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tell me how you water your dog

4K views 31 replies 24 participants last post by  Greyson.Johnson 
#1 ·
Looking to see if you all have any suggestions or recommendations on purchasing one of those pet drinking fountains vs. just giving your dog water out of a regular stainless bowl? I know the water fountain things provide cleaner water and supposedly encourage dog/cat to drink more, but they can get pricey. So tell me what you use to water your dog. <3
 
#2 ·
I have three dogs and I use a 2.5 gallon jug that sits on top of a bowl and it automatically refills as they drink. I think it was about $15 at Wal Mart, it works well and they're all good drinkers.

If I had one dog I'd probably just manually refill a bowl, that way also you can make sure its clean each time and the water is properly rotated.
 
#8 ·
I had the same experience. It grossed me out. I just use stainless steel and wash, refill frequently. My dogs are total water snobs. We drink mountain spring water from our well and if we travel it has to be bottled or water from homek they won't drink tap water from anywhere.

Now ironically, they loved drinking the nasty pond water back in Florida. Go figure.
 
#4 ·
I have a Pioneer Pet fountain for my cats. They don't prefer it over their regular ceramic water dish. I would be really hesistant to buy one like that for my dogs, since they plug in (yummy cord) and my puppy used to "dig" in the water dish and splash water everywhere. Danger!

I have a big stainless steel bowl for my 3. When it's empty it's easy to just pick up and refill, and wash once a day. Ceramic dishes are nice too, and they stay in place better, but if you have to pick the dish up a lot it gets heavy.



:)
 
#6 ·
I have found to my surprise that animals are actually connoisseurs of water. Dogs, horses, even cows will always choose fresh clean cool water over old stale water. Those "pet waterers" get slimy in the bowl and have to be cleaned, which is a lot of trouble with a full tank. And stainless steel bowls become reservoirs (so much French here) of dog spit water. And then there is hose water. Many dogs enjoy attacking hose water. It is a form of teeth cleaning like a water pick. That is about everything I can think of on the subject.
 
#7 ·
I have one of those plastic elevator type food bowl things where there is a place for a food bowl and a water bowl. https://www.chewy.com/neater-feeder...gclid=CL-K5ZGh4NACFQuSaQodh-8BHA&gclsrc=aw.ds Since I have a cat that likes to dig the water out like a dog normally does I bought two stainless steel buckets that fit in perfectly and use that. Both buckets are for water. The cat can't dig in the water so easily and most drips end up in the bottom through the holes that are there to catch them. If it gets empty by accident either the cat pulls a bucket out or one of the dogs brings me the bucket. That rarely happens as I'm in the habit of filling them up every time I go into the kitchen.
 
#15 ·
I just use a big old (heavy) ceramic bowl. There is no way a waterer would work with Varik. He gets his water gross EVERY day and, since he is a water snob, it has to be changed out daily (sometimes multiple times). Even though HE'S the one that made it nasty! Hooray for biofilm, dirt, leaves, etc from playing outside with a ball.
 
#17 ·
I'm all about the stainless steel bucket. A huge bucket outside, and a couple clipped to crates in the house. There is a large stainless bowl in the kitchen too. The cats drink out of a crock type bowl.
 
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#18 ·
I use a Pyrex dish- I think 11x13 and deeper than a baking pan-that holds about a gallon of water. My GSD thinks he needs to hoard water and can use his giant head to block my golden from drinking out of a regular if he takes a notion. More surface area=less fussing between dogs.

I've tried the gravity watering bowls with the container on top but my cat is a jerk and thinks the purpose behind it is to bury the placemat in the water, so she tucks all the corners in and water seeps everywhere. I love the cat, but 'jerk' is an accurate term for most cats ?
 
#19 ·
I use a big pyrex bowl from an old mixmaster, and change the water 2 to 3 times a day. Being heavy glass, it's easy to check how clean his water is.

One point worth mentioning, if your dog's water is indoors, never have a bigger sized bowl that the size of a puddle you can cope with. When younger, Nitro knocked his water bucket over. I had to get the carpet in another room partially relaid after drying it out from his puddle.
 
#21 ·
I'm going to look into Pyrex. I need something on the larger side. My cats drink a lot of water and the dogs go through quite a bit too.
 
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#20 ·
This is a great question because I'm having a heck of a time with stainless steel and the well water. The water seems clean but the bowl itself gets a white residue that can't even be scrubbed off. I keep replacing the bowls for both the cats and dogs. Plastic is out because of bacteria, so I was thinking glass. Where do you get a huge glass bowl? Any recommendations?
 
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#24 ·
Newlie gets his water with ice cubes in a large glass bowl. He's a water hound, too, so sometimes it feels like all I do is refill his water bowl and let him in and out the back door. Newlie is also a connoisseur of water. If it is not up to his standards, he will take a lick or two and then make a disgusted face like "How gross is this?"

He used to drop his ball in the water and then reach in and pick it up and proceed to slosh water all over my kitchen floor. He learned pretty quickly not to do that after I took his ball away a few times.
 
#29 ·
Well if this doesn't sound like mine. They stare at the fridge waiting for ice cubes, the youngest golden has figured out how to get his own.

Why do they put their ball in the water? 4 of mine do that.
 
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#27 ·
Well, we used regular stainless steel bowls until we got the second dog. Then they started drinking too fast for me to keep up with it, (or they dripped most of it on the floor). Now we have several of these water bowls, one inside and one outside on the porch.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003EV7FA0/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

We have lots of splashed water and having a mat underneath seems to help.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B016IXADV8/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 
#28 ·
Started out with two 1 gallon stainless steel bowls.... Well my son got a border collie.... Ever seen a dog literately dig their water out of their bowl???? Soooooo now the 2 stainless ones are outside and the one below is inside.

Soooooo now I have a 2.5 gallon bottle that I completely scrub out with soap and lots of water every 2 or 3 days. Bought a cat litter mat for under it wish I would have bought the X large one. Messy drinkers! I always add raw apple cider vinegar to the bowl keeps them healthier.

Yes sometimes I do have to clean it out sooner someone is just a messy drinker!:smile2:
 
#31 ·
We have two big communal water bowls stainless steel sitting in a wrought iron stand with a German shepherd on it. That stand I had when we had our first gsd. The chihuahua has his own in his crate it is a water type bottle and another ceramic water bowl my daughter picked out for him. We used to give Max ice cubes when he was a pup figure to help his gums. Now whenever I open the freezer -it's a bottom draw- Max will come over and wait for his ice cube if I'm not quick and rummaging for something he will snag one in the icebox himself not often but has done it.
 
#32 ·
This has been a problem with Bear. Daily he would get in a devilish mood, put his paws in, knock the whole thing over, dig in the puddle, splash, then lay in the puddle and soak up all the water with his fuzzy long coat just like a mop. Then he would go lay in the fireplace hearth and mop up the soot with his fur. I am trying a tall heavy ceramic crock now. He does stick his head and paws in the water but he can't spill it. He does gnaw on it, so not sure what else to try.
 
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