Mason Cash Cane Non Tip Lettered Bowl

Angled sides sound like styling and are not. A dog with long ears puts them in the bowl every time they eat from a straight-sided one, which means wet, dirty ears twice a day and — over months — the sore, smelly ears that end up at a vet. Sloping the sides in keeps the ears outside the food.

Mason Cash make this from heavy stoneware, which does two useful things: it is difficult to tip over, and it keeps food and water cooler for longer than plastic or steel does. The sides are thick enough to resist chipping, and Mason Cash describe it as bite resistant. It is dishwasher safe and, being glazed stoneware, entirely non-porous.

• Heavy stoneware construction
• Angled sides, made for dogs with long ears
• Difficult to tip over
• Thick sides resist chipping; bite resistant
• Keeps food and water cooler for longer
• Dishwasher safe

Stoneware is heavy, and it breaks. That weight is the whole point — it is what stops the bowl travelling across the kitchen — but a dropped ceramic bowl chips or shatters, and a chipped edge on a food bowl is sharp. Check it now and then and retire it if the glaze goes. Mason Cash publish no capacity or dimensions to us, so we cannot tell you how much it holds; ask us before ordering if you need a specific size.

Who it's for: spaniels, bassets, setters and anyone else whose ears end up in dinner — and owners tired of chasing a light bowl round the kitchen.