You need to stay hydrated while hiking, and so does your dog! Giving your dog plenty of water while hitting the trails will ensure they stay cool and avoid heatstroke, especially in the hot summer months. That’s where portable dog water bottles come in. A dedicated dog water bottle will make it easy to carry your pup’s water and make it easier to offer them a drink more frequently.
We tested six different dog water bottles, including ones that had collapsible bowls attached, soft-sided bottles that your dog can carry in a dog hiking backpack, and options with fun features like a detachable treat compartment. Read on for our top picks:
Traits We Want In a Dog Water Bottle for Hiking
Portability: The best dog water bottles for hiking should be portable enough to throw in a hiking backpack (or even a belt bag/treat pouch), but big enough to carry an adequate amount of water. The typical rule of thumb is to carry eight ounces of water per dog for every hour spent hiking. For one dog, a 16-ounce water bottle is a good starting point if you’re planning on hiking for 1-2 hours.
It’s nice to have a carabiner clip on a dog water bottle as well, so you can easily clip it to a hiking backpack while adventuring with your pup.
Leak-proof design: If you’re going to carry your dog water bottle in a backpack or fanny pack, a leak proof design is paramount. We tested all the bottles on this list for leak-proofness and noted any that were prone to spilling.
Extra features: Extra features like an attached bowl are helpful if you don’t want to carry a separate travel bowl. Water bottles with attached bowls also typically suck up any unused water back into the bottle, so you don’t waste any
Easy cleaning: If easy cleaning is a must, opt for a dog water bottle that can be cleaned in the dishwasher. This will likely limit you to hard-sided bottles, as the ultra-portable soft-sided options are usually hand wash only.
The Best Dog Water Bottles for Hikes
| WDJ Rating | Product, Maker, and Website | Prices | Size | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
  | Springer Pets Flip Dog Travel Bottle | $28 | 20 ounces | Our best overall pick, the Springer Pets Flip Dog bottle comes with an attached bowl, is leak-proof, and has a handy carabiner clip. |
| LESOTC Outdoor Dog Water Bottle Dispenser | $13 | 21 ounces | This squeeze-style bottle has an attached silicone bowl and a handy lock on the outside of the bowl. However, it didn’t always drain fully during testing. |
| Ruffwear 1L Collapsible Water Bottle | $10 | One liter | For backpacking or longer day hikes, this soft-sided bottle from Ruffwear is a good option. It carries a full liter of water, and even fits into dog hiking backpacks, so your dog can carry their own water. |
| Ruffwear Trail Runner Soft Flask | $15 | about 12 ounces | For short hikes or park walks, this lightweight bottle is super packable and even fits in most fanny pack style dog treat pouches. Just remember to bring a separate collapsible dog bowl. |
| Frisco Water Bottle with Treat Food Container | $20 | 24-ounce bottle, 8-ounce treat compartment, 13-ounce silicone cup | Though it’s a bit too bulky for hiking, this insulated bottle is a great pick for car travel and includes a separate treat compartment and a silicone bowl. |
| Wilderdog Plant Based Water Bottle | $14 | About 20 ounces | This classic sport cap bottle is made of corn (not plastic!) and fits well in most water bottle compartments on bags and on bikes. |
Best Dog Water Bottle for Hiking: Springer Pets Flip Dog Travel Bottle
The Springer Pets Flip Dog Travel Bottle is compact, lightweight, has travel-focused features, and comes in a bunch of cute, muted colors.
My Collie loved drinking out of this bottle. Multiple times while hiking, I offered her a bowl of water or a drink out of the Flip Dog Bottle, and every time, she chose the Flip Dog bottle. I think she even drank out of this bottle when she wasn’t thirsty, just because she liked it that much.
This squeeze bottle has a silicone bowl attached to the top that flips up for use and down for travel. When you squeeze the bottle, the bowl fills with water, then you can hold it in front of your dog to drink. Once they’re done, any leftover water drains back into the bottle when you stop squeezing it. If you don’t want to keep squeezing the bottle as your dog drinks, you can also lock it, so the water doesn’t suck back down into the bottle. The lock also means water can’t squeeze out of the bottle by itself when not in use. In addition, the bottle comes with a convenient carabiner clip that’s easy to clip onto backpacks, bags, or dog treat pouches.
This bottle is easy to use and didn’t leak at all during testing, even when I took it with me on a weekend trip and tossed it in multiple bags over three days. My only qualm with it is that if you want to lock the amount of water in the bowl, you have to stick your fingers into the water to turn the lock. I’d much prefer it if the lock was outside of the bowl, but my dogs didn’t mind drinking while I held the bottle, so I rarely had to use this feature.
If your dog is shy about drinking, skip the squeeze-style water bottles and opt for a normal travel bottle and a collapsible bowl so they can have a little extra space while they sip.
Best Budget Dog Water Bottle for Hiking: LESOTC Outdoor Dog Water Bottle Dispenser
If you’re not sure if your dog will drink out of a handheld water bottle with a bowl attached and you don’t want to invest as much money, the LESOTC Outdoor Dog Water Bottle is worth a look. It’s often priced between $12 and $14 on sale, so trying it out won’t cost much.
