Travel Bowl

Charlotte loves car rides. She's been going with me in the car since I brought her home.

Usually they are short trips, such as to my aunt's house or to the dog park. The other day however, we had a lot of running to do. First to Petco for cat food and litter, then to the other side of town to get her food at the Feedloft, then past a Starbucks for me. Between the stores and driving, we were out for over an hour. I always have her doggy "diaper" bag in the car, so I had a travel bowl and some water, but trying to find a place to put it where she could reach it and not tip it over was quite tricky!

Then it came to me - a flash of inspiration! "They" need to make a dog dish that would fit in a cup holder! Maybe I should make a doggie dish that fits in a cup holder! So I when I got home I requisitioned one of my travel mugs to become Charlotte's travel bowl. I glued her small plastic dish to the lid and Voila! A travel doggie bowl that fits in a cup holder.

Sort of.

See, I drive a Mini Cooper so the dish had to sit in the cup holder at a bit of an angle because it was so close to the counsel. But I was so enamored with my idea that I wanted to share it with others. I will be selling a few of these at a craft fair this fall and I wanted to see if I could come up with a less expensive and cuter version. And I did. FYI, it also turned out that someone else had already come up with the idea and manufactures a couple different styles, but if you want a cuter one or just want to make it yourself, here's my version.

I got a bowl from the dollar store, and a kids travel mug that you can decorate the insert yourself, then I just glued the bowl to the lid. The glue I used was E600, suggested to me by a friend. It's not easy to find something  that would adhere plastic to plastic,  but this did the job. So there you have it. Cup-holder-size-doggie-travel-bowl. I'm calling it the Go- bowl. For now. Until I come up with something better. I may eventually offer them in my Etsy shop, but for now I just want to see if I get any interest at the craft fair first. One word of advice if you make one for your dog - actually 2 pieces of advice. First, let the glue cure for a week. The smell is noxious to humans, so you can imagine how it will offend your dog whose smeller is like 1000 times better than ours. Second, only put a little water at a time in the bowl. Few dogs drink without  dripping and even if they do, taking a corner or stopping suddenly can give your car's interior a bath you hadn't intended on it getting.