Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I bought this for my dogs for Christmas 2015 so I've had it a while and decided to wait to review it until I had really tested it out. There's so many bad reviews out there for it that I feel the need to defend it. First lets talk about the leaking everyone complains about. Yeah it can leak but if its leaking it YOUR fault. There's 2 reasons it might leak: 1. The filter is in backwards. If the filter is in backwards its going to leak because the water isn't flowing through the filter correctly. If you notice its leaking then turn around the filter. BOOM! Problem solved. 2. If the filter is dirty...like super dirty and needs to be changed then it will leak because...once again...the water is not flowing through the filter correctly. I have used this thing for over 2 years and that's the only reasons I've ever seen it leak. Now this little fountain runs on a motor. The motor needs water in it or it will burn out and stop working. Do not let the water get too low. I keep the water about a half inch higher than the little intake park where the handle is at the bottom. I never let it get lower than that. Another tip is don't let this fountain run 24/7 because it will wear out faster. I keep mine plugged into an outlet timer. The timer only gives power to the fountain during a certain part of the day. I choose to keep the fountain running from 11am-10pm because that's when my dog is most active. This timer is a life saver because before I got the timer I was just having to try and remember to plug and unplug this fountain every day. Which rarely happened. You can buy timers for cheap in the outlet and extension cord section of any big box store. They aren't even expensive. Clean your fountain! If you're using tap water you will need to clean this thing twice as often. I use bottled water now and I can go a lot longer before it needs to be cleaned. You don't need the special liquid to clean it. What I do is heat up some cleaning vinegar in the microwave and pour it in the fountain and let it sit for about 5-10 minutes and then all the grossness just wipes away. I didn't buy the cleaning kit or anything. I rinse it all out and then even wash off the filter and I can usually get another month out of the filter. I haven't tried running vinegar through the motor but I assume that would be fine since you can do that with Keurigs and coffee machines. I typically use an old tooth brush and paper towels for cleaning and I do this about once a month, Maybe...probably even less than that. The plus side is that vinegar is safe for consumption but you should still rinse if out very well. I just bought a second one of these for my other dog. I trusted this product so much I bought two. My other dog has to be separate from my first dog because one is on prescription food so feedings are in two different places. I notice my dog drinks more water and I feel better about the water she's drinking with this fountain. She has had bladder stones in the past and VERY expensive surgery to have them removed and the quality of the water plays a big part in that and now I feel a lot better knowing that the water she's drinking is filtered twice before she ever drinks it. I am pickier about the food and water my dogs drink than I am about myself or my family. When I bought this 2 years ago it was full price at $30 but now that its down to half that so I figured I'd buy a second one. I can usually make the 3 pack of filters last over 6 months using the methods described above and I have to say I love this thing. Just make sure you keep it filled, give it time to rest and make sure the filter is in correctly and you should never have a problem with it. My two dogs are 4 and 7lbs and this thing is perfect for them.