# Washing Bowls



## Neeko (Aug 11, 2010)

How often do you all wash your dogs food bowls? We have two sets of stainless steel bowls that we use. Some raw meals I hand feed. This morning, they had venison steak, a couple chicken necks, and frozen liver, which I hand fed. Sometimes I hand them a chicken quarter, pork neck or turkey neck. I use the bowls for tripe, grinds, and chunks. I'm paranoid, and wash before next use. A friend told me this isn't necessary. What's the opinion here?


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## Tobi (Mar 18, 2011)

ummmm we stopped using them... i just throw his stuff on the floor anymore, he doesn't like his bowls... i mop once a week maybe? we also leave his food out overnight for sometimes 2 days until he eats it... never had any ill effects. :thumb: I can't imagine a dog is going to get sick from eating out of a "non clean" food bowl lol.


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## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

We don't really wash the bowls. 

Maybe once a month, sometimes a lot longer :wink:

We feed outside, so the bowls stay outside.


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## _unoriginal (Apr 8, 2012)

Well I guess I'll be the weird one in this thread. I wash the bowls and the floor/mat after every meal. I use stainless steel bowls and place the food bowl on his rubber mat. He generally takes his food out of his bowl and eats on the mat which is fine, I don't care either way.

I have another dog in the house that is not raw fed so I must keep everything clean (house rules). Whether this is necessary or paranoia on my end, I don't know and I honestly don't think it matters much.


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## Tobi (Mar 18, 2011)

_unoriginal said:


> Well I guess I'll be the weird one in this thread. I wash the bowls and the floor/mat after every meal. I use stainless steel bowls and place the food bowl on his rubber mat. He generally takes his food out of his bowl and eats on the mat which is fine, I don't care either way.
> 
> I have another dog in the house that is not raw fed so I must keep everything clean (house rules). Whether this is necessary or paranoia on my end, I don't know and I honestly don't think it matters much.


To each their own! i used to be the same way, washed the bowl every night after dinner etc! :thumb:


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## Dude and Bucks Mamma (May 14, 2011)

We stopped using bowls as well. Mine get big whole meal chunks as often as possible for the teeth benefits and because Buck is a gulper. We recently just started feeding the RMBs in the kitchen so I don't have to sit outside for hours on end with Buck or, if I tie him to the post to keep him from laying in the dirt I fee the need to get up and check on him, quite literally, every 2 or 3 minutes so I end up huddled in a blanket by the back door to watch him.

When we feed Buck in the kitchen I only clean when it needs cleaning. He has started to clean up after himself better so usually the floor just gets a quick spray and wash with ACV. When I have time I get my scrub brush out and scrub the floor and bottoms of the counters.


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## xchairity_casex (Oct 8, 2011)

Cesar uses a stainless steel dish and i will rinse it out with hot water after every meal and was hit only when its really oily looking


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## Kat (Jul 12, 2011)

I wash Ruby's stainless steel bowl for every meal with hot water and antibacterial soap. I do it for my own peace of mind, not cause of super paranoid with germs - but also cause I just wouldnt want her eating out of a dirty dish. Same with her water dish, I clean and change it twice a day. For feeding I put her in her giant crate and put down big pee pads and she eats there. I reuse the pee pads a few times until they start looking really bloody or if she pees on them, which she sometimes does if I dont get her right after she eats.


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## DaneLover228 (Nov 29, 2011)

We don't use bowls either. Monty eats on a towel that we wash about once a week. He is very good at keeping it off the carpet.


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## ciaBrysh (Dec 16, 2011)

I don't think I have ever washed their bowls lol. I do however clean my floors after every meal and wash my hands like a mad woman lol


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## xchairity_casex (Oct 8, 2011)

Kat said:


> I wash Ruby's stainless steel bowl for every meal with hot water and antibacterial soap. I do it for my own peace of mind, not cause of super paranoid with germs - but also cause I just wouldnt want her eating out of a dirty dish. Same with her water dish, I clean and change it twice a day. For feeding I put her in her giant crate and put down big pee pads and she eats there. I reuse the pee pads a few times until they start looking really bloody or if she pees on them, which she sometimes does if I dont get her right after she eats.


the water dish for me is a whole differnt story that gets scrubbed every day many times several times per day cuase his drool makes the water foamy and smelly and i dont like him drinking nasty water cause i wouldnt enjoy drinking nasty water like that either.


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## _unoriginal (Apr 8, 2012)

xchairity_casex said:


> the water dish for me is a whole differnt story that gets scrubbed every day many times several times per day cuase his drool makes the water foamy and smelly and i dont like him drinking nasty water cause i wouldnt enjoy drinking nasty water like that either.


