Raised dishes

[heidiho]

I've been thinking about raising my boys food and water dishes. What is a good height? He's 2 years old. Any other suggestions on this matter would be great. He isn't much of a gulper but I've heard it's good to raise the dishes.

 

[Iaboy]

You need to do a search of this as it is mixed opinions, I have read that it isn't a good idea. Good luck.

 

[Trish727]

Do the seach...But I have had Domino on raised dishes since he was like 1 yr old and he has done fine with them. I got his from Petsmart and the bowls are stainless steel and everything else is plastic like material. Good luck!

 

[gmacleod]

Preferences do vary. Some people like them because they feel their dogs gulp less, and thus have less gas. The downside, however, with raised feeding bowls is an increased risk of bloat (which is often fatal).

Here are a few previous threads that you might find useful:
http://www.boxerworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=37359
http://www.boxerworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39327
http://www.boxerworld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=31507
http://www.boxerworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=61936

 

[heidiho]

Thanks everyone. I don't think I'm going to do it. He doesn't gulp much at all but I had heard that it was beeter to use raised dishes. Guess not.

 

[scottmk]

I thought that gulping and bloat were positively correlated (less gulping, less chance of bloat). Anyway, yeah, I've heard both sides too. Anyway, Buster used to have a raised dish, but we got rid of it because it was a huge pain to keep clean. It got really nasty after even an afternoon. Plus it was too big to rinse in sink or dishwasher. We had that plastic Petsmart one. Piece of junk, imo. Buster doesn't seem to prefer either type over the other.

 

[BeckyNC]

I bought a raised feeder for Tae, then read here on BW that the Purdue study showed raised feeders increase the chance of bloat. Tae's water is raised, but her food dish now goes on the floor.

I have heard a benefit of the raised feeder is it relieve some of the stress on the dog's neck from "leaning down." This obviously applies to larger/taller dogs more than smaller ones. Tae is petite for a Boxer, so this doesn't concern me to much.