Elevated Feeding Bowls

[yoko]

if you are worried about bloat i think they ahve bowls with raised prong things in them and the dog eats around it. i don't know if it works but its suppose to slow them down while they eat

[Dulce Pit Bull]

It's called the "break-fast" bowl. I'd recommend it.

[Buddy'sParents]

Originally Posted by Dulce Pit Bull

It's called the "break-fast" bowl. I'd recommend it.

I saw an advertisement for that...

I've also heard of people putting large things, like maybe a chain in the food to slow down their consumption. But I dunno.. to each their own.

[ihartgonzo]

My dogs eat laying down & standing up & sitting, they switch it up. But then again, they eat Raw.

[xyourlocaldjx]

wolves almost always have their heads swooped down.

My dog even does it on walks. Her breed always does this. Walks with head to the ground sniffing.

I think we're just being picky

[shadowfacedanes]

Originally Posted by corsomom

I feed mine on the ground, I have deep chested breeds also. I had asked my vet about the elevated bowls, she told me that studies show bloat was higher in dogs that had elevated bowls. My mothers doberman had bloat at 10 years and had to have emergency surgery.

If you're referring to the Purdue University study, that study has been picked to shreds.

The jury is still out on whether elevated bowls contribute to bloat. In fact, more breeders than not still recommend using elevated feeders.

When Hannah was eating raw, she ate from the ground - her choice. She would take a piece of meat from her dish and lay down with it and eat. Now that she is back on kibble, she eats elevated again. It's not really a preventative measure as far as bloat goes, but a comfort factor. Watching her bend over to eat looked uncomfortable, so I elevated her dish.

Here is what a very well known and respected Canine Nutritional Consultant and Great Dane owner has to say about the study and the elevated feeder subject:

About Elevated Dishes

Anyone that has owned these dogs, knows that every single book written about Great Dane or giants, regardless of how old the book is, states we need to elevate the dishes. That means, the majority of giant breeds in this country are fed from elevated dishes and in fact, it was Vet schools such as Purdue that taught us to elevate the dishes years ago. Even without that information from breeders, books or veterinarians, it is obvious to an owner, the dogs are more comfortable with their dishes elevated so they do not have to strain to eat. This information about elevated dishes is taught by breeders to buyers, by vets to clients, by books on the breed to the new puppy buyer who is trying to educate themselves.

The majority of dogs involved in this study, were owned by Great Dane breeders or dogs purchased from Dane breeders, and that is where the owners received the information about the bloat study. With that information in mind, it is logical that the majority, if not ALL of the dogs that came in to Dr. Glickman's survey, have been fed with an elevated dish. This is simply how he came to his "opinion" that elevated dishes cause bloat.

http://www.greatdanelady.com/article...loat_study.htm

[shadowfacedanes]

Originally Posted by yoko

if you are worried about bloat i think they ahve bowls with raised prong things in them and the dog eats around it. i don't know if it works but its suppose to slow them down while they eat

It's a Brake-Fast bowl - several of my dane-owning friends use them and recommend them. I've heard nothing but good things so far about the bowls.

I'd like to see them available in stainless steel too.

[carlar]

I have Dachshunds and Yorkies and neither one of the breeds can reach an elevated dish. I bought a really cute one that I sell in my boutique that is heart shaped with rhinestones. It was beautiful but they couldn't reach it with the legs on. I had to take the legs off. It was still pretty but not elevated.

[Doberooney]

I spread my dog's food out on a big cookie sheet. That slows her down a bit.

[Doberluv]

I had heard that....that the jury is still out....more studies I guess need to be done. But I'll go with the latest results I guess. Dogs, I'm sure in the wild eat in a variety of positions and their food may be uphill from them sometimes and downhill other times. Maybe it doesn't make much difference. Of course wild dogs aren't great big huge, tall animals with artificially altered anatomy from human selective breeding.

My Doberman isn't a gulper. He often doesn't even want all his food at once and I offer it to him later. So, I'm not worried about fast eating. It's just their anatomy sometimes which predisposes them to it I think. My little Chi mix gulps....he eats his meals in less than 20-30 seconds. But it's not very much. He looks so disappointed when it's all gone.

I did see those bowl with the thingies sticking up adverstised during the Eukanuba show....pretty cool. Or you can put in rocks or balls or something to slow them down. I use to do that for my horses who ate their grain too fast for my liking.