I got my dog those nice looking stainless steel water and food bowls (looks great next to my kitchen appliances...haha). The thing is my dog will drink from the toilet or a plastic bowl but not out of his bowl...I was wondering if those stainless steel bowls change the taste of food and water?
It is possible. Stainless steel is usually mixed with a few other metal compounds to create certain properties for it, like iron for durability, and nickel and silver for luster(so they look good in your house!). It is very possible that your dog is tasting some of those metals in his water, and since his senses are a lot keener tan ours, it may bother him. My dogs drink out of a stainless steel bowl, and they do fine, so it may be your dog's own personal preference to drink out of someting non-metal. Just give in to him and give him a nice-looking plastic or ceramic bowl. (Hint: Ceramic keeps his water cold longer!)
My cats will eat their food from a stainless steel bowl but only drink their water from a plastic or ceramic bowl. This is a little far fetched, but maybe they get scared when they see their reflection in it. You know like when you look into a stainless steel toaster, you're face looks all distorted -- maybe the water in addition to the stainless steel is scary to them. The stainless steel pet dishes I have claim to be non-microbial (bacteria free) or something like that. Maybe whatever they use for this is affecting the taste of the water. The food, on the other hand, since it already has a flavor (water has no flavor), maybe it's not so noticeable.
Well, I know the water at this restaurants where they use metal pitchers taste a bit off to me. There's nothing wrong with the water, but I think the metal pitcher throws off the flavor. Could be the same with the metal bowl and the dog. Plastic is only a problem at hiding bacteria if it gets scratched up badly (which isn't as likely to happen with water as long as the dog doesn't chew it. You can also put the plastic crock bowls on the top shelf of a dishwasher for cleaning as the heat kills most germs.
Personally I use stainless steel for my own dogs because ti is easy to keep clean, and doesn't weigh too much when I am carrying 3 large bowls full of food. Plus when I drop them they don't break. The only reason I don't use plastic is because my dogs like to chew anything plastic :P I use plastic for my foster cats and foster puppies and have never had any sort of infection. Personally I think that is some sort of myth as I have never known anyone's pet to get an infection from a plastic bowl. As long as you keep them clean, plastic or stainless are both fine