Also different for me.. The water bowl gets washed when I remember to.. Maybe once a month.


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## wolfsnaps88 (Jan 2, 2012)

Xcharity casex I love your sig pic. LOL

Unless I have some big pieces (deer head, anyone?) I feed out of bowls. Only to be sure the portions are right and go to the right dog. Then I spread them out on the concrete outside so each dog has their own space. I usually have to dump them out anyways because the bowl seems to startle Sargeant sometimes and the big dogs sometimes can't get the last bits out. Then I put them in the dishwasher and soap down the cutting board and counter. If its cold out, Sarge eats on the kitchen floor which is easy to wipe up. I try to wash their water bowls once a week and rinse them in the bathroom faucet when I remember to (the drool in Dozer's water bowl is a good reminder).


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

i'm so bad at portioning, even two years later, i still weigh out their food.....

they eat once a day now, which i'm lovin'.....so they can have two or three proteins at a time.

we use pretty tangerine coloured ceramic bowls...

they take the food out and dump it on their towel.....

i wash the bowls anyway.

i change their water daily....and they get bottled water.


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## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

Our dogs drink out of a 3 gallon water dispenser thingy. We wash it when it's time to refill it. We refill it with the hose so they definitely dont get bottled water...they drink out of lakes, puddles, ponds...even the ocean...lol


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## DeekenDog (Aug 29, 2011)

Food dish I basically wash everyday. I just chuck it in the dishwasher with my dishes so its no big deal- if there's no room it doesn't get washed. I also spray out his crate pan with a 50-50 mix of vinegar and water everyday or every other day because he typically drops his food all over it. I just relatively recently started wiping it after meals because it was really gross. His water dish gets rinsed and fresh water put in daily. It gets washed with soap about once a month.


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## wolfsnaps88 (Jan 2, 2012)

Sprocket said:


> Our dogs drink out of a 3 gallon water dispenser thingy. We wash it when it's time to refill it. We refill it with the hose so they definitely dont get bottled water...they drink out of lakes, puddles, ponds...even the ocean...lol


I understand what you mean in that dogs are dogs and they don't need anything fancy. You are aware of how bad it is to let them drink from standing water though, right? And you let them drink salt water? Don't they vomit?


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## Scarlett_O' (May 19, 2011)

We use bowls(well tupperware) to transport from the kitchen to where we feed(either crates/mat in bedroom or where ever the dogs decide thru out the house when loose feeding.)

They get washed....hmmmm....every few weeks, husband probably rinses them out once a week, but I don't ever!Lol
They sit on the pet food's tray in the fridge, and I don't even think about washing them most weeks!:tongue:

I've rinsed out their crates(which get fed out of 3-6 days a week) maybe once since starting raw last May. Leo's mat(the one who doesn't eat in a crate) gets washed every 2-3 weeks. 

Oh and the kitties eat on a plate together it is washed.....hmmm.....when ever friends come over and thus they get moved from their room to the laundry room for the weekend!!LOL


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## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

wolfsnaps88 said:


> I understand what you mean in that dogs are dogs and they don't need anything fancy. You are aware of how bad it is to let them drink from standing water though, right? And you let them drink salt water? Don't they vomit?


No vomiting from the salt water. It's not like I "let them", they just do it and beaches are noisy, they usually can't hear me anyway. They don't gorge on it, any usually stop after they realize how gross it is. LOL

Dogs are dogs. The only place I don't want them drinking out of is greasy oil puddles or really muddy stuff. Other than that, it's natural for them to drink whatever comes their way. Haven't ever had any issues (my entire life owning dogs) with giardia or anything else.


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## Aerodogs (Jan 14, 2012)

Food dishes (along with the tile floor in front of their elevated feeders) get washed everyday and go in the dishwasher once a week. The water bowl (we also have the refillable 3+ gallon bowl) is washed and refilled every other day. They also have access to their favorite endless water bowl...the pool.


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## BrittanyM (Jan 28, 2012)

I wash the dog's food dishes after every meal, and the water dish every morning. I think for me it's just habit because I do this for myself x.x


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## lily (May 16, 2011)

after every meal ,i use milton baby sterilizing fluid on everything as it smells really clean lol,karen


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## creek817 (Feb 18, 2012)

I was his bowl probably once or twice a week, just depends on how gross it is, or if I've left it outside and there are ants in it. His water bowl gets washed probably once a week also, but he keeps it really clean.


