Dog dumps water in kennel -- any ideas?

[JoZ]

My dog stays in a kennel in the barn when I am in work. Not a crate, a kennel: about 6’ x 12’. Stall mats over dirt floor, stall bedding pellets and straw.

He has a big Fortiflex tub for water that he plays in and dumps. It is squishy under the mats and mud oozes up between the mats. The bedding pellets try very hard but are fighting a losing battle. Most fun game ever is playing with his toys in the water.

Any suggestions? Any type of waterer that is spill proof? I’m afraid he’d get the nozzle off any kind of auto-waterer and REALLY flood the place. He’s a big boy so I’ve considered hanging a metal bucket but I’m not sure that would work.

I’ve also considered redoing the kennel and putting a tarp between the dirt and the mats but if it caused the mats to slip I’m sure the tarp would get torn. At least the mats do stay in place on the dirt so I’m only dealing with seepage from the thinnest of seams.

[cutter99]

What are the walls made of? I kept my dogs in a horse stall and hung a bucket on the wall with a screw eye just like you would for a horse. I could hang a big bucket or little bucket and unless they ripped the handle out of the bucket, they could not dump it.

[threedogpack]

http://www.petedge.com/product/Home-Kennel/Dishes-Storage/Feeders-Waterers/PetMate-Replendish-Pet-Feeders-Large/pc/194/c/226/sc/432/57607.uts

can you place the bottle portion outside the kennel and the “bowl” inside? As in under the chain link or whatever.

[crosscreeksh]

When necessary I fasten a horse/5 gallon flat back bucket to the screw eye it would hang on for a horse, with a baling twine extender to reach the lowered bucket. I put the string on the bucket handle and the snap at the screw eye so the dog doesn’t mess with the snap. If he likes getting wet, how about a small kiddie pool in addition to the drinking pail. My house dogs (5) all take a dip in the kiddie pool to cool off in this weather. Cleaner and cooler than the local creek, these days!!

[My_Two_Cents]

If it’s the chain link fence kind of kennel, we just use a double end snap on the bucket handle and snap to the fence. Our dogs also have a kiddie pool to take a dip in but only when attended by a lifeguard.

[Snowflake]

http://www.sstack.com/product/easy-up-adjustable-bucket-ring/

[SquishTheBunny]

Just hang a deep bucket, that usually does the trick!

[meupatdoes]

How long is he in there?

My dogs are crated during the day while I’m at work and I don’t put water in with them. I always put water in with their kibble at feeding time AM and PM, and they have access to the water bowl at all times they are loose in the house, when I am home with them. They sleep with me in my bedroom which is closed off to the rest of the house and does not have a water bowl in it.

They know that schedule and drink accordingly.

When I think about it, they really only drink at feeding time, or immediately upon coming in from playing hard in the yard. Rarely does one wander away from the pack over to the bowl otherwise, although some will swing by the water bowl in the upstairs bathroom before heading to bed. The little dog I almost never see drink. The water in with her kibble suffices for her unless it is super hot and she just ran hard in the yard.

[wendy]

what does he do before you put him in there? the fact that he’s playing rather than snoozing suggests he could use some more hard exercise/work before you kennel him up. “A tired dog is a good dog”.
If he’s inclined to play, and you switch to a water bucket he can’t dump, he’ll probably just find something else irritating/destructive to do while in his kennel.
Or you could try giving him something to do while kenneled- eat his meal out of a toy or something similar.

[crosscreeksh]

[QUOTE=meupatdoes;6419753]
How long is he in there?

My dogs are crated during the day while I’m at work and I don’t put water in with them. I always put water in with their kibble at feeding time AM and PM, and they have access to the water bowl at all times they are loose in the house, when I am home with them. They sleep with me in my bedroom which is closed off to the rest of the house and does not have a water bowl in it.

They know that schedule and drink accordingly.

When I think about it, they really only drink at feeding time, or immediately upon coming in from playing hard in the yard. Rarely does one wander away from the pack over to the bowl otherwise, although some will swing by the water bowl in the upstairs bathroom before heading to bed. The little dog I almost never see drink. The water in with her kibble suffices for her unless it is super hot and she just ran hard in the yard.[/QUOTE]

Wow!! That is a very strict routine!! What if they want/need a drink “off schedule” or you get delayed coming home?? I thought it was an animal wefare “thing” that all pets had water and shelter available at all times. I would never withold water from my animals. JMO.

[Alagirl]

@crosscreeksh;6421772

Wow!! That is a very strict routine!! What if they want/need a drink “off schedule” or you get delayed coming home?? I thought it was an animal wefare “thing” that all pets had water and shelter available at all times. I would never withold water from my animals. JMO.

I think it’s a human thing, thinking the spring must run 24/7.

The waterhole is a very dangerous place for animals, even predators don’t hang out there much if they don’t have to…of course the bigger the bear the less he adheres to the rule. Only Elephants have (almost) no worries.

Only in a barn is water and food right next to each other. Every place else they have to walk…

[PalominoMorgan]

A giant water bottle? Pretend he’s a really big rabbit. :). My roommate does that for her dog in the rare instance neither of us is home for a while and all dogs are crated.

As for withholding water,if that is the right word, I do as well. Mine have two water bowls outside in fenced yard nada small one by the door to the yard. Everybody knows where the water is and drink accordingly. I will occasionally put a few ounces in with my service dog puppy inher crate but that is recently and more because she likes to look at it and blow bubbles. (She lives for the water and is also the reason the dog’s have a Rubbermaid doggy pool. Keeps her from swimming in water bowls… mostly.)

