Solving My Dogs Drink Problem! (Waterdog Automatic Outdoor Drinking Fountain)

Member Name: FourPaws

Product:	Waterdog Automatic Outdoor Drinking Fountain
Date:	30/08/09 (106 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A good idea- provides dogs with constant fresh, clean and cool water. Durable, robust & easy to fit.

Disadvantages: Potentially very wasteful. Takes the dog some getting use to.

*What is the Waterdog Automatic Outdoor Drinking Fountain?*
This dog drinking device is produced by the Waterdog company, an American based manufacturer who specialise solely in drinking equipment for dogs, with this Automatic Drinking Fountain being their original and best selling product.

*The product itself*
All their life, Grace and Benson have led a very sheltered life style! I have a job which very luckily enables me to bring them to work with me and even when at home, they generally always have either myself or my fiancé there with them to keep them company, and because of this, (my own fault I know!), they have never really learnt that sometimes they have to entertain themselves, or see to their own needs!

Well, in September, I'll be heading off to college for one day a week, which will see me leaving the house at around 7.30am in the morning and then not returning again until at least 6pm that evening, and although my fiancé will be calling home to see them in his lunch hour, the dogs will still be left alone for the vast majority of the day.

I hate the thought I have to leave them alone for so long as it is, but even more, I hate the fact of them being cooped up in the house for so long, so I have decided that in decent weather, they can stay out in the garden whilst I am at college- that way they can go to the toilet when they need to, they've got plenty of space to run around, they can relax in the sun and generally just get more stimulation, not to mention, fresh air, out there than they would do if they were shut in the house all day!

This creates one problem however, and that is where they will get their drinking water from. I can hear you all screaming ''duh, just leave them a bowl of water out!!'' from here, but as regular readers of my reviews should know by now- nothing is ever simple or straight forward where the likes of Grace and Benson are concerned! To cut to the chase, the terrible twosome are obsessed with water of any description, so, if I was to simply leave a dish full of water out for them, by the time I'd even got my car off the driveway, it could be pretty much guaranteed that one of them had stuck their paw or nose in it and spilt it everywhere, leaving them without water for the rest of the day, or until my fiancé calls home to check on them at least.

Regular pet drinking fountains like the one I have in the house for them of course require electricity for them to work, which isn't an option for outside, so I went in the search of an alternative and came across this Automatic Outdoor Drinking Fountain by Waterdog.

The device is quite simply what it sounds like! A drinking fountain for dogs, designed to be used outside, with the clever addition of being 'automatic'!

The Waterdog Fountain has been designed to offer a practical and easy way of ensuring your dog has access to fresh, clean and cool water whenever he wants it whilst you are not around. It eliminates the risk of drinking water bowls being spilt and in turn, minimises the risk of dangerous dehydration setting in.

The Waterdog Fountain attaches onto any standard garden tap, and is fitted with a motion sensor system, which detects your pet approaching from a distance of 1 metre away and turns on a stream of water ready for your pet to drink. Then, when your pet leaves, the stream of water automatically shuts off again and will not restart again until your dog gets within 1 metre of the Waterdog Fountain.

It is made from tough chew-resistant plastic, is height adjustable and connects to your garden tap in such a way that it still enables it to be used for other things. Handily, no tools are required to fit it and no mains electricity is required either- the Waterdog is instead powered by 4 'C' batteries will which power the fountain for up to a year and a low battery indicator will let you know when your batteries need replacing.

*Packaging*
The Waterdog comes packaged in a large white cardboard box which gives full details about the product, as well as instructions for fitting and information on how the Waterdog system can be beneficial to the health of your pet. Contact details for the company are also printed, should you need any assistance or have a question about the product.

*Price & Availability*
I have not seen the Waterdog Fountain available from anywhere other than the website that I purchased it from. I brought our system online from Canine Concepts (www.canineconcepts.co.uk) for £55.49.

