Best Dog Bowls

Written by

Kosar Koohi Updated 20 July 2021 · 11 Min Read

Kosar is the editor of Pretty Fluffy, a lifelong dog lover, and the proud mom of Yuki, a Maltese who has very high standards. So does Kosar. She researches everything obsessively before it ever makes it onto the page.

The best dog bowls have to answer two questions at once: will this look right sitting on our kitchen floor, and will it still be doing its job in two years. Nowhere else in the house do we accept a choice between beautiful and functional, and we have never seen why the dog's corner should be the exception. A bowl lives in plain sight, gets used twice a day, and takes more abuse than most things we own.

So we went looking for the ones that get both right. Below are our picks across ceramic, stainless steel, silicone, elevated and slow feed styles, from a fourteen dollar everyday dish to a designer splurge. They are grouped by what each one actually does well, so you can skip straight to the section that matches your dog.

Types of Dog Bowls

Shape, weight, texture and material all change how a bowl behaves in daily life. A bowl that is perfect for a Great Dane is a hazard for a Frenchie, and a bowl that looks beautiful on your kitchen floor may be the one your dog nudges into the wall every morning.

Stainless steel is the best all-around dog bowl material for most dogs. It does not absorb odors, it will not crack or chip, and it survives the dishwasher indefinitely. Ceramic is the better choice when you want weight and looks, since a heavy glazed bowl is much harder for a dog to push around. Silicone wins for travel. Plastic is the least hygienic option, because chewing and scratching create grooves where bacteria settle in.

Material	Best for	Keep in mind
Stainless steel	Everyday food and water, chewers, multi-dog homes	Lightweight versions slide. Look for a rubber or weighted base.
Ceramic	Dogs who push their bowl, homes that want the bowl to look good	Chips and hairline cracks harbor bacteria. Retire damaged bowls.
Silicone	Travel, hikes, car trips, packing light	Not suitable for dogs who chew their bowl.
Plastic	Budget buys and puppies who are still growing	Scratches trap bacteria. Replace rather than repair.
Bamboo and composite	Elevated stands, eco-minded households	Wipe dry rather than soaking. Water staining is common.

Dog Food Bowls

A food bowl gets used twice a day, every day, which means it earns its keep on durability far more than on looks. That said, there is no reason a dog dish has to be ugly, and the cute options below hold up as well as the plain ones. If you are also rethinking what goes in the bowl, our guide to choosing healthy dog food covers portions and ingredients.

DexyPaws Ceramic Dog Bowl

Matte glazed stoneware in soft, muted colorways that will not fight with your kitchen. The weight is the point here. It is heavy enough that a determined small or medium dog cannot walk it across the room mid-meal, and the wide, shallow profile suits flat-faced breeds who struggle to reach into a deep bowl. Dishwasher friendly and easy to check for chips.

Harry Barker Eco-Friendly Plastic Dog Bowl

Harry Barker eco-friendly recycled plastic dog bowl in white

Made from recycled plastic and priced like an everyday basic, this is the sensible second bowl. Keep one in the car, one at the grandparents' house, one for the crate. Lightweight enough that a big dog will move it, so it is better suited to small and medium dogs, or to spots where a little sliding does not matter. Replace it when the interior starts to scratch.

maxbone Bubble Silicone Dog Bowl

Food-grade silicone with a rounded, sculptural shape that genuinely looks like an object rather than a pet accessory. Silicone is quiet on hard floors, which is a small thing until you have lived with a metal bowl and a tiled kitchen. It grips well and folds down enough to pack. Skip it if your dog is the sort to chew their bowl rather than eat from it.

Palz&Co EcoBowl Dog Bowl

A plant-based composite bowl for households trying to cut plastic without spending designer money. It has more heft than a standard plastic dish and a more natural finish, which makes it a reasonable everyday bowl for small to medium dogs. Hand wash and dry rather than leaving it to soak, which is true of most composite materials.

