He added that:
“When we began this task, we believed that dogs drink correspondingly to felines. However, it just so happens its distinctive, as dogs crush their tongues on the water surface – they make loads of splattering – however a feline never does that.”

