Tazlab Aqua-Fur Travel Bowl

Rating: 1/2 3.5 paws

The Aqua-Fur Travel Bowl is a silicone bowl that looks and acts like a dog bowl yet folds up like an origami. The bowl weighs 8 oz and holds 1 liter of water. The bowl comes in blue, orange, red or green and costs about $18-20. The Aqua-Fur bowl is made by Tazlab.

Review: The Aqua-Fur dog bowl has an advantage over all the other folding travel bowls I have seen: because it is made of silicone, it quickly and easily retains a nice bowl shape when unfolded. Most folding dog bowls are made of cloth or plastic and can be difficult to unfold or to keep open while the dog is drinking from them. They tend to collapse on themselves. This bowl opens and pops immediately into the bowl shape, and holds that shape until you fold it up again. The Aqua-Fur bowl is large enough to allow even the big dogs to get a good thirst-quenching drink without having to refill and is sturdy enough to (according to the company) also be used as a bucket if you invert the sides. When I first bought this bowl, it was shipped unfolded and I had a little trouble figuring out the proper way to fold it up despite the drawing on the tag. When folded, the bowl is a bit larger than a wallet. It is small enough to be carried in a large pocket but it would be a bit bulky in most pockets. In my opinion a smaller folded size would have been preferable, however the company is planning to come out with an even smaller folding bowl called the “Pack-a-Puddle” so that version will most likely be a better size for carrying on walks. The Aqua-fur travel bowl’s size is I think more suited to hikes or car travel where you have a bit more space but should be ok to use on a casual walk if you don't mind the extra bulk.

Rover Dog Lunchbox

3 paws

This is a "lunchbox" for dogs. The two sides of the box split apart, one side is a reservoir for water (can hold 3 liters) and the other side contains two bowls, one for food and one for water. The food compartment has a plastic lid which locks on so that food can be kept inside without spilling.

This product can be very useful when going on day trips or overnight vacations. I prefer to bring water from home for my dogs when I go out of town because sometimes well water can disagree with a dog's stomach, and there's nothing worse on a long trip than a sick dog. The water reservoir on the Rover lunchbox is very useful for this purpose, although on longer trips I need to bring more than 3 liters of water- in those instances the larger Woofpak lunchbox may be better. I like the Rover lunchbox because the medium size is easier to pack and carry, even when full of water. The company's website advertises the Rover as being for small dogs, however I use it with my Golden Retriever and it works very well. The only problem is the compartments for food and water are a bit small and because of the unusual shape can be a little awkward for a larger dog to drink or eat from at first. Having the food and water compartments next to each other could also cause pieces of food to drop into the water dish when the dog is eating, meaning it may need to be cleaned out pretty often. I bought the red lunchbox. I would not recommend this color for one reason: it bears a strong resemblance to a gas can! I did not realize this when I bought it, but later I noticed the similarity. Hopefully, no one who saw me giving water to my dog at rest stops on vacations thought I was feeding her gasoline.


Update: This product is no longer available for purchase. If you are looking for a similar product, I would recommend the Pet King Travel Bowl by Petlane or the Travel-Dine by Bergan.