# Bowls...Metal or plastic and why?



## Lilliam (Apr 28, 2010)

I prefer stainless steel. Seems more sanitary than ceramic or plastic. Aside from that, they can cause some damage to their plastic bowls with all the puppy chewing!!!


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## Blondie (Oct 10, 2009)

Easy to clean for stainless steel and more sanitary overall. I used plastic for my former cocker spaniel and they were more difficult to really clean, maybe I used the bad plastic ones which seemed to have a residue build up, as they never seemed to look or feel really clean. Could be that we have well water here, I don't have a clue. Ceramic would break too easily for me to take the chance and spend the money. Read about the raised bowls causing bloat.


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## esSJay (Apr 13, 2009)

We have ceramic bowls for Molson. I love them. They sanitize so easily, easy to clean, they are nice and heavy so they don't slide around on the floor, hard to flip and they look nice too!

My only downside is that they are heavy and hard to transport, so they suck if you are bringing them to someone's house or camping, etc.


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## Ranger (Nov 11, 2009)

I have massive stainless steel dog bowls for Ranger. My dad came over the first week I had Ranger and was aghast at the small bowls I was using. He left and came back ten minutes later with the biggest stainless steel bowls I've ever seen! 

I was thinking of switching to ceramic just to match the decor...but i'll stick with the stainless steel for now.


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## sameli102 (Aug 23, 2009)

I use stainless steel for food and like to be able to scour them and the fact that they are light, and a big heavy ceramic bowl for water because Parker thinks that all bowls should just be upside down.

For some reason after they eat he makes his rounds and turns the bowls upside down, every time, then he's happy. He's funny, he takes his foot on the edge and forcefully flings it several times until it flips, while the other one gives a big burp. Daily ritual here.


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## Lilliam (Apr 28, 2010)

Does he even do that with the ones that are really broad at the bottom? Those are the ones I use, cone shaped. I take off the rubber rim. 
Cassie used to splash in it like she did in the sheep troughs. First time ever that I had to teach a "no splash" command!!!!


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## Penny & Maggie's Mom (Oct 4, 2007)

If you use ceramic bowls, make sure they are lead free.


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## Sophie_Mom (Jan 21, 2009)

Plastic can absorb smells/tastes from the food. Stainless doesn't


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## Pointgold (Jun 6, 2007)

Stainless steel, always. Easier to sanitize, more durable.


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## LifeOfRiley (Nov 2, 2007)

Stainless for food. Their water dish is ceramic and gets run through the dishwasher every day or so to keep it clean.


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## Nicole74 (May 30, 2009)

The metal water bucket could be dangerous for you pup. Becareful. It could rust too, which I'm sure would make a dog sick.

We use stainless steel for everyday use. Plastic bowls when we are out and about or outside.


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## FeatherRiverSam (Aug 7, 2009)

esSJay said:


> We have ceramic bowls for Molson. I love them. They sanitize so easily, easy to clean, they are nice and heavy so they don't slide around on the floor, hard to flip and they look nice too!
> 
> My only downside is that they are heavy and hard to transport, so they suck if you are bringing them to someone's house or camping, etc.


What Molson said ^^^^^

For camping, boating and visiting friends the plastic comes out.

Pete


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## Golden123 (Dec 6, 2009)

Ive been using metal bowls for everbody, but once sadie gets bigger, I think I might switch her to some metal elevated bowls.


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## Doodle (Apr 6, 2009)

We use primarily good quality ceramic that is very easy to clean, and we run them through the dishwasher daily to sanitize them. At my office I have both plastic and stainless steel. I used the stainless steel first, but after a few weeks, Brady refused to drink out of it. So I switched to the plastic one and he's fine with it. That also get washed daily. I have no idea why he didn't like the stainless steel.


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## Sophie_Mom (Jan 21, 2009)

I was going to try elevated bowls as well - But from what I've read, using elevated bowls drastically increases the risk of bloat. Toooo scary!!!


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## Doodle (Apr 6, 2009)

Sophie_Mom said:


> I was going to try elevated bowls as well - But from what I've read, using elevated bowls drastically increases the risk of bloat. Toooo scary!!!


 
Depending on what you read, some say they decrease the risk, others say they increase the risk. I believe that most now believe the latter. And I agree. We bought elevated bowls for Brady because he would always lay down on the floor to eat or drink, and I've heard that wasn't good. However, when we had the bowls elevated so he didn't have to bend down at all, he started to develop bloat (dry heaving, pacing, restless)...we were lucky in that he released the gas himself before his stomach twisted. But I realized (and our vet agreed) that having the bowls elevated so that his head is not bent down at all allowed him to swallow a lot more air as he was eating. But when the bowls are on the floor and he lays in front of them, he's essentially in the same position. So I compromised: the elevated stand I have is adjustable, so I lowered it to it's lowest position. The bowls are about 5-6 inches off the floor...too high for him to lay down in front of, and low enough that he still has to bend down to eat or drink. Knock on wood, we haven't had any other problems.


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## Darcy's mom (Jan 11, 2010)

I am a ceramic bowl fan. I think it keeps the water cooler in the summer and heavy so Darcy does not carry them away or play and dump the water.


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## DNL2448 (Feb 13, 2009)

I use stainless steel as I was told a long time ago that plastic contributed to pink nose. I don't know how true it is, but since switching the dogs haven't had the pink noses they used to, so there may be something to that.


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## MillysMom (Nov 5, 2008)

Milly has lead free ceramic bowls, but I'm a big fan of the stainless steel. My parents have always used stainless steel, and bowls that are 19 years old still look good as new!


