Does your dog’s water dish wind up empty for hours on end because you aren’t always quite on top of the empty water bowl thing? I found the coolest thing a couple of weeks ago and I wanted to share it with you! I was having to rinse and re-fill water bowls about 4-6 times a day and it was really annoying to have to keep such a close eye on the dog bowls. I finally decided I needed to find a better solution so I hopped over to Amazon.com and went shopping.

I pretty much don’t buy anything before checking the user ratings, reading the reviews and comparing whatever I’m looking for to other similar products. After doing my research and comparisons, I decided to purchase the Hagen Dogit Design Fresh and Clear Dog Drinking Fountain.

This Thing is FANTABULOUS!

Oh.My.Gosh. What a wonderful dog-care simplifier! This contraption is the cat’s meow and the dog’s bark all rolled into one! With two dogs I only have to empty, clean and fill twice a week! I actually thought it was once a week until hubby informed me he was also filling it once a week. So keep that in mind if there’s more than one person in your family who cares for the dogs.

The filter works great for keeping the goobers and other nasties out of their water and the water stays fresh much longer. I also think the constant movement of the water helps keep it cooler for them in hot weather.

Some of the reviews mentioned that it was a bit noisy and their dogs needed a little gentle intro-time before they took to it. So, we followed their lead and our dogs took to it immediately. I don’t know where they got the idea it’s a bit on the noisy side because we can barely hear it until it starts to gurgle which indicates it needs a refill. I was able to remove their regular water bowls later that same day. I purchased a small area rug to put under it and now even our sloppy drinking Nissa isn’t leaving a trail of water for me to mop up! She used to walk away from her bowl with a mouthful of water, dripping and slobbering it all over my floor. Not so anymore.

I have major bloat-paranoia and do everything I can to keep my furkids safe from bloat because it can kill them. Drinking to much water, especially speed drinking (gulping) can contribute to a bloat. Because of how this gadget works, it makes it just a tad bit more work for them to over-drink when you don’t want them to take in too much water too quickly. Like when they’ve been out rompin’ and stompin’ and you want them to take it easy on the water. I think this may also help slow down those dogs who have a tendency to vomit when they drink too much water too fast. Of course, you should still monitor their water intake but it looks like this should help.

If you’re looking for something to make your dog-care life a little easier and less time consuming and your dog’s life a little safer — this works for us! I love it!

The product photo displays the newer version of this product. The older version looks quite different and had more negative reviews. It seems the company really listened to their customers and worked hard to revise it into what it is now. I like that in a company! They also have a model for cats but I have no idea what the difference(s) might be. Whether you have cats or dogs, make sure to purchase the proper size. I bought the large size which serves two 75’ish pound dogs very nicely.

One Word of WARNING

We use elevated feeding dishes and each dog has their own elevated feeder. After implementing the Fresh & Clear Drinking Fountain I thought it would be nice to be able to remove one of the elevated feeders and free up a little space. This would leave both dogs meals served in one feeder in side by side bowls. Although their feeders were side by side previously, because of the double bowl in each feeder they had bit of their own personal space around their individual feeders. We always monitor meal time (no different than having skin-kids) and we’ve never had a problem with food aggression between our two furkids (for which we consider ourselves very lucky!) so I figured this new arrangement would work fine. 

Now, it could be coincidence but I’m 99% convinced this incident was due to them both eating out of  different bowls in the same feeder. The first meal I served after removing the one feeder, things got a little hairy. I quickly stopped anything serious from happening and immediately put both feeders back in place, one bowl in each feeder and the rest of the meal was back to our usual peaceful normal. I still plan on freeing up some space, but not before I purchase new elevated one-bowl-each feeders and place them far enough apart so that each dog has their own personal space. I’ll still free up some space, but on a safer level.

So, if you if you get this water gadget and find you’d also like to then free up some space — if you have a multiple-dog household even with dogs like ours that normally eat meals just fine next to one another — don’t try to force them to eat too close to one another. Believe me — the words food fight could be a dangerous major-understatement! Please, don’t take any chances!