Message #526612

[Big Game Joe]

I too, use the five gallon buckets, but I buy the orange ones from Home Depot. Once a week, usually on the weekend, I gather up all the buckets and use a garden sprayer to spray chlorox inside and out, let them set for about five minutes, then take a brush to them. Rinse and fill and they are like brand new. I do believe that the dogs consume more water when it is clean, cool water. It has to be better for them than the ole stinky algae water, but on the other side of the coin, I know people that have very good dogs, in excellent shape that never clean their waters. I only have five dogs to tend to, If I had 15 or 20 dogs to tend to, I don't know that I would do this as often. When I was much younger and more energetic, back in my Game Fowl days. I would have as many as 100 cocks and stags on tie outs and 50 or so cocks and hens in brood pens and would give fresh water daily, bleaching their water buckets once a week. But on the other side of the coin again, I knew some of the top fighters around, some of them were meticulous about clean water and some of them never cleaned them. I do think it makes a difference, however small it may be. You can give clean water daily, but if you don't do all the other things, that are so much more important than fresh water daily, your dogs will not be all that they can be. At the end of the day, and this is just my opinion,  there is not only one right way to do things for your animals. Do what works for you, and what you thinks is right for you and your dogs. Mike Starling