# Does anyone use a drinking fountain??



## Mooch (May 23, 2012)

Hiya all

I was toying with the idea of getting my 2 a drinking fountain  they seem to love drinking straight from the tap so I figured they may like the running water 

Does anyone have on ether would recommend??

Cheers


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## Mary1990 (Sep 20, 2012)

I think thats a great idea!!! Mine drinks from the tap and when I fill her bowl she wont touch it! Smart idea


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

Yes I have one and I love it, the dogs love it, and the cats love it. I got the Drinkwell 360 Stainless Steel Pet Fountain from Petsmart and they also carry all the filters needed.


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## Mooch (May 23, 2012)

Yeah I was tossing up between the Drinkwell 360 in Stainless and the Pioneer Big max stainless steel fountain  

I like the 360 because the water comes out in spurts like from the tap but am a bit worried the younger dog may want to take it apart :/ 
The Big Max is a lot sleeker in design but the water doesn't splash down like from the 360 - decisions decisions LOL


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

Mooch said:


> Yeah I was tossing up between the Drinkwell 360 in Stainless and the Pioneer Big max stainless steel fountain
> 
> I like the 360 because the water comes out in spurts like from the tap but am a bit worried the younger dog may want to take it apart :/
> The Big Max is a lot sleeker in design but the water doesn't splash down like from the 360 - decisions decisions LOL


I doubt the dog will take it apart They don't drink out of the bowl anymore, its all about the water coming down...So they drink the water as its coming out.


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## Chicagocanine (Aug 7, 2008)

I have a Pioneer Raindrop stainless fountain for my cats and they love it. I've been thinking about getting the dog sized one for my next dog, my brother got that one (Big Max) for his cats recently.

The Drinkwell one has a lot of poor reviews, and it has a lot of plastic in the stainless fountain. The Pioneer fountain still has a small amount of plastic as the filter itself is plastic, but not as many plastic parts.
My brother had the non-stainless Drinkwell and he said it was really difficult to clean.
I think the Pioneer Big Max fountain also holds more water.


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## Yoschi's_Pet_Human (Nov 13, 2012)

After reading this thread I went and bought the Big Dog one from petsmart ... Yoschi won't go near it...lol.. he's never been afraid if anything until now!! HAHAHAHA


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

Chicagocanine said:


> The Drinkwell one has a lot of poor reviews, and it has a lot of plastic in the stainless fountain.


The only plastic(besides the motor encasing) that I'm aware of is the clips to hold the actual middle piece on the bowl. I've seen good reviews on the one I got, if there were any poor reviews, it was because the cat or dog didn't like drinking the water like that. Its easy to clean and maintain.


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## Chicagocanine (Aug 7, 2008)

On the drinkwell the whole top piece where the water comes out is plastic too, isn't it?
My brother said the shape on the Drinkwell leaves a lot of angles and nooks that are hard to clean out (and reviews I've read complained about it being hard to clean also.)


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## msvette2u (Mar 20, 2006)

I saw a notice the other day about those harboring bacteria and a dog had gotten very ill. The only think the vet could chalk it up to was the drinking fountain. 
I can't find the email though.


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## Magwart (Jul 8, 2012)

I tried one for my blind dog, thinking it would help remind him where the water bowl is. He thought it was weird and preferred the other standard water bowl, which he had no trouble finding (by following the slurp-slurp-slurp of the other dogs). I eventually put it up, as none of the dogs liked it either. I had a stainless steel burbling one (not a streaming one).


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

Chicagocanine said:


> On the drinkwell the whole top piece where the water comes out is plastic too, isn't it?
> My brother said the shape on the Drinkwell leaves a lot of angles and nooks that are hard to clean out (and reviews I've read complained about it being hard to clean also.)


You are right...Yes it is, but there are like 5 different thingy's that can be attached and they aren't hard to clean. I rotate them once a week. I think its the easiest thing in the world I'll have to look at the other ones to see if I see a big difference. I'm not opposed to finding and getting the very best for my pets.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

msvette2u said:


> I saw a notice the other day about those harboring bacteria and a dog had gotten very ill. The only think the vet could chalk it up to was the drinking fountain.
> I can't find the email though.


I can see this happening if the filter is not changed and cleaned on a regular basis. I clean mine really good once a week.


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## Mooch (May 23, 2012)

The big Max one can supposedly be put in the dishwasher (haha handy if you have a dishwasher)
The filters seem to be pretty cheap and easy to get hold of so it wouldn't be too hard to change them regularly. We have only have rain water at home (no mains water) so the dogs are used to water thats not chlorinated.


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## sparra (Jun 27, 2011)

msvette2u said:


> I saw a notice the other day about those harboring bacteria and a dog had gotten very ill. The only think the vet could chalk it up to was the drinking fountain.
> I can't find the email though.


You should see what our dogs drink from.....chook trough, sheep trough, dam, pig wallow and then there are the muddy puddles after garden watering..... the dirtier the better round here!!


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## Mooch (May 23, 2012)

LOL Sparra same goes for my guys - if we run low on tank water they get their buckets filled with dam water  they don't care LOL 
The only reason I was considering the fountain was because they really like drinking "running" water


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## pyratemom (Jan 10, 2011)

I just have the cheap toggle kind. The dog licks and water comes out. I've only had to replace it once and that was after 3 years. Sometimes when ordering a new one they may leak but if you just return it they send another one. My dog also likes to drink out of a bowl so I supply bowls of water in the outdoor kennel and the drinking fountain on the other side of the yard. Never had any problems with bacteria but I do clean it with bleach once in a while to avoid algae growth when she isn't going to be outside for awhile - like over night.


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## kristinamatthew (Apr 20, 2013)

I have a lots of pets in my house and they need to have a pet water fountain because they are always drinking any where. So if they have a water fountain they don't need to drink any where and lastly I can ensure that the water they drink was clean. Thank you so much for sharing!


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## pyratemom (Jan 10, 2011)

I use the toggle type drinking fountain. They have to be replaced every 2-3 years due to leakage but for the most part I've had good luck with only having to send one back that leaked when I got it. Other than that I have two bowls of water as well but I like the fountain especially in the summer because I know the water isn't going to get hot setting the sun. The side of the laundry room where I have the fountain is always in the shade.

Oops, I forgot I already answered this thread a few months ago!


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## Chicagocanine (Aug 7, 2008)

I found an interesting option recently, it's a filter basically that you can put in any bowl/whatever container your dogs drink from to filter the water. It basically looks like an aquarium filter. I think Drinkwell makes them.


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## elmerthomson (Jun 1, 2013)

I am using that kind of drinking fountain that was made by drinkwell. It was very useful because my dog was always drinking a fresh water now.


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