*My opinion*
When I first spotted this online a year or so ago, my first reaction was to laugh! It just seemed like another money grabbing gimmick that had no real reason to it and I quickly struck it off as an unnecessary gadget. That was until my situation regarding the dogs changed this summer and I knew I would be leaving them for a whole day one day per week come September.

I soon logged back onto Canine Concepts to take another look at the product, and this time round, it seemed much less silly and a whole lot more necessary! After an initial hesitation over the price, I placed my order and waited for my strangely named Waterdog Fountain to arrive, hoping it would be an answer to the dilemma I was facing regarding drinking water for the dogs whilst I was out at college.

Sure enough, a couple of days later a parcel was dropped at my door containing the Waterdog system and I immediately got it out the box to take a look at. On first impressions, I was somewhat happier with the fact I had paid over fifty five pounds for it, the whole thing was incredibly robust, feeling as if it had been made from very durable plastic and it certainly didn't look like something Grace and Benson would be able to destroy in a hurry! So off out in the garden I went to set about attaching it to our tap.

Instructions were included and they were all pretty straight forward. After fitting batteries, you simply need to attach the white tube at the back of the system onto your garden tap, adjust the height of the fountain to make it suitable for your dogs, straighten the whole thing out before tightening the fixings and hey presto- you're done. Then you just need to turn your garden tap on... making sure you are wearing wellies and waterproof clothing!!!!

Because you will be within 1 metre of the system when you turn the garden tap on, you will instantly trigger the motion sensor and if you are anywhere near as unfortunate as me- you'll get a jet of water gushing from the fountain right onto your feet and clothing! Learn from my mistake and take a step back from the system before turning the tap on!

Once it was fitted on the tap, I had a little play around sticking my foot out back and forth to trigger the motion sensor to see if it would shut off again once I moved my foot from the zone, and thankfully, everything was working fine, the system turned itself on and off as promised when I got close and moved further away.

I thought it'd be a good idea to get the dogs out to try it before they were left alone in September with it, so out I brought them to test out their new little gadget. My first attempt at getting them use to it, was.. well, quite frankly a shambles!! They were clearly intrigued by this new object in their garden and wanted to get close for a look, but of course, every time they approached the system, it would turn the water on, giving my two complete and utter whimps of a dog a little fright. Take it from me, these two are a poor excuse for canines!!

However, over the following days, they did start to realise that this strange little object attached to the garden tap, infact released their favourite thing in the entire world- water- they were much more keen to take a proper look! Then, they soon got the hang of the process and it wasn't long before they clocked on that if they wanted a drink, they had to walk to the fountain, take their drink and then walk away once they were finished. It's reassuring to know that there IS something worthwhile in their heads, not just a mass of fluff as I often wonder.

Confident they had got the hang of it, I then left them outside in the garden one Saturday whilst I visited a friend- with the Waterdog as their only water source. When I returned, the dogs were not panting and it was a warm day, so they had obviously been using the fountain to drink from, however, the entire area around the tap was absolutely flooded out. I was initially baffled, but soon realised that one of the dogs must have laid within a metre of the tap, and then fell asleep with the water flowing away. Hmm, scrap that idea I mentioned earlier about them actually having something worthwhile in their heads!

To conclude, the system is a good invention and I am very happy I purchased it as I know the dogs will have access to fresh, clean and cool water whilst I am out at college all day. A shut off valve however, that for instance, shuts the water off after one minute and then doesn't turn on again for 5 minutes, may be a useful addition to future models of the Waterdog to help minimise wastage

Before purchasing however, it is worth bearing in mind that this system isn't going to be suitable for all dogs and owners- firstly, it takes a little training to get the dog actually drinking from the fountain- as much as I harp on about Grace and Benson being dumb, they are actually very clever dogs and got the hang of the fountain quickly, whereas some dogs may not. Secondly, not all dogs will drink from a continuous stream of water and also, although adjustable, it probably wouldn't be suitable for any dog smaller than knee height, nor for dogs whose owners are on a water metre, as mentioned earlier, the Waterdog is potentially very wasteful!

Summary: A nice, pratical idea which would be made even better with a few little design tweaks.