Bone Dry Paw Print Ceramic Dog Bowl

Glazed ceramic with a silicone base ring, which is the combination that actually stops a bowl from traveling. The paw print and stripe patterns are the cheerful end of the spectrum rather than the minimalist one, and they come in enough colorways to match a scheme. Ceramic is the material we keep coming back to for dogs who eat enthusiastically. For more on making dog gear work with your interiors, see our tips for a stylish home with pets.

Dog Water Bowls

The best water bowl for dogs is a heavy or insulated stainless steel bowl your dog cannot tip. Double-wall stainless keeps water cool for hours and will not sweat a ring onto your floorboards, and a weighted or non-skid base stops the sliding that causes most spills. For dogs who drink fast and messily, a wide, shallow bowl throws less water than a deep, narrow one.

Water bowls also need washing far more often than most of us manage. If your dog is a reluctant drinker in summer, our fruit infused waters for dogs are an easy way to make the bowl more interesting.

YETI Boomer Dog Bowl

YETI Boomer stainless steel dog bowl in seafoam

Double-wall stainless steel with a non-slip ring on the base, available in 4 cup and 8 cup sizes and safe for the dishwasher. It is the most expensive everyday bowl on this list and also the one least likely to ever need replacing. Effectively impossible to tip for a small or medium dog, and rugged enough for outdoor and patio use. Some owners of very large breeds find even the 8 cup size runs out too quickly.

Hydrapeak Dog Bowl

Hydrapeak insulated stainless steel dog bowl in graphite

The same insulated, double-wall idea at roughly half the price, in a range of powder-coated finishes. Water stays cold for hours and the exterior stays dry, so no condensation ring. A good fit for small to medium dogs and for anyone who wants the insulated performance without the flagship price tag.

The Stanley Pet Bowl

Stanley applied its vacuum-insulated thinking to a dog bowl, and the result is the one to reach for on a road trip or a hot afternoon in the yard. Stainless construction, a low center of gravity, and the same finishes as the tumblers, if matching your dog's bowl to your water bottle is a thing you would enjoy. Built for outdoor use more than for a quiet corner of the kitchen.

Ruffwear Trail Runner Nylon Dog Bowl

A soft-sided, ultralight bowl that packs down to almost nothing, designed for hikes and trail runs where every gram counts. It holds water well enough for a mid-walk drink and doubles as a food bowl on overnight trips. Not an everyday kitchen bowl, but the one that lives permanently in the pack. Worth pairing with the rest of our dog travel accessories.

Elevated Dog Bowls

Raised feeders make mealtimes easier for tall dogs, seniors, and dogs with neck, shoulder or joint pain, and they keep the eating area tidier. There is one caveat worth knowing before you buy.

Elevated feeding has been associated with a higher incidence of gastric dilatation-volvulus, commonly called bloat, in large and giant breeds, and the American College of Veterinary Surgeons lists it among the suggested risk factors.

If your dog is a deep-chested breed, talk to your vet before switching to a raised bowl. For small dogs and most seniors, the comfort benefit is straightforward.

Waggo Elevated Ceramic Dog Bowl

Waggo has been making genuinely good-looking ceramics for years, and this raised version keeps the matte glaze and clean lines while lifting the bowl a few inches off the floor. Best suited to small and medium dogs. The ceramic weight means the whole thing stays where you put it, which is not true of every elevated design.

VETRESKA Flora Ceramic Elevated Pet Bowl

A tilted ceramic bowl on a sculptural base, with the angle doing the work of reducing neck strain. The forward tilt also pushes food toward the front, which helps flat-faced dogs and older dogs who tire partway through a meal. More decorative than most raised feeders, and sized for small to medium breeds.

SpunkyJunky Ceramic and Bamboo Elevated Dog Bowl

SpunkyJunky elevated dog bowls set in ceramic with a bamboo stand

Two removable ceramic bowls in a bamboo frame, so food and water sit side by side at the same height. The bowls lift out for the dishwasher, which is the detail that makes or breaks an elevated feeder. Wipe the bamboo dry rather than letting water pool in the frame, since staining is the common complaint with wooden stands.

