How to Keep Your Dog Hydrated on the Trail With Collapsible Bowls

The first time I took Tucker on a long trail, I carried a plastic mixing bowl from the kitchen. It worked about as well as you would expect. It rattled against my pack frame, it took up half my daypack, and when I finally set it down on a granite slab, it tipped over before he got two laps in. I spent the next mile carrying a wet, sandy bowl in one hand and a leash in the other. That was the day I started looking for a better way to water a dog on the trail, and it is the reason I now keep a pair of SLSON collapsible bowls in my truck at all times.

Tucker is a 55-pound hound mix, six years old, and he runs warm on the trail but he still needs water more often than I do. A dog that size can drink a surprising amount on a warm day, and by the time he is panting hard and looking back at me, he is already behind. The trick is to offer water before he asks, and to make it easy enough that he actually stops to drink. A collapsible bowl does that because it is always with you, it sets up in two seconds, and it does not slosh all over your pack on the way up.

Step 1: Pick the Right Size Bowl for Your Dog

The SLSON collapsible bowls come in a two-pack, and the size matters more than you think. I use the small size for Tucker, and it holds enough for him to drink comfortably without me having to refill it every five minutes. A smaller bowl is easier to pack, but if it is too small, your dog will empty it in three gulps and then stand there looking at you while you unscrew the water bottle again.

For a 55-pound dog, I want a bowl that holds at least a couple of cups of water. That is enough for a solid drink at a rest stop, and it is still small enough to clip onto a pack or a belt loop. If you have a bigger dog, or a dog that drinks like a horse after a run, go up a size. The principle is the same: the bowl should be big enough that the dog gets a real drink, but small enough that you will actually carry it.

I learned this the hard way on a March hike at Jones Gap State Park. I had a tiny bowl that folded down to almost nothing, and Tucker drained it in about four seconds. I refilled it six times in ten minutes, and by the end of the stop I was kneeling in the mud with a half-empty water bottle and a dog that still looked thirsty. The SLSON small bowl is bigger than that one, and it has been the right size for him ever since.

Step 2: Attach the Bowls So They Are Always Within Reach

Each SLSON bowl comes with a carabiner, and that little clip is what makes the whole system work. I clip one bowl to the outside of my daypack, right where I can reach it without taking the pack off. The other one stays clipped to the loop on my belt or to the shoulder strap of the pack. When Tucker starts to slow down, I can have the bowl open and filled in the time it takes to stop walking.

The carabiner also means the bowl is not rattling around loose in your pack. That was my original problem with the mixing bowl, and it is the reason I stopped carrying a dedicated water dish in the first place. With the SLSON bowls, the clip holds them flat against the outside of the pack, so they do not take up space inside and they do not get buried under everything else.

One thing I have learned: clip the bowl where you can see it. If it is hanging behind you on the back of the pack, you will forget it is there until the moment you need it. I keep mine on the front strap of my pack, and I can grab it one-handed while Tucker sits and waits. On a hot day, that one-handed grab is the difference between a quick drink and a long, miserable stretch of trail.

Step 3: Fill It the Right Way and Offer Water Early

The biggest mistake I see people make is waiting until the dog is already panting hard and looking for shade. By then, the dog is behind on fluids and it takes a while to catch up. I offer water at every natural break: the top of a climb, a stream crossing, a shady spot on the trail. Even if Tucker only takes a few laps, that is a few laps he did not have to catch up on later.

When I fill the bowl, I do not fill it to the brim. A full bowl sloshes when you set it down, and a nervous dog will sometimes knock it over before he drinks. I fill it about two-thirds full, set it on the ground, and let Tucker come to it. The SLSON bowl is stable enough that he does not tip it, and the soft sides mean he does not bang his nose on a hard rim the way he would with a metal dish.

I also pour the water from a bottle, not from a stream or a puddle. Tucker has gotten giardia before, and I do not want to go through that again. It took a week of antibiotics and a very careful diet to get him back to normal, and it taught me to carry enough clean water for both of us. On a long day, that means a two-liter bottle for me and a separate bottle for him, and the collapsible bowl is what makes the dog bottle practical.

Step 4: Rinse and Dry the Bowl Before You Pack It Away

A collapsible bowl is only useful if it is clean, and the SLSON bowls are easy to rinse. I carry a small squeeze bottle of clean water for rinsing, or I use the last bit of water from my own bottle. A quick swish, a shake, and the bowl folds flat again. It dries fast because it is made of a lightweight material that does not hold water the way a canvas bowl does.

The folding mechanism is simple. You press the sides together and the bowl collapses into a flat disc that fits in your palm. It takes about two seconds to open and two seconds to close, and there is no trick to it. I have had mine for over a year and the hinge still works smoothly, even after being stuffed in a pack, clipped to a truck headrest, and left in the bed of my pickup in the sun.

If you are camping for multiple days, rinse the bowl after every use and let it air dry before you fold it. A wet bowl folded up in a pack will start to smell by day two, and that smell is hard to get out. I learned that on a three-day trip to the Smokies, and now I hang the bowl on a tree branch or the truck mirror for a few minutes before I pack it away.

Step 5: Keep a Second Bowl in the Truck for Camp and the Ride Home

The second bowl in the two-pack is not a spare. It is the camp bowl. I keep one clipped to my pack for the trail, and the other one lives in the truck, clipped to the headrest of the passenger seat. That way, when we get back to the truck after a hike, Tucker has water waiting for him before I even take my pack off. It also means I always have a bowl at camp, at the trailhead, or at a rest stop on the drive home.

The truck bowl has saved me more times than I can count. There was the afternoon at Table Rock State Park when the parking lot was full and we had to walk half a mile to the trailhead. There was the drive home from a weekend at Devils Fork when Tucker was panting in the back seat and I pulled over at a gas station with no dog bowl in sight. Both times, the SLSON bowl clipped to the headrest was the answer.

I also use the second bowl at camp for food. Tucker eats his dinner out of it when we are camping, which means I do not have to pack a separate food dish. The bowl is easy to clean, it folds flat for storage, and it does not take up space in the truck bed. For a weekend trip, the two bowls cover water on the trail, water at camp, and dinner, all without adding any real weight to the load.

What Else Helps

A collapsible bowl is the centerpiece, but a few other things make the whole system work better. I carry a dedicated water bottle for Tucker, separate from mine, so I always know how much he has had. I also carry a small towel to dry him off after a stream crossing, and I keep a spare bottle of water in the truck for the ride home. None of these are expensive, and together they mean I never have to choose between my water and his.

One more thing: practice at home before you hit the trail. Fill the bowl in the backyard, let your dog drink from it, and fold it up a few times so you know how it works. The first time I used the SLSON bowl on a real hike, I already knew exactly how it folded and how much water it held, because I had spent ten minutes with it in the kitchen the week before. That ten minutes saved me a lot of fumbling on the trail.

The SLSON bowl clipped to my pack strap is the reason Tucker drinks early and often on the trail, and the second one in the truck is the reason he is never waiting on water when we get back.