[Snowflake]

[QUOTE=meupatdoes;6419753]
How long is he in there?

My dogs are crated during the day while I’m at work and I don’t put water in with them. I always put water in with their kibble at feeding time AM and PM, and they have access to the water bowl at all times they are loose in the house, when I am home with them. They sleep with me in my bedroom which is closed off to the rest of the house and does not have a water bowl in it.

They know that schedule and drink accordingly.

When I think about it, they really only drink at feeding time, or immediately upon coming in from playing hard in the yard. Rarely does one wander away from the pack over to the bowl otherwise, although some will swing by the water bowl in the upstairs bathroom before heading to bed. The little dog I almost never see drink. The water in with her kibble suffices for her unless it is super hot and she just ran hard in the yard.[/QUOTE]

I do the same thing with my dogs and they’re none the worse for wear. I have crates in 2 places in my home - One set out in the breezeway/vestibule area which is not heated/air conditioned (the outside crates) and one set in the living room where it’s heated/air conditioned (the inside crates). They’re put in the inside crates in the brutal heat of summer and in the winter. In the fall/spring and summer days under 80 degrees, their in the outside crates. I don’t give them the opportunity to get uncomfortable so not having access to water is a non-issue.

[Equibrit]

http://www.gundogsupply.com/neaudogwamo1.html?s=gaw&kw=[dog+waterer]&gclid=CJfXk4Tnh7ECFQoFnQodeAY85Q

[meupatdoes]

[QUOTE=crosscreeksh;6421772]
Wow!! That is a very strict routine!! What if they want/need a drink “off schedule” or you get delayed coming home?? I thought it was an animal wefare “thing” that all pets had water and shelter available at all times. I would never withold water from my animals. JMO.[/QUOTE]

If I get delayed coming home they can wait an hour?
Being a little thirsty for a while =/= instant kidney failure.

If everyone was RUNNING to the water bowl when I came home and let them out ,or when we got out of bed in the morning I would re-evaluate, but they don’t. They are much more interested in having a sprint around the yard with each other, and then they come in and run back in their crates so I can make dinner, and then if they are still thirsty after dinner the bowl is there all evening.

I don’t even consider it “withholding” water since they so rarely go to the bowl unless it is immediately before/after a meal, or right after coming in from a hard play. The bowl sits there for hours in the evening with no one (out of 5) drinking from it. The mark of a well-housetrained dog is that it adjusts its water intake around when it knows it will get to go out, anyway.

[Equibrit]

Why do people have dogs that spend their lives in crates ? Is there some point ?

[meupatdoes]

[QUOTE=Equibrit;6422608]
Why do people have dogs that spend their lives in crates ? Is there some point ?[/QUOTE]

Because some of us work?
And have a revolving entourage of foster dogs that can’t always be trusted with their chewing/housebreaking?

And if the dog is just going to hang out and sleep while we’re working it makes no difference anyway?

My dogs spend far less time in their crates than most show horses do in their stalls. And when they are out of their crates they spend their time sleeping anyway.

And the “point” of having foster dogs is that otherwise they would be dead. Maybe if you work hard at it you can convince me I am too poor of a candidate to take in dogs, and then the next round can be spared my substandard practices and die in the gas chamber instead.

[LauraKY]

My dogs all started out in crates. My cocker didn’t need to be crated after she was 9 mos old. The collie however, was crated until she was five. She was the devil’s spawn and could open doors, drawers and was working on the refrigerator. She did just fine. They both just slept while we were at work.

As a matter of fact, my collie loved her crate so much that after she settled down into middle age, we left the crate door open and she slept there every night and she would have still been sleeping in it until the day she died put the crate away when our house was for sale and she did fine without it.

I now have the crates for the hound and the lab in the garage, although I don’t use them much. The hound much prefers to sleep in his crate than anywhere else, including the sofa.

I never left water in the crate. Now mind you, they were in the house with A/C or heat on. If I had them kenneled in the barn, that would be a different story.

[Equibrit]

[QUOTE=meupatdoes;6422744]
Because some of us work?
And have a revolving entourage of foster dogs that can’t always be trusted with their chewing/housebreaking?

And if the dog is just going to hang out and sleep while we’re working it makes no difference anyway?

My dogs spend far less time in their crates than most show horses do in their stalls. And when they are out of their crates they spend their time sleeping anyway.

And the “point” of having foster dogs is that otherwise they would be dead. Maybe if you work hard at it you can convince me I am too poor of a candidate to take in dogs, and then the next round can be spared my substandard practices and die in the gas chamber instead.[/QUOTE]

As far as I know it is not mandatory to own dogs, especially if your lifestyle is not suitable.

[Lynnwood]

[QUOTE=Equibrit;6422961]
As far as I know it is not mandatory to own dogs, especially if your lifestyle is not suitable.[/QUOTE]

By that twisted logic anyone who works a full time job should not have a dog. :rolleyes:

I crate train all my dogs and use their crates when needed. The two Bostons get crated any time I leave the house and they are not with me. Can’t trust the little squirrels yet. They also don’t get water in their crate …9/10 it would just get spilled and played in vs drank out of real thirst just like the OP’s original issue.

The bigger dogs are all happy to go in their crates if needed /say company is over or people working on the house. The one prefers his crate and I am constantly having to tell him to get out and stop rounding up all the other dogs toys and hording them in the back of his crate.

Not sure why people take issue to crating. Many wild dog species live in tiny dens happily and by choice. Giving them a “place” that is both theirs and safe does nothing but good things.