Where did you move your dog's water bowl when your little one started crawling? Our water bowl for our monster great dane is huge and elevated. I could seriously give the babies a bath in water bowl, it is that big and that deep. And what is the most magnetic thing in the kitchen? A BIG SILVER bowl sitting on a small chair with lots of fun splashy water in it. When you are almost 9 months old and pulling up on EVERYTHING, I'm sure it seems like even more fun to go see what's in that big bowl.
So now Mr. Beck has pulled the bowl onto himself twice. Once under my watchful eye and once under my hubby's. It takes a minimum of 8 towels to clean up all the water and a bath to clean the boy that is covered in nasty dog water.
I don't know where to put it now. I could gate the kitchen off and keep it in there. I could put it outside. But those are the only two options. We don't really have space anywhere else. But I feel bad not allowing the dog access to his water at all times.
What did you do?
14 comments:
I don't have a great dane, but a 110 pound lab/collie mix. I have 2 kids- one who is 4 and one who is now 18 months. So we just got over this phase..... I never had a kennel for our dog until after I had kids. But, I put our water (an ice cream container-a gallon) in the dog kennel. I sort of have Becks (our dog, Beckham) trained that if he goes up to his kennel, it means he wants his water and then he goes in to drink. Hmm I guess this sounds worse than what it actually is. I lock the kennel so that the kids can't get in, but that the dog can sort of 'tell' us when he's thirsty. Why do I Have a feeling this made absolutely no sense..... but yes, I understand your frustration!!
I have a small dog--20# Boston Terrier named Sophie. When my first son was little, we gated off the kitchen. But now we are in a new house and I have NO IDEA what we are going to do when we get to that stage. Oh no!! You have made me think about it though. My dog only eats/drinks when we eat so she's pretty scheduled but I don't like to keep her water from her either. Maybe I'll move her bowls into another spot in the kitchen...they've already been moved once to put the high chair in her spot--she's going to think she's being kicked out! :)
You could put the water bowl in your utility room or in the bathroom. You probably wouldnt normally let your kids in those rooms anyways.
I wish I could put it in the utility room,but ours is small and the dog wouldn't fit in there to get to it.
The other option is our bathroom, which may work- I could just fill the tub up and let him drink out of that right? LOL Or I could just fill a sink up and let him drink from that. He is tall enough.
It will probably end up outside but I hate to do it just when its getting cold.
My friend had this problem with his dane and the baby. They tried it all (including the bathtub which the dog refused to go near)! He eventually put up one of those free standing gates around the water, you know the kind that you could make a play yard with (he put the water in the corner and used 2 of those pieces) The baby couldn't get to the water but the dog was big enough he could walk to the side of the gate and stick his head over and take a drink easily.
This was also super helpful when his daughter figured out that dog food was yummy (I still can't get rid of that mental picture of her with a handful of dog food and a mouthful EWW).
thanks anonymous! That is a good idea. I could totally put a gate around it and it would keep the babies away from the food and water. Now I just need hubby to get a stand thats a little higher to make it all work.
Ah, I know this problem well! I'm not sure if you have two stories or not but we put the dog's water in the upstairs bathroom. Puppy can still get to it but it's a lot harder for baby to get to. He still can, mind you, but at least it gives us a few more minutes to catch up with him before he gets there! (It's also easy to just close that door for a little while when we're going to be upstairs for extended periods.)
Good luck to you! Let us know what works!
My friend put their bowl on plant stand they found at Michaels that is made to hold potted plants. The bowl fits right into it so it won't slide off the stand and it was a bit shorter than a bar stool. The bar stool didn't work so well because the baby could still reach over and pull it down and the dog could knock it off, but this did work. It looked like this.. http://www.northlineexpress.com/itemdesc.asp?ic=5MM-FB-03
We kept the little monsters chained up. J/K LOL We kept the kitchen gated and when we did leave them crawl around the kitchen, which is inevitable, we put the bowls up. My girls preferred the food though. They LOVED spilling it all over the then trying to eat it. We only had a Yorkie though too. It wasn't like a gajillion gallons of water was set out. YIKES!
Good luck!
Hi! I feel your pain, my LO is 11 months and loves the water dish. We have just decided to teach him the meaning of no instead of taking things away. He has gotten wet many times, but he now know's what no means and that he can not play in the water. Sounds easier when I only have one kid that age but it is easier than gateing off an area or building something. One suggestion to make life a little easier though, would be to get a smaller water dish while they are learning no. :-)
Anonymous- I totally hear you on saying no and teaching them not to touch it. The major problem we have is that the water bowl is elevated. And when the babies pull it off the stool they can really get hurt and not just wet. I wouldn't mind if it was just a matter of getting wet. Its the 20lb water bowl falling on their little bodies that scares me. KWIM?
I feel your pain. My twins are a little older than yours (14 months). I "tried" teaching them, but with two curious little ones it is way too crazy. Finally I had to just put the food and water up when the babies are up. I don't have anywhere to put it otherwise and I can't gate it off. My dog is a small dog so that good idea by anon won't work for us. I admit that my dog gets annoyed and barks sometimes, but for now removing the situation is all I can do. My son particularly likes to try and eat the dog food as well. Weirdo! Hope you figure something out that will work.
Hi! i am a new mom of a 40-day old boy, who has reflux. We started zantac, but i dont see much improvement. He is not gaining as much weight as he should be. He is crying a lot after each meal. I feel so tired and desperate, because i dont know how to help him. I think your twins had this problem too. How did you survive this? When did it go away? Thanks, Maria
We have the same issues with our two labs. We keep the water bucket (ice cream gallon) in the laundry room and keep the door closed when the babies are on the run. I open the door for the dogs when the babies are napping or eating or whatever.
My concern, other than yucky dog water, is that they could fall in and drown.
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