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Reticulating water Dog bowl

Just thought I'd share in case anyone else has a similar problem...

I have a very fussy puppy. She does not like still water in bowls and will refuse to drink from them to the point of dehydration.
She has now worked out that the good fresh water comes from tap's.

This provoked me to build my reticulating water bowl...

It took me 1/2 hour to build and has given my dog her own little water fountain..
It consists of:-

10l bottom tank (food/water container)
40cm x 5cm Garden pot saucer (plastic is suitable rating e.g not poisonous)
40cm clear vinyl tubing
12v water fountain submersible pump
1/2 threaded nipple (to connect bowl to tank)

Everytime she walk's near it, she run's over and almost sucks on the tube...
It run's 24/7 and has been working non stop for 3mth's now.
She think's it's fresh, new water every time it comes out the spout.

In the future I hope to make the unit ceramic and tile mozaic the inside of the bowl for effect..

Hope you like it.... :)

44 comments

1-40 of 44

May 14, 2009. 3:08 PMUtahtabby says:

I made a decorative fountain out of two 30 gallon garden tubs (the black 'pool' tubs hardware stores sell for garden pools) one is set up on bricks so it is slightly higher than the other and it has a lip so the water falls from it to the lower one. Then I put a submersible fountain pump in the lower one and have the tubing run up to the top one through a fake old-fashioned pump handle. I put water plants and gold fish in it and my dog drinks out of it constantly. I have to top it off every couple of weeks or so in our dry desert air. But this way, you have something pretty/cool in your back yard, you can watch the gold fish grow, the plants keep the algae away, the gold fish eat what is left (along with some daily goldfish food), birds visit it to drink, and the dog is happy. She never notices the fish coming up to her tongue as she is drinking, and she chooses to drink the goldfish water over her regular in-house tap water in her bowl. You do have to empty this for wintertime though if you live in a below-freezing area.

Feb 9, 2011. 4:43 PMThursday Next says:

My cats preferred the fish bowl to a water bowl too. I had to put it out of their reach when I caught one of the cats playing 'bear and salmon' one too many times.

May 14, 2009. 10:40 PMLftndbt (author) says:

Very nice!! Any pictures?

Oct 20, 2008. 10:09 AMbevsha says:

I like this bowl and I am thinking of making it for my cats but I want to know how the pump is connected on the bottom. Can you please provide instructions on how/where to hook the bottom of the pump into the container on the bottom? Also, it looks like there is some kind of nut/washer on the bottom of the pan that leads to the bottom container. Am I correct, or is that something else I am seeing? Are there instructions posted somewhere on this site on how to make this instead of just pictures? Thanks!

Oct 20, 2008. 7:08 PMLftndbt (author) says:

In short, no instructions. The pump is a submersible one located within the bottom resouvoir. the "nut" you are seeing is the drain from the top dish to the bottom resouvoir. the pump simply send the water out the spout then it drain from the dish back again. Thus cause it to continuiosly cycle the water. depending on the size pump you use, you will need to alter it's flow/drain hole size to make it not overflow the bowl.

Sep 4, 2008. 6:17 PMrguillen says:

Great Idea. I live in Tucson AZ and water in a bowl for my dogs not only gets hot during the summer months but it also allows algae to grow, and my dogs dislike that a lot, it must taste very bad to them and perhaps gives them gas or other nasty effect. Maybe the recirculation will slow algae growth and will increase evaporation keeping the water cooler. Maybe I can use a very porous holding pot that will allow water to "sweat" through its walls and therefore cooling the water in it.

Sep 4, 2008. 8:58 PMLftndbt (author) says:

Yep a ceramic resouvior would work best for cooling the water. Yes the algae growth with dramatically be reduced. I know this for a fact as my stagnant water bowls incur algae within a week... I haven't seen ANY algal build up what so ever. Thanks for your comment.

Aug 31, 2008. 2:20 PMSunny124613 says:

nice and very cool! I would love to be your dog in this case

Aug 31, 2008. 9:12 PMLftndbt (author) says:

Yeah she loves it still!!

Sep 1, 2008. 7:36 AMSunny124613 says:

yah I have to make one for
my dog when I tortured her

Aug 18, 2008. 2:01 PMRedneck2 says:

I liked your idea soo much i decided to make my own, it works well but yours looks a ton better than mine because i made from tubaware a plastic box a pump duct tape and a water bottle.

Aug 19, 2008. 7:49 PMLftndbt (author) says:

Can you post a picture here please of it?

Aug 19, 2008. 12:53 AMLftndbt (author) says:

It doesn't matter how it looks as long as it works. That's fantastic you liked it so much. How does your dog like it?

