Use the app's no-go zone. Or a cheap bath mat.

Two good options, and one of them is free if your robot supports it.

If your vacuum has a no-go zone feature in the app (most mid-range and above do), just draw a box around the bowl. Takes ten seconds. Done.

If it doesn’t, buy a rubber bath mat with a low profile but rough texture. Robots usually can’t climb it, and the mat catches spills. Bonus: your dog won’t slide across the kitchen floor anymore.

Magnetic boundary strips work too, but they’re annoying to reposition. I’d go with the mat — cheaper, no batteries, and doubles as a spill tray.

This is not where you overthink things.