The rubber bottom keeps the bowls from sliding when she eats. We use silicone mats, and our old bichon can't move these but can move other types of bowls around on the silicone mats. It has rubber underneath.

These bowls are a nice quality for the price and a perfect size for my golden labrador retriever. I run them through dishwasher and they come out clean. They clean very easily and work great for both of my pups.

The bowls themselves are very thin, lightweight, and not quite big enough for my olde english bulldogge puppy. I have to refill the water bowl about 3 times a day. The bowls are crappily made and thin. It is so bad that i can't allow my puppy to eat o...  Read More

Rubber has a petroleum offensive odor i could not was off. It's not even like a clean, new tire smell - it's an evil mixture of burnt rubber and lighter fluid. The bowls are sturdy but have a very strong odor that won't go away.