I am a bit fanatical when it comes to my dogs' drinking water. They can't pour themselves a fresh bowl of water. It is up to us to replenish their bowls with clean water everyday and sometimes several times a day.
I have stainless steel buckets for outdoor use. Now that the winter is hopefully past, the dogs are enjoying more time in the yard which means they must have water available outside. The outdoor hoses are not yet hooked up so I fill the buckets in the kitchen sink and carry them to several places in the yard. Near the back door, onto the deck off the kitchen, out to the fenced wooded 1/2 acre play area, and to the chain-link fenced area. The last two areas are double fenced and is where Melissa spends her time while outdoors.
The last week or so I have noticed that the buckets in these two areas are empty, or close to it after only a few hours. Was someone sick and drinking too much? Did I overlook something? The buckets near the house were fine, full and clean. These other buckets were also dirty. Sort of like dried mud.
At first I thought it was due to the dogs drinking water with dirty noses due to them digging. Yes, my dogs do dig and I allow them to in designated areas, more on that in another blog. This morning I noticed a half a bucket of dirty water. I had just filled that bucket less then two hours ago.I am working from home today, so I had the luxury of watching from the house to see exactly what was happening to the buckets. I brought my laptop outside on the upper deck and I watched. It wasn't long before Lady Long Legs, as my friend Liz calls Melissa, began to play in the bucket, with her feet! She splashed with one foot, then the other. Her body swaying one way, then the other...maybe I could put this move into a Freestyle routine. I watched as the water spilled over onto the ground. It has been nearly 7 years since my last Borzoi puppy, how could I have forgotten how some puppies love to play in water?
Now I am anxious for Spring and warm temps so I can put out the little wading pool. I am not going to drag buckets of water to fill the little pool I get enough of an upper body work-out carrying those water buckets to designated area. I will wait until the hoses are hooked up. Check back for an update on pool days.
Even tho' it has been nearly 13 years since Minuet did the very thing, I still keep a huge chunk of Corning glass in the bottom of the big old bucket that sits on the deck. For years, it was also necessary to snapbolt the bucket to the fence. That way she could at least NOT tip the whole thing over.
ReplyDeleteDoes Melissa drink from the bottom of the bucket? Many puppies seem to do that for a while, too, before they graduate to the more refined lapping from the far edge, a technique that requires full buckets & bowls.
Hi Joy,
ReplyDeleteSnap bolts are a must. I can just imagine what Melissa would do if the buckets were not attached to the kennel runs!
So far Melissa has been very lady like when drinking water. The boys put their muzzles in the water up to their eyeballs. Senior lady Catera rests her nose on the edge of the bowl/bucket and drinks....and yes a full bowl is needed for this technique.
I am waiting for ice to be out on the lakes and ponds here in the northeast. Looking forward to seeing if Melissa will be interested in the water as she was last Fall.