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## GoldenJoyx'stwo (Feb 25, 2007)

We use stainless steel.


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## sharlin (Feb 26, 2007)

Stainless - that way the Pack can look at their reflections when done and see if they need to floss!!!


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## Willow52 (Aug 14, 2009)

I actually have both (2) stainless an (1) ceramic, but since I have more stainless, I voted stainless. I prefer stainless, they're light and easy to clean.


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## coppers-mom (Jan 9, 2009)

Copper gets a slighytly raised stainless bowl.

Our little Feist girl (spayed) gets "jiggy" with her plastic bowl. She is so bad that I have to hide it when we have company.:doh::uhoh:


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## Born In Boston (Apr 23, 2010)

This is a great thread for a soon-to-be dog owner who never really thought about dog bowls before. Who knew? (You guys did)


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## gunes&bulut (Feb 8, 2010)

I prefer metal bowls both for water / food. They are easy to clean and unchewable also durable. Bulut never tried to chew or play with his bowls so I'm happy with this decision.


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## Traz (Jan 19, 2009)

stainless steel Plastic can leach chemicals into the water & contribute to puppy acne. Plus my dogs would eat them. Ceramic I don't trust in case they are wrong about lead free & my dogs push the bowl around to tell me they need their water refilled, the ceramic might break with my rambunctious crew.


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## HovawartMom (Aug 10, 2006)

Stainless Steel cos easier to clean and with pups,they don't become chewtoys!.


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

I used to use plastic bowls. Then came Flip. The plastic bowls were shredded. So now I use metal. He still enjoys running around with metal bowls in his mouth, but hasn't done any damage to them (yet).


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## Starfire5 (Apr 23, 2010)

None of my animals - dogs OR cats - will drink out of plastic bowls!


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## ilovemydogs (Jan 22, 2009)

Duke's bowls are stainless steel and Bailey's are ceramic. I like them both.


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## honeysmum (Dec 4, 2007)

I voted metal (stainless steel) and elevated but only Jade has an elevated bowl.


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## Hershey (Oct 31, 2009)

Stainless steel. Easy to clean and sanitize. Plastic bowls have been known to promote skin issues/muzzle hairloss as well.


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## Muddypaws (Apr 20, 2009)

We have ceramic, they have their names etched on them with the silhouette of a golden. They are heavy enough that they don't move and clean and dry fast.


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## GoldenSail (Dec 30, 2008)

I have ceramic because it is cute --but for dog shows and travelling we use the metal bowls.


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## LauraBella (Feb 9, 2010)

Belles has a plastic allergy. My vet actually said that the most common offender was plastic dog bowls, and that dogs that may not react to ANYTHING else, can react to the plastic in dog bowls. Apparently, it's frequently very cheap or low quality plastic that's used in making dog bowls, hence the issue.


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## LauraBella (Feb 9, 2010)

Hershey said:


> Stainless steel. Easy to clean and sanitize. Plastic bowls have been known to promote skin issues/muzzle hairloss as well.


Exactly. Been there, done that, won't go there again. And the ONLY plastic bowl I ever had was one large water bowl for outside (and it wasn't even the only outside bowl, so she hardly used it exclusively).


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## PuggledRetriever (Aug 9, 2014)

I use stainless steel. We used to have plastic and I notice how much easier it is to clean!


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## Karen519 (Aug 21, 2006)

*Stainless Steel*

We use Stainless Steel for our inside water bowls and use a plastic bowl when the dogs drink water outside (on the weekend).

For the food bowls, we use our Corelle dinnerware.


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## Tahnee GR (Aug 26, 2006)

Stainless steel is more sanitary. Most of the ceramic bowls and plastic bowls are made in China, and I do not trust that they won't leach some kind of chemicals into the dogs food or water. I threw out a lovely set of ceramic dog dishes because of this


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## goldlover68 (Jun 17, 2013)

sameli102 said:


> I use stainless steel for food and like to be able to scour them and the fact that they are light, and a big heavy ceramic bowl for water because Parker thinks that all bowls should just be upside down.
> 
> For some reason after they eat he makes his rounds and turns the bowls upside down, every time, then he's happy. He's funny, he takes his foot on the edge and forcefully flings it several times until it flips, while the other one gives a big burp. Daily ritual here.


Now that's funny LOL! These dogs are so animated....our newest girl will flip her kibble bowl over if we give her food she does not like! She is a real 'grub hound' so she still eats the food off the floor. Give her the food she loves and get out of her way.....but change it and get the broom out...who is training whom here??!


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## photoweborama (Dec 6, 2007)

Our other two dogs have metal, so I just bought metal when we got Ruby. Also, she'd chew up anything else...


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## mddolson (Jul 10, 2012)

We have a stainless food bowl & ceramic water bowl. 
We used to have two ceramic bowels, but one got cracked/broke. 
So we bought a stainless steel. It's smaller (not as deep) so we use it for food.

Mike D


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## Atis (Jul 8, 2014)

Stainless, Easier to clean, durable. Rubber bottom to slide less.


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## Susan: w/ Summit we climb (Jun 12, 2014)

Karen519 said:


> We use Stainless Steel for our inside water bowls and use a plastic bowl when the dogs drink water outside (on the weekend).
> 
> For the food bowls, we use our Corelle dinnerware.


 So do we! We love Corelle. Stainless for water.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Ha - thought I'd explain my vote.... 

1. Stainless steel for water. 
2. Ceramic for food bowls.
3. Elevated water bowl - keeps the youngest from playing in his water.


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## cgriffin (Nov 30, 2011)

I have stainless steel bowls and elevated feeders with stainless steel bowls.


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