# How many of you use the raised Dog Bowls??



## Heidi36oh (Feb 27, 2007)

Just wondering how many people use them or other food bowls??


----------



## Angel_Kody (Feb 27, 2007)

Jester's water bowl is in a raised stand but his food bowl is not.


----------



## Jennifer (Sep 12, 2009)

Teddy uses raised bowls.


----------



## Willow52 (Aug 14, 2009)

Never have used raised bowls.

There was an article in a Golden Retriever magazine (the kind sold near the checkout at PetsMart) about bloat. It said to feed a mixture of wet & dry food and put the bowl on the floor.


----------



## rappwizard (May 27, 2009)

I don't use them but my friends who do rave about them.


----------



## Pointgold (Jun 6, 2007)

I've fed raised for years...


----------



## amy22 (May 11, 2008)

Misty uses raised bowls, but they are not that high


----------



## Heidi36oh (Feb 27, 2007)

I have raised bowl's but was thinking about changing at least the food bowl to a regular bowl. 

The set up I have just gets to nasty and there is always water in the bottom..their bowl's swim every day:doh:


----------



## BeauShel (May 20, 2007)

I have a towel under my raised water bowl and it seems to help. And under the towel is a rug for both food and water with a rubber backing.


----------



## Ninde'Gold (Oct 21, 2006)

Tucker eats off the floor... he is a dog... though I was thinkin' about setting him a plate at the dinner table... LOL I'm just teasin you guys.

His dishes are on the floor though. I figure if raised dishes are kinda a new fad and the dogs that lived just fine 50 years ago did without em my dog can too.

*shrugs*

Whats the big difference between raised and not... ?


----------



## goldengirl09 (Jul 23, 2009)

I always used raised dishes with my foster dogs (danes and mastiffs) b/c that is what the rescue recommended but when I asked my vet about it, he said there are conflicting stories and he didn't feel it made a big difference. I had been feeding Harvey on the floor but I recently switched to a raised dish. Some of them are really expensive but I found one at Petsmart that was reasonable. Nothing fancy but it is sturdy and cheap. Oops, I was going to post a link but I can't find it. Anyway, it was $28 and I'm happy with it- he seems to make less of a mess with his water now too.


----------



## sammydog (Aug 23, 2008)

I use raised food bowls... Dogs seems to like them...


----------



## jwemt81 (Aug 20, 2008)

Our GSD eats and drinks from elevated bowls because she is such a tall dog. Tucker doesn't have raised ones, though. He just has regular stainless bowls. We may eventually get him an elevated set. but for now he is fine with his regular ones.


----------



## Tanyac (Jun 18, 2008)

I've used raised bowls for years...


----------



## goldensmum (Oct 23, 2007)

I first used a raised bowl for Ralph as he had digestive problems, and then for Ginny and Holly as they got older. Quinn & Reeva are fed on the floor at the moment, but the water bowl in raised otherwise a certain madam would be paddling in it (as my mum and dad found out when they looked after them for us one day)


----------



## Bogey's Mom (Dec 23, 2008)

We use raised and love it! But that didn't start until he was about 5-6 months old and could reach it without making a huge mess. As a young pup I used a smaller bowl on the floor, hand fed, played with food in the crate, etc.


----------



## LifeOfRiley (Nov 2, 2007)

I used to feed raised, but don't anymore. 
I had a real nice, handmade wooden feeder that then-DH made. It held stainless steel bowls, but there was a platform underneath that, no matter what I did, would get all slimy from the water being slopped around.
I also read that study that suggested raised increases bloat risk, so that influenced my decision to go away from it, too.
I'm considering going back to it though, now that Gunner is getting older. He's pretty tall and it has to be a little uncomfortable for him to bend down so far.


----------



## ELI&BAILEY'S MOM (Dec 18, 2008)

We use the raised bowls for our guys.


----------



## moverking (Feb 26, 2007)

I've fed raised for about 5 years. And I really feel it's _more_ beneficial than not. When the girls eat from bowls at ground level, I've noticed more instances of having to cough up a piece of kibble that didn't quite go all the way down.


----------



## Merlins mom (Jun 20, 2007)

Stainless bowls on the floor. There's just not enough information to convince me that raised is better.


----------



## GoldenSail (Dec 30, 2008)

Raised--but mainly because the one I bought doubles as storage and it's cute...and I bought it and a bunch of other junk in my craze of waiting for puppy to come home 

There really is nothing out there that convinces me one way or the other though--helpful or detrimental. The one 'study' was a retroactive study and from what I've read of those criticizing it, it just doesn't hold water (you can't conclude that the two are directly related and not just correlated).


