The objective of this study was to determine the effect of adding water to a high-straw dry cow diet on intake and behavior of dairy cows. Multiparous Holstein cows (n = 40) were enrolled at dry off (~45 d before expected calving) and assigned to 1 of 2 dietary treatments, a high-straw (35% wheat straw on DM basis; 11.6% CP, 1.35 Mcal/kg NE_L) dry cow diet with: 1) no water (CON; n = 20; DM = 53.6%) or 2) water added to decrease the DM by ~10% (WAT; n = 20; DM = 45.4%). At calving all cows were fed the same lactating TMR (45.2% DM, 14.0% CP, 1.64 Mcal/kg NE_L) and followed for 28 d. DMI, feeding behavior, and rumination activity were recorded automatically. TMR and ort samples were collected 2×/wk to determine differences in sorting. A particle separator was used to separate feed samples into 4 fractions: long (>19 mm), medium (<19 mm, >8 mm), short (<8 mm, >4 mm), and fine (<4 mm) particles. Feed sorting was calculated as actual intake of each particle fraction expressed as a % of predicted intake. Data were analyzed in mixed-effect linear models, treating day as a repeated measure. DMI (CON = 13.8 ± 0.3, WAT = 14.2 ± 0.2 kg/d) and rumination (CON = 534.4 ± 9.1, WAT = 516.6 ± 8.1 min/d) did not differ (P ≥ 0.17) between treatments. WAT cows tended to spend less time feeding (173.5 ± 11.7 vs 205.1 ± 12.3 min/d; P = 0.07) and have shorter meals (51.9 ± 2.8 vs 60.7 ± 3.0 min/meal; P = 0.04) compared with CON cows, although the frequency of meals did not differ between treatments (CON = 5.5 ± 0.27, LFI = 5.8 ± 0.24; P = 0.52). WAT cows consumed their feed faster (0.09 ± 0.001 vs 0.08 ± 0.001 kg DM/min; P = 0.05) compared with CON cows. Regardless of treatment, cows sorted against the longest ration particles, with cows on the CON sorting more against these (81.8 ± 2.3 vs 95.6 ± 2.4%; P = 0.002). Treatment did not influence how cows sorted for or against the other particle fractions. Post-calving DMI and feeding behavior were not affected by dry diet treatment. The results suggest that decreasing the moisture content of high-straw dry cow diets, by adding water, may reduce sorting against the longest ration particles, which may help promote consistency in targeted nutrients consumed during the dry period.