hi, i got a big problem with clean drinking water for my dogs as my golden girls always like to play with the water and dirty it. they have huge buckets with water where they can bathe and lie in and where the water is changed at least once a day, but they still love to step into the smaller drinking water buckets and spoil the water. they bathe their feet in there, throw their balls inside and dive for them, even turn the bucket over. so i'm always busy filling the buckets the other dogs don't do that but for my goldies this is the biggest fun.

i cannot come up with any idea to solve the problem, even water dispensers which provide water by pressing would be a great toy for them and they would press a lot there and put all surroundings under water... even a very small water container or with very small opening they still put their paws in and grab around in there...

any ideas to keep the dogs drinking water clean for longer than 3 minutes?

interestingly they don't play there anymore once the water is dirty

Well I'm certainly no expert, but I do have a golden whose drinking habits are also suspect.

I have a water dish which is filled up and changed 2 - 3 times a day. Cookie's favourite trick is to put a ball in it and wash it, and then drink from it.

But most of the time she insists on drinking from the water trays under the pot plants, or from puddles on the terrace after rain, and horror upon horror - from the swimming pool when she sits on the top step.

Cookie is very healthy, and seems to suffer no ill effects from her dubious choices of where to drink, and I don't worry about it.

If was you I wouldn't worry about it either - but I may be wrong

thanks mobi,

here is a lot sandy soil and after getting wet the goldies roll around again in dirt and then 'wash' themselves in the bucket again and so on. also they take out lots of water with their actions. don't think so much about getting sick from the dirty water but my other dogs won't drink the spoilt water anymore, even they also drink from puddles etc. but when i change the water many come running and drink thirsty immediately. many of my thai dogs drink only a few times of the day but my great dane and others are always thirsty in the heat and want fresh water... everytime i check the bucket is almost empty and only sandy water left and all surroundings under water...

i want to keep the water clean at least for some hours... maybe there is a way??

it's only the 3 golden girls which i took in as puppies over a year ago which make such a mess, also when inside the house i have to take away any water bowls... the other goldens which i took in at older age don't do that! so maybe they enjoyed a better training before

Hm.. yes.. I see what you mean.

I read somewhere recently that Great Danes do have delicate tummies and are prone to internal problems.

I'm sure some of our dog loving experts will have some solutions.

Lets wait and see.

My golden drinks from all the flower pots, sure he scoops ups heaps of guppies on a daily basis, puddles, fish pond etc and doesn't seem to have any problems.

*bump*

anyone any ideas?

Bigger bucket maybe

they HAVE two huge buckets where they can lie and roll around in, but the drinking bucket is still tempting

On a more serious note why not get a plastic trough & fix it to a wall. Fit a water supply into it and fit a float valve, same as you have in a toilet cistern, could be done for a few hundred bhat I would think. As the dogs drink, or in the case of the goldens splash it out, it self fills with fresh water.