Apr 5, 2008. 10:12 AM

Mr. Rig It says:

That is a good looking dog. I had a very similar idea to this one. I have an automatic water bowl that fills itself when it gets low. it works with a float shutoff switch. The bowl sits out side and is attached to to the garden hose. It would be a good idea to use your idea to aerate the water in the bowl. I plan on installing a reverse osmosis sytem in my kitchen and then running a hose from it to the autowaterer. Then the dogs will get really nice water and not the hard stuff they are getting now.

Jul 3, 2008. 11:22 PMwocket says:

I was reading somewhere that hardwater is meant to be the good stuff cause it's full of minerals.

Jul 4, 2008. 9:39 AM

Mr. Rig It says:

I don't think so, I think it is really hard on the kidneys. I was going to get a salt block for the dogs to lick. Then they would get the minerals, if they lick it that is.

Apr 6, 2008. 2:51 AMLftndbt (author) says:

Wow! My pup lives inside for now, so the design suited the situation.
I was thinking the same for when she returns the the great outdoors.
It would still need the "water fall" to make her drink though.

That is a good looking dog.
If your interested myself and tetranitrate were discussing breeds etc and posted several pics of her and his friends dog.
That's if you are interested that is.. :)

Pic of "Hunni"

Jul 3, 2008. 11:26 PMwocket says:

I love the way dogs train humans. I knew a couple that had been trained to make their dog fresh gourmet meals and then wait outside while she ate alone in the kitchen on the table. If they came inside she wouldn't eat. I helped them sort it out in the end, now shes a gutz and will eat anywhere under almost any circumstances.

Jan 7, 2008. 6:31 PMnerfer192 says:

wouldnt this make the water bill go up?

Jan 8, 2008. 3:45 AMLftndbt (author) says:

LoL... That's tops.. Sorry, maybe i'm confused.. "Make the water bill go up" ??

Jan 8, 2008. 10:14 AMnerfer192 says:

oh i get it the water just pretty much goes ina a circle, not constantly coming from a water pipe. never mind.

Jan 1, 2008. 4:47 AMroninlong says:

You could try copper pipes as well. Copper is a natural antibacterial and kills most types of bacteria.

Jan 8, 2008. 3:41 AMLftndbt (author) says:

I prefer to clean it out completely, every couple of days...

Dec 30, 2007. 7:32 PMwatermelon says:

Cute little puppy and a great shot.

Dec 29, 2007. 9:12 AM

Spl1nt3rC3ll says:

Cool. I'll have to try this, seeing as I have a fountain motor I don't know what to do with. My dog's the same way, we have something similar to a hamster water feeder hooked up outside, but it freezes in winter. Dogs are naturally attracted to running water, seeing as stagnant water would kill them in the wilderness.

Dec 30, 2007. 12:34 AMLftndbt (author) says:

Well this has solved the problem and stopped me from worrying that she is dehydrated.. She almost gives a lil' smile every time she runs over for a drink... Yeah the freeze over's might be an issue... Would I be right in thinking that a larger tank say 15/20l, may take longer to freeze over.. Maybe depended on what temps your talking..

Dec 29, 2007. 10:49 AMGorillazMiko says:

Cool, I was expecting Spl1nt3rC3ll to comment this because of this dog Instructables. Cool Instructable. :-)

Dec 30, 2007. 12:30 AMLftndbt (author) says:

Not far behind ya... LoL! Thanks..

Dec 29, 2007. 11:31 AMErik Lindemann says:

Funny, that's exactly what I've been building for my cat.

Dec 30, 2007. 12:29 AMLftndbt (author) says:

Works a treat! :)

Dec 29, 2007. 7:13 AM

Tool Using Animal says:

"Reticulating" You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.;-)

Dec 30, 2007. 12:21 AMLftndbt (author) says:

"You keep using that word." .... twice... geez sorry...!

Dec 29, 2007. 5:06 PM

theRIAA says:

to keep adding particulates over and over again?

Dec 30, 2007. 12:20 AMLftndbt (author) says:

yup.... That's on the right track... Thank's. :)

Dec 29, 2007. 8:26 AMthemonkeyz says:

It would be "Recirculating".

Dec 30, 2007. 12:24 AMLftndbt (author) says:

Yes you are correct!! It would also be recirculating.... Thanks for your comment... :)

Dec 29, 2007. 7:30 PM

Tool Using Animal says:

Inconceivable! I do admire his steadfast adherence to his original choice. ;-)

Dec 30, 2007. 12:05 AMLftndbt (author) says:

(removed by author or community request)

Dec 30, 2007. 8:33 AM

Tool Using Animal says:

Well I learned something new, of course, what I learned is to use an obscure regional term in the title of an instructable, not really that useful, but I learned. Nah I like posting out of ignorance (and boredom).