This bottle is a squeeze style with an attached, flippable bowl, similar to the Springer Pets Flip bottle. I liked the locking mechanism on this LESOTC bottle better than the Springer Pets one, simply because it’s completely outside the bowl, so you don’t have to stick your fingers in the water to lock it.
However, this bottle was kept out of the winning spot because the water didn’t always drain back into the bottle if my dog didn’t drink all of it. That left me having to dump out a little bit of water occasionally, somewhat defeating the purpose of the squeeze design. With that being said, this bottle is reasonably priced, has a nice big silicone bowl attached to the top, and is easy to squeeze, so folks on a budget should consider it if they don’t mind having to dump a sip or two of water out when their dog is done drinking.
Best Dog Water Bottle for Backpacking: Ruffwear 1L Collapsible Water Bottle
If you’re planning an overnight backpacking trip (or a long day hike) with your dog, the Ruffwear 1L Collapsible Water Bottle is a good pick. The larger capacity ensures you have enough water for multiple hours of hiking and the design fits perfectly in a dog backpacking pack.
I use this water bottle for my dogs with the Ruffwear Approach Dog Backpack, and it fits perfectly in a side pouch. The soft-sided design is super portable and doesn’t add much weight or bulk. When it’s empty, it’s even more portable, and can be rolled up to save space.
This bottle does require carrying an additional travel bowl, or else you risk wasting a lot of water by letting your dog drink directly from the stream. It’s nice to use on day hikes though, since you and your dog can both use the same water (bottles with included bowls suck up your dog’s backwash after they’re done drinking—not great for sharing).
Like human water reservoirs, the Ruffwear 1L Collapsible Water Bottle can only be hand washed and needs a little bit of extra care to dry fully before storing it. Ruffwear recommends using chopsticks to hold it up while drying, then inflating it and putting it upside down to get any excess water out after washing.
Most Portable Dog Water Bottle: Ruffwear Trail Runner Soft Flask
Frequent runners and hikers know about Hydrapak bottles, so they’ll be thrilled to hear that the Ruffwear Trail Runner Soft Flask is the result of a partnership with the hydration brand. The soft-sided design is super portable, and while it’s meant to fit in running belt pockets for running with your dog, it also fits in fanny-pack style treat pouches, making it a great option to bring along for walks where you don’t want to carry a backpack.
At a little over 12 ounces, this bottle is best suited for short runs, walks, and hikes. Anything longer will likely require you bring more water for your dog. I use this bottle for park walks since it’s so packable—but I always have to remember to bring an extra travel bowl with me for my dogs to drink out of.
Similar to the other soft-sided bottle on this list, the Ruffwear Soft Flask can’t be put in the dishwasher. You’ll need to hand wash it, stand it up to dry, and inflate it to get rid of any lingering moisture before storing it.
Best Dog Travel water Bottle: Frisco Water Bottle with Treat Food Container
For frequent car rides or longer travel, the Frisco Water Bottle does it all. It features a 24-ounce water bottle, an 8-ounce treat compartment, and a 13-ounce silicone cup that acts as a water bowl.
This bottle is primarily metal and is similar in weight to a Hydroflask or other human metal water bottle. For this reason, I found it too heavy for hiking in most cases. It has a carabiner on the back of it to hook onto a backpack, but during testing, the weight caused my hiking pack to sag more than I liked. It’s also a little bit too inconvenient to unscrew the bottom treat container and grab snacks for your dog while walking.
Instead, this bottle is a good pick for folks who go on longer car rides with their dogs. Whether you go on frequent cross-country road trips or drive multiple hours to find a good dog-friendly camping or hiking spot, this bottle is a great car companion. The silicone cup attachment acts as a separate bowl for dogs who don’t like drinking out of a handheld bottle and the treat compartment is great for refilling an empty treat pouch before you hit the trails.
The water section of this bottle is insulated, so you can fill it with cold or ice water and it’ll actually stay cold in the summer heat. I traveled with this bottle in a bag in the back of my car on a weekend road trip and it didn’t leak at all. It’s also dishwasher-safe for easy cleaning.
Best Eco-Friendly Dog Water Bottle: Wilderdog Plant Based Water Bottle
The hard-sided, eco-friendly Wilderdog Plant Based Water Bottle is made out of corn and is a good size for most water bottle pouches on backpacks. It also fits most bike bottle cages and running belt bottle compartments, so if you regularly bike, bikejor, or do canicross with your dog, this is a good option. The rigid design makes it much better suited for bottle compartments than its soft-sided counterparts.
I’m a big fan of the Wilderdog Mega Hip Pack for hiking, and this bottle fits perfectly in the side water bottle pouches of the pack. The bottle itself is super lightweight, so I’d be okay with carrying two at a time for longer hikes.
The downside of this bottle is that, aside from being made of eco-friendly material, it’s not much different than a typical water bottle with a sport cap. If the corn material isn’t a draw for you, I’m sure you can find a similarly sized water bottle made for humans to use for your dog.
