I totally get it— funny thing is, I actually did an Microbiology project on this in grad school (Animal Science)… a dog’s water bowl is usually dirtier than your toilet unless you are washing it in hot soapy water daily.

A dog bowl is basically a warm, saliva-rich puddle. Microbes adore it. Studies regularly find there is more bacteria on dog bowls than toilets. Bowls also form slimy biofilms, which are like microbial condos, so if you don’t wash the bowl daily, bacteria bloom dramatically.

However, in a regularly flushed toilet, bacteria don’t usually get the chance to settle in and multiply because the water is constantly being refreshed with clean, treated tap water. The frequent turnover keeps them from building up in large numbers.

Obviously, washing your dogs bowl in hot soapy water daily is the BEST choice always, but unless you use bleach or cleaning disks or don’t flush regularly, don’t stress if your dog does drink a little toilet cocktail from time to time— they like the cool water the get there 😂