----------



## Pointgold (Jun 6, 2007)

moverking said:


> I've fed raised for about 5 years. And I really feel it's _more_ beneficial than not. When the girls eat from bowls at ground level, I've noticed more instances of having to cough up a piece of kibble that didn't quite go all the way down.


 
I feel the same way. When feeding raised, the dogs do not gulp so much air. I've also noticed that boarders who come in are less "competitive" when being fed - many are "only dogs" and feel that they'd better eat really fast before someone else gets it when they first come. I believe that not having their heads down when eating make them feel less threatened.


----------



## AquaClaraCanines (Mar 5, 2006)

No, not generally, but if I feed out of buckets clipped on the crate, then yes.


----------



## esSJay (Apr 13, 2009)

We don't use specific raised bowls but he does eat and drink elevated. We usually have both his bowls ontop of the container where we store his food (see photo).

Ok the pic only has 1 bowl on the top but they are usually both there.


----------



## 2golddogs (Oct 19, 2009)

I have been using elevated bowls. I made a simple stand less than a foot in height and placed their bowls on top. I've also noticed less coughing up bits of food, especially Kosmo who is taller than Jackson. Many years ago I did lose a golden to bloat. Steadly was 11 years old and had always been fed with his bowl on the floor. That may not have been a factor but I'm sure influenced my decision to change.


----------



## LuckyPup (Sep 9, 2009)

Heidi36oh said:


> I have raised bowl's but was thinking about changing at least the food bowl to a regular bowl.
> 
> The set up I have just gets to nasty and there is always water in the bottom..their bowl's swim every day:doh:


I have the same problem! I do not know how but when Lucky eats and drinks it goes to the bottom area. It gets all nasty underneath there. I just wash it constantly. His bday is coming up soon and I am thinking about switching to a better bowl. I think I will stay raised because my previous dog had some issue with his neck/back. The vet told me it is because of lowering there heads to eat?


----------



## moverking (Feb 26, 2007)

Pointgold said:


> I believe that not having their heads down when eating make them feel less threatened.


That's a good point, too. Loocie shows more apprehension when fed down, treat or dinner, like it's up for grabs if it's on the ground, but the raised bowls are definitely separately owned.


----------



## ZeppGold (Aug 9, 2009)

The water bowl is on the floor (so that it can also be shared by the cat.) I use stainless steel bowls on top of old milk can popcorn tins for feeding. (if seems like the prefect height for them.) That way I can also store dog food in the tin and they all know which bowl and spot in the kitchen to run to. I used to have a raised plastic feeder, but there wasn't a good spot for it in my kitchen and the water bowl was too small for three dogs. Plus I wanted stainless steel bowls. I am curious about the debate on whether or not raised is good or bad.


----------



## Lisa_and_Willow. (Dec 18, 2007)

tanyac said:


> I've used raised bowls for years...


Same here.


----------



## LouieO (Nov 1, 2009)

I have been feeding Austin with raised bowls now for the last 2 years. I don't think there's a big difference but it seems that it would be more comfortable for them. I got a customized stand for my Great Dane. This is what I have my golden using:

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2751816&lmdn=Dog


----------



## ggdenny (Nov 2, 2008)

Connor has raised bowls for his food and water (attached to the side of his crate).


----------



## Tailer'sFolks (Feb 27, 2007)

I made a raised stand the same width as our kitchen cabinets for two stainless bowls and room on a shelf underneath to store bowls or canned food (or sometimes boots.) Just plywood, glue, stain n poly.

Make sure the bottom shelf is lower than a tennis ball is high or else!


----------



## afauth (Sep 1, 2009)

We use raised bowls as well. I heard it _prohibits_ bloat. Maybe that's not true. All I know as that my Cooper was/is all legs and he was in a really uncomfortable position when trying to eat and drink, he would lay down. He also had problems with the coughing up food pieces and he would arch his back like a cat almost like he was trying to get the food to go down. Haven't had those issues since we got the raised. My bowls are ceramic. Got them at PetSmart, $30. It's not on their website now though.


----------



## esSJay (Apr 13, 2009)

Tailer'sFolks said:


> Make sure the bottom shelf is lower than a tennis ball is high or else!


Excellent point! Sounds like you may be speaking from experience?

Your feeder looks great!


----------



## Heidi36oh (Feb 27, 2007)

Well I guess I stick with my set up now, you guy's convinced me !

It's just a pain to clean those every other day!

