# Huge messes at the water bowl! PLEASE help!



## AbbysMaMa (Sep 24, 2012)

My 18 month old Great Dane/English Mastiff Hybrid makes a HUGE mess every time she goes to her water bowl. I want to keep her on a self-watering bowl since she drinks a lot and I already have to refill her (2 gallon capacity) Big Dog Water fountain twice a day. (I don't want her going without water!) We haven't been able to find anything bigger, and we've tried towels on the floor. Has anyone with a big dog solved this issue?

I'd like to try building a custom self-waterer for her, but I'm not exactly sure where to start, so if anyone has experience or ideas there, I'd love to hear about that, too!


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## titiaamor (Nov 17, 2011)

We use a bucket! It totally fixed all the water-water-everywhere problems. Very simple, very inexpensive, and they never run out of water. 




AbbysMaMa said:


> My 18 month old Great Dane/English Mastiff Hybrid makes a HUGE mess every time she goes to her water bowl. I want to keep her on a self-watering bowl since she drinks a lot and I already have to refill her (2 gallon capacity) Big Dog Water fountain twice a day. (I don't want her going without water!) We haven't been able to find anything bigger, and we've tried towels on the floor. Has anyone with a big dog solved this issue?
> 
> I'd like to try building a custom self-waterer for her, but I'm not exactly sure where to start, so if anyone has experience or ideas there, I'd love to hear about that, too!


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## DaisysPetShop (Sep 6, 2012)

You can get safe bowls to avoid mess.
http://www.wag.com/dog/p/contech-drinkbetter-bowl-medium-103881
Basically every drink of water comes out in stages so they'll never be a mass of water on the surface.


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## Amaryllis (Dec 28, 2011)

I bought a big mat to put under the bowl. Kabota is missing his lower teeth on one side, so when he drinks, half of it splashes out that side onto the floor. The water/spit combo created this white haze over the dark brown tile that I had to remove by hand using a small wire brush. With the mat, I just wash it once a week and we're good. (It was labeled a "child's puzzle mat", but you might want something larger with a mastiff.)


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## AbbysMaMa (Sep 24, 2012)

Thank you everyone for your suggestions!


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## 3doglady (Jul 31, 2011)

We raised a golden a few years back that always made a huge mess at the water bowl. I ended up putting a boot tray under the bowl to help contain the non-stop puddles on the floor.

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/pro...m_medium=cpc&gclid=CPHJjv6Uz7ICFcV9Ogod2HgAag


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## georgiapeach (Mar 17, 2012)

We use a towel under the water bowl, with more of the towel in front and sides of the bowl than in the back, b/c Dempsey is such a messy drinker, but that only helps so much b/c he'll walk away from the water bowl with water still dripping like crazy out of the sides of his mouth. Dogs like boxers, mastiffs, Great Danes, Bulldogs, etc., with big "chops" are NOT efficient drinkers at all! I've decided it's not worth the stress and just wash that part of the floor more often...


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