Slow Feeder Dog Bowls

If your dog inhales dinner in under a minute, a slow feeder is the cheapest useful thing you can buy. The ridges force them to work around the obstacles, which stretches a meal out, reduces gulped air, and turns feeding into a small puzzle. We have a full roundup of slow feeders for dogs who eat too fast if you want the wider comparison. Two favorites here.

Outward Hound Fun Feeder Slo Bowl

Outward Hound Fun Feeder slow feeder dog bowl with maze pattern

The default recommendation for a reason. Roughly 4 cup capacity, non-skid base, dishwasher safe, and cheap enough to buy on a hunch. It works for most dogs and most maze patterns. Two known limits: clever dogs sometimes flip it over, and short-snouted breeds can struggle with the deeper groove designs, so pick a shallower pattern for a pug or a Frenchie.

Dogged Slow Feeder Bowl

A more considered take on the slow feeder, with a softer pattern and a finish that does not scream orthopedic plastic. Gentler ridges make it a better starting point for dogs who give up when a maze is too difficult, and for puppies just learning to slow down. Suits small and medium dogs best.

Designer Dog Bowls

Every so often someone asks what the actual top of the market looks like. This is it. If you want the range between here and merely expensive, our roundup of luxury dog accessoriescovers the middle ground.

Gucci Dog Bowl

Porcelain, hand-decorated, and priced like a piece of tableware rather than a pet accessory, because that is essentially what it is. It belongs to the category of objects bought as gifts rather than as solutions. Treat it the way you would treat any fine porcelain, which is to say hand wash it and retire it at the first chip, since cracked glaze is a genuine hygiene problem regardless of the label.

Choosing the Right Bowl Size

Size is where most people get it wrong, and the mistake goes in both directions. A bowl that is too small means your dog cannot get to the food without pushing it out, and a bowl that is too big means kibble ends up on the floor either way. As a rule, the bowl should be wide enough for your dog's muzzle with room on either side, and shallow enough that they are not pressing their whiskers into the sides at every mouthful.

Puppy and Small Dog Bowls

Puppies need shallow, wide and low. A deep bowl is genuinely difficult for a small puppy to eat from, and an elevated one is unnecessary at that size. Buy a cheap puppy feeding bowl you can size up from in a few months rather than an expensive one they will outgrow. Small breeds keep the same requirements into adulthood, with the added factor that a lightweight bowl is easy for a terrier to flip. Weight matters more than capacity here. Our new puppy checklist has the rest of the first-week shopping list.

Large and Flat-Faced Breeds

Large breeds need capacity without depth, since a deep bowl encourages faster gulping. Look for a wide profile and a base heavy enough that a 70 pound dog cannot shunt it. Flat-faced breeds like pugs, Frenchies and Boston Terriers are the opposite problem: they need a shallow, wide, ideally tilted bowl, because a standard deep dish makes them press their face into the sides just to reach the last of the food. A tilted or angled design is worth the extra spend for these dogs.

How Often to Wash a Dog Bowl

More often than almost anyone does. The FDA guidance on safe handling of pet food is to wash food bowls and scooping utensils with soap and hot water after every single use, and to wash your hands for twenty seconds before and after handling pet food. Water bowls should be washed daily, not just topped up, because the film that builds up around the waterline is biofilm and rinsing does not shift it.

This is also the argument for choosing your material carefully. Stainless steel and intact glazed ceramic both clean properly. Scratched plastic does not, no matter how hard you scrub, which is why a cheap plastic bowl is a consumable rather than a purchase. Check ceramic bowls for chips every few months and retire anything cracked.

Ready to shop the rest of the feeding aisle? Browse the full dog bowls and feeding directory for more designer and independent brands.

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