Tailer I love you're bowl's and stand for them...hmmm maybe I can get DH to make me something similar!


----------



## nellie'smom (Dec 27, 2007)

As much as I have thought about it, I keep reminding myself of my 4 year old niece, and 2 year and 1 year old nephew, and how it would probably become a "toy".  Maybe when they are a little older, and have less intrest in dog bowls, LOL!


----------



## BJSalz (Mar 24, 2009)

I've been feeding on the floor, not even in a bowl to help him slow his eating down. This weekend I was at the store looking at raised bowls. Is there any truth that the type of bowl makes their nose color change? I remember reading that stainless keeps their nose black and ceramic or plastic lighting their nose color?...Any truth?


----------



## Doodle (Apr 6, 2009)

For what it's worth, here is my experience. I feed Brady in raised bowls, BUT they are only raise about 4 inches off the floor. They are not at chest level (we have adjustable kind). When I first got them, I raised them up to chest level and a few days later we had what I will call an early bloat episode. He started dry heaving 10 minutes after eating, was very unsettled and abdomen was hard. Fortunately his stomach didn't twist and he released the gas on his own, but I and our vet attributed it to the bowls being raised since it made him more apt to be able to swallow extra air with his head up. However, when I put the bowls on the floor, he lays down to eat and drink which essentially puts him in that same horizonal position. So, by raising the bowls up a few inches, they are too high to be able to lie down, but low enough that he still has to bend down to some degree. So far this has worked fine. I know there are differences of opinion on this, but this was our experience.


----------



## Tailer'sFolks (Feb 27, 2007)

nellie'smom said:


> As much as I have thought about it, I keep reminding myself of my 4 year old niece, and 2 year and 1 year old nephew, and how it would probably become a "toy".  Maybe when they are a little older, and have less interest in dog bowls, LOL!


 You can train your dogs...train the wee ones too! 

I can see tiny hands slapping through the dishes and checking out the tasty treats! Wouldn't think raised or right on the floor would make a difference to most little kids. Can I have a few pictures of how that turns out?  Good Luck!


----------



## EvilNessCroft (Feb 17, 2009)

LouieO said:


> http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2751816&lmdn=Dog


That's the one I have for Molly to but I hate it! It broke after we only got it for a week! :doh: I'm planning on getting a new one made of wood, something like that:

http://pet.imageg.net/graphics/product_images/pPETS-3759336dt.jpg

http://www.ohmydogsupplies.com/image.php?type=D&id=902


----------



## Debles (Sep 6, 2007)

We use raised since Max had megaesophagus eleven years ago.


----------



## desilu (Nov 2, 2006)

I use raised bowls. Desi has hip dysplasia and eating from a bowl on the floor is very uncomfortable for her - she lays down to eat. I ordered some wooden stands with the girls' names carved on them from EBay.


----------



## lgnutah (Feb 26, 2007)

Brooks is such a glutton, basically inhales his food, so I decided raising his food dish would be a good idea. I didn't buy anything, though. I just set his food dish on top of the container I store his food in (which is a used 35 lb cat little plastic pail with lid).
BTW, those cat litter pails are so useful.


----------



## DanaB (Oct 8, 2009)

I used to have an English Mastiff, so was warned against bloat. Raised dishes turned out to be fabulous on so many levels, that when I got my Golden, Bridget, I wanted to continue using the raised dishes. Unfortunately, she's much smaller than the Mastiff was, so I couldn't re-use his set. Had to find another - not an easy task when you want to keep within a reasonable $$amount. Found a perfect (and budget friendly) option at that Swedish store we all know. The stand is great, travels well and you can use their bowls or pick some of the metal ones up from a big-box. Still a good height and Bridget is 15 mos.


----------



## BorzoiMom (Nov 18, 2009)

I use raised bowls because its more comfortable for them to eat. You can see them in our videos but Zubins is higher ( he has an additional box under his to take it up another 4 inches due to his height).
This is Zubins bowl. Remember he is 35 inches tall at the shoulder and 4 foot tall at the head.


----------



## paula bedard (Feb 5, 2008)

I started using raised bowls with Sam. He would on occasion cough up kibble while eating and raising his bowls helped. I've kept them for Ike. I have a huge beach towel under the bowls and around the 'feeding area' yet I still get water drops leading all over the house.


----------



## iLoveEnzo (Dec 9, 2008)

enzo use it～but not water bowl


----------



## MyMaggieGirl (Nov 12, 2008)

I used the raised bowls for Maggie because of the arthritis in her spine and hips. I still use it for Flirt and I, too, have a throw rug under it.


----------

