Melamine sits in a useful gap between the two bowls most people end up owning. Ceramic looks good and cracks the first time it goes over on a tiled floor, while stainless steel survives anything and looks like hospital equipment. A melamine bowl takes a knock without shattering, holds a printed pattern properly, and costs less than replacing the ceramic one twice. This one carries a bright Mexican-inspired print in blue.

The design is the reason to pick it over a plain bowl. Vivid colour and pattern that read as deliberate rather than as novelty, on an object that sits on your kitchen floor in plain view all day. Underneath, a silicone ring grips the floor, which is what stops the bowl travelling as a dog pushes into it. It handles the dishwasher without the pattern lifting, and being shatterproof it makes sense in a garden or a caravan where ceramic would not last the summer.

• 14cm diameter, in blue
• Shatterproof, BPA-free melamine
• Food-safe and dishwasher safe
• Non-slip silicone base
• Suitable for indoor and outdoor use

On the word medium. At 14cm across, this is medium only relative to the rest of Tarhong's range, and it is smaller than two other bowls they also label medium, so measure your dog's current bowl before assuming this replaces it. It suits a small to medium dog on a normal portion. Melamine must not go in the microwave either, and should be retired once the surface is deeply scratched.

Who it's for: Small and medium dogs whose owners want a bowl with some colour to it that will not break the first time it gets knocked over.