I have a small whiskey barrel pond on my patio, I also have two dogs. My dogs won't drink out of their water bowl anymore, only the little pond. I tried to stop this but they won't and haven't gotten sick yet. I figure as long as it's circulating and doesn't stink or look nasty they will be ok.

Good luck, I tried a real pond but my lab kept jumping in it and screwing up the plants and filter...so I found the whiskey barrel to me much easier to keep up with.

There is bacteria in the pond that I'm sure is not good for the dogs. I've just recently put in a little 20" fence to train the dogs to stay out of. My little man is only 16 months and very easily trainable but my old lady laughs at my attempts to restrain her.

I would at the very least make sure to keep them updated with a good flea preventative that has other parasite and such preventatives in it also and work on behavior modification and supervision around the pond.

Like Roxy said - it's better to keep the pump running whether you're on the patio or not.

The constant circulation helps keep the water fresher, and if it stirs up the water enough can help control mosquitos as well. Dogs aren't as fond of chlorine - so they love drinking from ponds and puddles.

It's usually safe, but check with your vet to see if their are any problems specific to your area. For example, I know raccoons can transmit parasites - they'll sometimes use ponds as latrines - and this is a parasite in their waste - sorry I can't think of what it's called but it's not nationwide in raccoons.

Be careful with the chemicals you add to your pond tho - algaecides would not be good for a small dog to drink.

Is your dog likely to jump into your pond? One foot deep wouldn't be a drown hazard for most dogs, but if he's small???

The other problem is that doggy toenails are great at puncturing pond liners.

My dog loved drinking from the pond, but he was good sized and every situation is a bit different. Good luck with your pond and enjoy it!

Its hard to keep the doggies out of the pond water. Birds visit the pond. Frogs and toads visit the pond. Who knows what visits the pond and any of these visitors might poop in the water. If you are keeping fish in there, well ... they poop too.

Any number of bacteria can contaminate the pond water. Our dogs got Campylobacter from the koi we had in the pond. Mmmmmmm ... Three dogs with diarrhea.

Not all dogs will get sick. Not all dogs will get infections but it is something to consider if they do get intestinal issues. Campylobacter is also a zoonotic disease, meaning it can be transmitted to people.

Adding chemicals, as was posted earlier, may be worse for the dogs.

My dog drinks from the pond and hasn't had any problems. I wouldn't treat it either. His favorite game is to catch the fish food when it floats to the edge. We also keep the waterfall running all spring/summer/fall. The only problem I did have was during the winter. He does not like to swim so he would not go in the pond at all EXCEPT in the winter. He would walk on top of the ice to get to the bubbler and the open area of water. Now I have to fence the pond in early winter to keep him off it. It freaked me out too much as I was afraid he was going to fall in. We get lots of freeze/thaws up here and you can't trust ice.

thank you everyone for your advice...sounds like I'll be keeping the dog away from the pond...no need to take any chances or have unnecessary worries.

Ditto what everybody said, there's bacteria and parasites in there that some dogs can handle and some dogs can't. MY biggest problem was keeping the swimmers OUT of the pond.....tearing up plants, tipping rocks into the pond....what a mess. And Emma spent HOURS poised on the edge fishing! 2 labs and 2 golden retrievers and one stressed out owner!

I installed an extension of my underground fence in a loop around the pond and have been thankful every day since. The dogs have their own kiddie pool on the other side of the yard.

Sarah - less stressed w/ dogs & pond...

We have a deep koi pond, 5ft and our dogs liked to walk out to drink from the clear area free of ice. Our dear westie girl drown last winter when she misjudged the opening. I saw her floating from an upstairs window. Mouth to mouth for 20 minutes, broke our hearts, be careful and keep a close eye on them.

Pond chemicals used to treat every spring are deadly. My friend forgot about the chemicals and her beautiful german shepherd leaped for a drink and died a slow death from brain damage two months later :'(