Dogs and Rain Water

[Ivy]

I was talking to a friend of mine about how he collects rain water in those huge barrels and that is what his dog drinks from.

Just out of curiosity, is it okay healthwise for a dog to drink rain water?

[mmorlino]

Yup - totally. Just like drinking out of a creek or river or pond.

My parents live in Blanco, TX where there's no city water and wells are difficult because of the droughts we tend to have. They have a rain water collection system. It collects from their roof. It's awesome. It goes through a few filters, of course, but it's the best water you'll ever taste. Even here in TX with our droughts it still stays full. It's quite remarkable.

But I got a little off track :-)

[Zoom]

Why wouldn't it be? It's probably better, since it hasn't been totally contaminated by crap in the soil or picked up stuff from the water plant.

[ACooper]

Just keep in mind that most rain water is collected after running off of roofs and other things, plus it sits around STANDING STILL waiting to be used. Giardia can live in it, as well as other things. It's best to boil it before consuming as a precaution.......for people as well as animals. It truly isn't any different than letting your dog or cat drink from a mud puddle or creek......but you run the risk there too. Life's full of risks, LOL, it just depends on which ones you deem worth it

Most rain water that is collected isn't used for consumption, at least not that I am aware of unless it's a set up with filters and things described by mmorlino.........it's mostly used for irrigation and things like that. I wish I had a big barrel to collect it just for my HAIR! I love how my hair feels after getting caught in the rain! LOL

[mmorlino]

Good point, ACooper - it's pretty much about what you choose to care about. Life IS full of risks!

And yes! My husband and I lived at my parents house for 8 months. (it's a "vacation home" so they don't live there full time... So we're not total losers!) My hair was the best AND our clothes got so clean because of the water! Dishes, too... fantastic :-)

Here's Scout drinking out of my parents creek two years ago... She's fine :-)

[FoxyWench]

i know lots of people who collect rain water for their chickens and livestock but they collect open (no run off) for their animals....

they also have gutter barrels which collect the water off the roof, that water they use for the garden and such because of the risk of bird poop run off, skeeter lavea ect...

[Ivy]

[QUOTE=FoxyWench;1513164]i know lots of people who collect rain water for their chickens and livestock but they collect open (no run off) for their animals....QUOTE]

Yes my friend also collects rainwater open as well, no run off.

[FoxyWench]

oh and if worried you can add a few oz of chlorine (chlorine is added to human drinking water in the purification plants) itll kill any giardia and such, but as long as in low doses its safe to drink, personally though, as long as its open collection, theres no real need to, the problems tend to come with contaminants like wild bird poop and such.

[Doberluv]

The only rain water I would worry about is in puddles where cars have been...where oil may be mixed in. Otherwise, dogs are pretty durable and drink all kinds of water. Yeah, there is a small risk of giardia, but I bet that's pretty rare. Dogs are designed, it seems to handle a lot of gross stuff....from road kill, to eating poo, to drinking semi stagnant water. They have sure been a successful species and must have drunk water that had a little birdie or deer poo mixed in on occassion. LOL. I probably wouldn't try to collect water from the roof because that may have some chemicals in it from the roofing material. I'm more afraid of chemicals than stuff from other animals.