Bottled water for dogs
On the heels of doggie dentists, doggie day care, doggie beer and designer doggie clothing lines comes the latest way to make your pooch as spoiled as you are -- bottled dog water.
With bottled water and pet-related goods two of the few areas still experiencing growth in our economy, it only makes sense that someone would come up with a product that capitalizes on that combination.
Century Foods, a maker of nutritional supplements, has introduced a new line of bottled water for dogs, with three unique formulas -- one to promote healthy hips and joints, one to ensure healthy aging and another Gatorade-ish blend designed to quickly replace electrolytes after exercise.
Hero Enhanced Dog Water is "a hydration treat for dogs," says Tim Greene, director of sales for Century Foods.
The water undergoes a "unique triple-filtered, reverse-osmosis purification process" before it is fortified with nutrients, and while according to promotional material "it smells a little funny to people, dogs love to the taste."
Century Foods says it recognized the exponential growth in the pet supply business -- one that shows no signs of slowing down.
It's not the only dog water on the market, only the latest.
In February, Cott Corp. came out with Fortifido, a bottled water that is fortified with vitamins in order to encourage healthy bones, skin, and teeth as well as freshen the breath of household dogs.
PetRefresh also offers special bottled water that does not contain the chemicals used in tap water. It comes from "high mountain streams of unusual purity," and is triple filtered. It can be used for dogs, birds, hamsters, gerbils and other pocket pets, as well as lizards and snakes.
"So, if you're avoiding your tap water and drinking bottled water ... shouldn't you be giving the same consideration to your pet?" the PetRefresh Web site asks.
Other companies are using humor, as opposed to guilt, to sell their versions of bottled dog water.
K9 Water Co. jokingly offers the following flavors: Toilet Water, Puddle Water, Hose Water
and Gutter Water (actually chicken, beef, liver and lamb).
Comments
I have a great idea. Give your dog a good diet, and let him have all the tap water he wants. Then you can do three things:
1) Donate the money you save to your favorite animal-rescue group;
2) Avoid the petroleum and energy costs associated with those attractive plastic bottles; and
3) Preserve those "high mountain" aquifers of "exceptional purity."
Such a crock o'poo! Dogs don't need bottled water any more than we do. Exotic pets that might be bothered by chemicals can be taken care of with a filter. (I notice how carefully they avoid the topic of chemicals that might leach out of the plastic bottles.)
Posted by: Anne | June 24, 2008 8:39 AM
So when does the waste of limited resources end? Bottled water is problematic given the resources it uses, but to create and market for animals? This is sick. And I'm sure there are nut cases who will defend this crime against the planet.
Posted by: Robert | June 24, 2008 10:15 AM
My wife gets on my case because I tend to buy anything with a golden retriever on it. (Treats, toys, even boxers for myself.) But I agree with both Robert and Anne. Not only are most dogs tough, working class beasts who will drink out of the toiliet if you let them, (don't get me wrong- our dog lives like a king) but the environmental footprint is completely unjustified.
Posted by: Rich | June 24, 2008 2:20 PM
I'm going with the obvious response here: My dog drinks from the toilet.
I do have an ancient metal Stanley thermos that I take with us to softball games.
Posted by: Eve | June 24, 2008 3:01 PM
I use 100% Pet Friendly Spring Water when in Central Park, N.Y.C.. It"s the best on the market for .49 cent a bottle sold in the stores in New York. We have seen them come and seen them go. I will not buy Century Foods stock on wall street. I am going to short this stock on friday.
Posted by: Lori A. Newell | June 24, 2008 4:37 PM
Hello Mutts, a blog by John Woestendiek of The Baltimore Sun ,
The biggest pet water company is Epetwater.com . Search google under pet spring water, there product all over New York and Jesery beaches. These other companies are posers.
Posted by: Lori A. Newell | June 24, 2008 4:49 PM
My faith in humanity is restored. Thank you Ms's. Anne, Eve and Mr. Rich. I fully expected nut cases coming out of the woodwork like roaches saying how wonderful this product is for pets.
Posted by: Robert | June 24, 2008 8:34 PM
If water is just water, why don't people drink out of toilets too? Sure would save a lot of time and resources. Our company has phased out the PET bottle and is converting to the "juice box" packaging, using PLA ( see natureworksllc.com for an explanation) that is corn-based and biodegradable. We also manage the watersheds of our sources to protect the forests and lease out the carbon credits. The water utility companies promise "safe" water, not healthy water. The age and vitality of pets should be longer than commonly thought of, to a factor of 100% longer. Think it might be the water?
Posted by: Bill Fels | June 25, 2008 6:46 AM
The reason most people don't drink from toilets is that it's difficult to get our heads in there far enough to lap it up.
Same with gutters and puddles. Drinking from a hose? That's easier!
Posted by: Donna B. | June 25, 2008 3:47 PM
Not that paying extra for bottled water for dogs isn't a silly idea, but water is hardly a "non-renewable resource" nor is it limited. The same amount of water exists on the planet as it has for the past couple billion years. Fido is drinking the same water molecules the dinosaurs drank. I give my dogs bottled water. I drink the water, then fill the empty container with tap water and keep it in the car or in my bike bottle, and that's what they get. Not one complaint so far. You want an eternal water source, get a solar water distiller and run sea water through it.
Posted by: notreallyjordan | June 25, 2008 4:59 PM
Last fall, I read an essay by Garrison Keillor that finally pushed me to give up the bottled water habit. Now I use a Brita filter on the kitchen tap. My dog Amie has so many allergies this time of year that I've decided to give her filtered water in her WATER bowl, and maybe reduce the number of irritants her body has to contend with. Lots of farm chemical runoff ends up in the municipal water supplies in the Midwest. Sweet Amie deserves some good, filtered water.
Posted by: Mary Schmidt | June 25, 2008 7:52 PM
If only this were a joke. I agree with the above post - that using an inline filter may improve the quality of the water - but you are still using tap water - not wasting good money on bottled water (for dogs). Give me a break!
Posted by: H2Only | July 14, 2008 11:58 PM