Bowl Hygiene 101

🐾 Bowl Hygiene 101: The Essential Guide for Pet Parents

As a dedicated dog parent, keeping your pup’s food and water bowls clean isn’t just good housekeeping it’s an important part of keeping them healthy, happy, and thriving. These bowls can harbor bacteria, mold, and biofilm that can make your dog sick if left unchecked.

We understand that bowl hygiene is sometimes easy to overlook... not because we don't care but because life gets busy. Why it matters! Clean bowls support better digestion, healthier immune systems, and encourage animals to eat and drink more regularly.

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🧼 Lets Get Microscopic

Your dog’s bowls are a hotspot for bacteria buildup because food particles, saliva, and moisture provide an ideal breeding ground for microbes. If bowls are left dirty:

    •    Harmful bacteria can grow, including things like E. coli, Salmonella, and more. These can lead to digestive upset or more serious infections.  

    •    Mold and mildew can develop, especially in water bowls with stagnant water.

    •    Parasites and flies may be attracted to old food residue.  

    •    Food quality degrades, particularly for dry kibble left sitting longer.  

Keeping bowls clean helps protect not only your dog’s gut health, but also their overall immune system!

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🗓 Down to the Dirty Details

A consistent routine makes hygiene easy:

🐶 Daily

    •    Wet food bowls: Wash after every meal. Wet food dries fast and is a bacterial magnet.  

    •    Dry food bowls: Rinse and wash at least once a day.  

    •    Water bowls: Clean daily! fresh water deserves a fresh bowl each day!  

🧽 Weekly (Deep Clean / Disinfect)

Even with daily washing, it’s a great idea to disinfect bowls weekly. You can run dishwasher-safe bowls in a sanitizing cycle or soak in a pet-safe disinfectant solution before rinsing thoroughly.  

✨ Pro Tips

    •    Have two sets of bowls so one can be cleaned while the other is in use.  

    •    Consider washing by hand with warm, soapy water, OR at bare minimum let the bowl soak in the sink until the next meal!

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🐕 "You Must Choose...But Choose Wisely."

- Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

(Fortunately no ancient curses involved, just fewer germs and happier pets!)

Not all bowls are created equal your choice of material makes a big difference in how easy they are to clean and how much bacteria they trap.

🥇 Stainless Steel

Often the top choice for hygiene: non-porous, durable, dishwasher-safe, and hard for bacteria to cling to.  

🍶 Ceramic

Heavy, easy to clean, and non-porous if the glaze is intact. Avoid chipped or cracked ceramic, which can hide germs.  

🚫 Plastic

Not ideal long-term tiny scratches from chewing or daily wear can trap bacteria and odors. If you use plastic, choose BPA-free and scratch-free designs.

When it comes to keeping bowls cleaner longer, material and design matter. Below are a few bowl options we recommend because they’re easy to clean, durable, and less likely to hold onto bacteria or odors.

(Note: we only share products we genuinely like, trust, and would use for our own pets!) These are affiliate links and we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

These are a few popular choices amongst pet parents!

Master Pet Supply - 32oz Stainless Steel

https://amzn.to/49XUh71

Coldest Dog Bowl - 3 layer insulated, non-slip, Stainless steel https://amzn.to/45uYs8O

YETI Boomer 8 - 64 ounce stainless, non-slip, stainless steel https://amzn.to/4k4aOLd

URPOWER 3 in 1 Elevated Dog Bowls

https://amzn.to/45ySnbr

At Walk the Walk, we're big believers that the little things matter. Clean bowls, fresh, water and consistent care add up and they're often the easiest wins! It's a small step with a BIG benefit.

When in doubt, Wash it Out! You might just eliminate one more mystery from the "why is my pet's stomach funky again?" bingo card.

Sophie and Biscuit drinking water from their freshly cleaned bowls!