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## Chocx2 (Nov 16, 2009)

I use to wash them after every meal, but now the dogs wash the bowls every meal, so I only pick them up to fill them lol


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## nickiklaus (Dec 10, 2011)

i definitely wash the bowls after every use


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## kathylcsw (Jul 31, 2011)

You're supposed to wash their bowls?! I feed mine out of ceramic bowls but they usually pull the food out as soon as I sit it down in their crates. Seriously I run the bowls through the dishwasher when there is room which is about 1x per month or so. The water bowls I rinse out and refill every morning. They also go through the dishwasher when there is room.


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## GoingPostal (Sep 5, 2011)

I wash them when I think about it and there's room on the dish rack, my younger girl's dish gets washed the most because she is slobbery. A couple times a week at least. 
'


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## pogo (Aug 28, 2011)

I don't the boys do!


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## lovemydogsalways (Mar 4, 2012)

I don't think I will use bowls for the food once I start raw. I am sure they will just drag it out and eat it on the floor anyways. LOL


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## CaptainJack (Feb 13, 2012)

I'm using his stainless bowl he ate kibble from for raw, because I need to weigh his portions still. So bowl goes on scale (so scale doesn't get dirty, of course!) and then I give him the bowl on his mat. He always takes the meat out of the bowl, and I wash the bowl after each meal and wipe down the mat. My main concern is smell, more so than getting sick from bacteria. I have a very sensitive nose, and it really bothers me if my house smells like meat, so I take the time to clean up for my own sanity.


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## Tobi (Mar 18, 2011)

Sprocket said:


> No vomiting from the salt water. It's not like I "let them", they just do it and beaches are noisy, they usually can't hear me anyway. They don't gorge on it, any usually stop after they realize how gross it is. LOL
> 
> Dogs are dogs. The only place I don't want them drinking out of is greasy oil puddles or really muddy stuff. Other than that, it's natural for them to drink whatever comes their way. Haven't ever had any issues (my entire life owning dogs) with giardia or anything else.


I'm the same way, i ingest salt water when i'm in the ocean swimming, Tobi's never been but my old apbt always lapped up a bit! giardia happens, but it's nothing to freak out about, it's more easily fixable anymore, but like you, i only stop my dog from drinking out of things i myself wouldn't think of drinking from... rivers lakes... i drink from them as well.


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## eternalstudent (Jul 22, 2010)

Gave up on food bowls about a week after starting PMR. I now have to remember to wash the water bowls as they get through so little water it can end up stagnated in the bowl. 

.


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

I wash my food dishes every time I use them so my dogs get theirs washed too! After all they are my only kids! LOL I'm just a clean person so I don't find anything wrong with it at all, I know it doesn't need to be done but the fanatic in me won't let them sit around without being washed...


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## IslandPaws4Raw (Sep 7, 2011)

My dogs dishes get washed only if I'm packing them for travel......or if the hubby does it. I don't bother at all even though my guys leave a little bit of juice at the bottom of the bowl


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## Dog Walker (Dec 23, 2010)

I only wash my dogs food bowl out maybe once a week or once every few weeks. The food starts off in the bowl but he prefers to eat under the dining room table, luckily he does a great job cleaning the carpet! The water bowl gets cleaned when the guinea pigs or little children put stuff in it, so pretty much every day! Side note the cat washes his paws in water bowls around the house.


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## chowder (Sep 7, 2008)

My guys eat out of stainless steel pans. When Rocky is done rattling his pan, Shade goes over and polishes it for another 5 minutes. Then sometimes Shade will go over in the middle of the day and polish them a few more times, just in case there's a molecule of food he may have missed. I'm not sure I can get those pans any cleaner then Shade does! 

I do chuck them in the dishwasher every once in a blue moon. When I think about it.


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## AveryandAudrey (Sep 20, 2010)

I only use bowls for certain meals. Big boney meals get dragged right out of the bowl and into the yard anyways. But when I do use the bowls, I wash them with water and white vinegar after the meal. And my girls have plastice bowls. My pei is sensitive to any metals and get a raw rubbed nose from stainless steel. And I just picked up cheap 2 dollar dog bowls since they are not constantly used. Their water bowl gets cleaned and refilled once or twice daily and is also plastic.


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## meganr66 (Mar 2, 2012)

I wash the bowls after every use and then sanitize the counters where i separate it out and then also sanitize the floor if they drop it onto the floor.


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## Neeko (Aug 11, 2010)

Thanks for all the responses!


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## GoingPostal (Sep 5, 2011)

This made me feel guilty, I washed every dog bowl today lol.


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