New dishes, new dog

Every once in a while, I have to buy something Not Vintage. It's scary and uncomfortable, and I tend to wander through the store unhappily and despair at the boatloads of stuff that must come into this country from foreign factories. I worry about the treatment of factory workers, the outlook for our nation's manufacturing sector, and the future of our planet. It's lots of fun to shop with me.

Sometimes, though, desperate measures must be taken to correct a great ugliness, and such was the case with the pet dishes. Carson has been using a pair of standard-issue plastic dog dishes that date back to his puppy days. Over the years, the cats had ended up with two mismatched bowls and a chipped saucer. One day I woke up and saw this mess of dishes as if I were seeing them for the first time, and I was horrified. I was similarly horrified at the a) price and b) style of the available pet dishes.

When it dawned on me that pets will eat and drink out of just about anything (see also: toilet bowls) I picked out cute dishes from the human dinnerware department at Marshall's. I like them, and so do the pets. They share the water bowl, which our vet finds unusual. The red canister is vintage and holds the cat food. The dog food is in a big graniteware canner, which I'm not crazy about, but it looks better than a bag of Beneful.

You remember Ferris (in front), the bad dog who lives next door? Imagine my delight when our neighbors got another dog! That's Wendell, in back. As it turns out, Wendell is a wonderful dog. (He belongs to a young man who's staying with our neighbors, who are kind and generous people.)

Wendell is sweet and well-behaved and keeps Ferris entertained. The two of them wander through the countryside and find different ponds for swimming. One of the ponds is the exquisite garden pool in the yard of another neighbor. I'm guessing that neighbor might not be as thrilled with Wendell's arrival as I am.

 
Look at that sweet face, though! Wendell could be the poster puppy for shelter mutts. If he weren't soaking wet from his morning swim, I'd give him a big hug.

Comments

[julie]

My dogs and cats eat from Fiesta dishes that I bought at the factory store (cheap but really good seconds). My sister-in-law thought I was nuts when I said "I'll buy these for the dog" but he's been eating and drinking from the same bowls for at least 5 years now. So much more fun than the pet store dishes.

[Martha]

What a good idea. I really need to do this for Lucy & Dinah and Elvis because their pet dishes are just random human plastic.

I'm glad Ferris has a friend now -- maybe he'll stop bugging Carson -- that Wendell is pretty cute.

[Sarah]

The cats are currently eating from some old pyrex. And drinking from an old RRP pottery bowl. Oh yes they are. (We can't use plastic. It gives my fat cat acne. Not kidding.)

[Into Vintage]

Perhaps it would lessen your discomfort about buying something not vintage if you think of it as 'not yet vintage' with the hope that those new pet dishes will be passed down from dog to cat to dog for generations to come.

PS Nice action shot with the dishes in use.

[LiLi M.]

We could easily shop together as I have exactly the same thoughts and I whisper: decorate housewives, decorate at the expense of Asian workers and throw everything out within 4 years and decorate again. Don't think of mother nature. And so on. I always get tired of myself, but the two of us could have fun! Your dogs are lucky! Eating or drinking out of red polka dots must make them even more cheery!

[Tina]

LOL!

Your new pet dishes are beautiful! I'm inspired by your food containers - I need to replace the hideous Rubbermaid.

Our dog ate out of a small jadite bowl until SOMEONE IN THE FAMILY BROKE IT! ugh. She isn't picky about what she eats off of, but in places where the weather is hot, pets prefer to drink out of ceramic. She's too short to drink out of porcelain! ;)

[Janelle]

They look so cute with their new dishes! Love the red and white combination. Your neighbor dogs are cute, too--hope they can stay out of mischief!

(I got my wooden flag blocks today, they are SO CUTE! Thanks!)

[Linda @ A La Carte]

Charlie drinks from a nice Pyrex bowl and has a couple of cute 'cat' dishes for his wet food and a large ceramic 'dog' bowl for his dry food.... :) Good Kitty! Love all the dogs and they are cute!

[HeidiAnn]

Those are some super-great looking pet food dishes! I use vintage dishes for my cat, along with two bowls purchased expressly for his own use at the Sanrio store. Our Dizzy Kitty is livin' large.

[Mary @ Turkey Farm Treasures]

That beautiful cat food canister matches the Wilendur American Beauty tablecloth you bought last summer. Some lucky kitty.

[Lisa]

What great dishes!! And sweet puppies!!
Hugs, lisa

[laurie magpie ethel]

Great dishes, am sure your pets eat with more gusto from such cute bowls. Am glad you updated their dishes and are no longer HORRIFIED by the previous chipped/mismatched/puppy day bowls. You can sleep easy tonight!

[Karla Nathan]

It can be very painful to shop in "real" stores. Pricewise, especially. Marshalls and TJMAxx are about the only ones I can handle.

New is just the only way to go sometimes. I tried vintage pottery for my dog dishes, just to find out that the lead level can be dangerous in the old glazed things. So, I'm using new for them now too.

[jenn]

I love that Wendell - what a sweet face! And am so glad he's at Camp Ferris for the summer, where he'll be kept busy with all sorts of fun canine activities.
I love the new dishes too....as well as the cooperative pets posing for the shot!

I store our dry kibble in an old green bread box. It's metal, with a hinged lid - looks nice in my kitchen and because the lid is hinged it allows my nosey bigger dog to open it and look inside....he never eats from there - just checks to make sure it's full. It's really strange.
Thanks for the great post!