# do you elevate your dog's food bowl?



## RCTRIPLEFRESH5 (Feb 11, 2010)

i always was under the impression that doing so would protect from neck pain, and bloating for large breed dogs. i have neglected to do so until now(found some old textbooks and raised shanes bowls by two thick texts each!

now im reading online, and apparently it increases bloating.

man this is a real messed up world we live in....cigarettes cause cancer one day, and prevent it the next

masturbation is bad fr your prostate health one day, then the next day it is bad for the prostate.

elevated dish is to prevent bloat one day...NOW ITS CAUSING it? just wondering if you think i should leave them elevated.

just goes to show you, that we ca;t be stubborn in our thinking. We may be wrong all along about dogs liking meat =p.

can just imagine bill in 10 years talking about how dogs are herbivores


----------



## BrownieM (Aug 30, 2010)

I have two standard poodles - a breed at risk for bloat. One of them (Henry) already had bloat/torsion in March. We are lucky to still have him! Anyway, I spoke to my vet about this after Henry bloated. He explained that the Purdue study (the one that claims raising bowls increases the risk of bloat) is flawed in many ways and its difficult to draw any real conclusions about the risk of bloat and raising food dishes from it. For example, they only studied large breed dogs whose owners already raised dishes. Thus, the results are skewed. IMO, it probably simply doesn't matter. If anything, maybe it prevents bloat. I highly doubt it increases the risk of bloat, though.


----------



## Guest (Dec 23, 2010)

Yes, I do use elevated food bowls. Just for the reason that it keeps my large dogs comfortable. I have a tall 85 pound male Golden that has to bend really low, and spread his front paws, to reach a food bowl on the floor. So by elevating the bowl I think it makes him more comfortable at chow time. Whether or not it actually either causes or prevents bloat, I dunno.


----------



## ann g (May 6, 2010)

I use one also because my gsd is so tall, he always looked so uncomfortable bending his neck to the floor. I think bloat is probably like sids/babies, no one will ever know the exact causes.


----------



## Khan (Jan 17, 2010)

I too use elevated dishes. I actually cut the bottom of a large plastic tub waaay back in 1990 for my Rottie. I did this for the pure and simple reason of comfort for hi. Why would eating all crouched down be comfortable? Anyway, since then, I have found an "actual" food stand, and have continued to use it. Just like anything, you can find an argument for either side. I think that being aware of the activity level after a dog eats is more so the key. Kinda like what your mom use to say about swimming after you ate. :wink:
I also know that after every meal, I hear 1 Ginormous burp from Khan, and Shelby gives one up that's pretty impressive for her size! You know what they say..."Better out than in!" :biggrin:
As for to elevate or not to elevate...I think it's a matter of whatever makes the dog more comfortable. JMO.


----------



## Katie Chumlee and Shorty (Oct 22, 2010)

Yes even though the Bulldog is short his bowls are elevated. :wink:


----------



## Jack Monzon (Jul 25, 2010)

I do not elevate my bowl. It's on the floor.


----------



## BoxerMommie (Jun 26, 2008)

Not really. I have a feeder with 2 bowls in it it's "raised" but only like 6 inches off the floor. It's more to look nice and hold the bowls in their place so they don't get moved around the floor. The water bowl is just on the floor. My Boxers and my GSD have all done fine.

I think with raising bowls it may make it easier for them to eat faster which has been linked to bloat hence the association with the raised bowls, but that's just a theory on my part.


----------



## PUNKem733 (Jun 12, 2009)

No, I have a 20 pound dog. His head is less than a foot off the ground.


----------



## jdatwood (Apr 13, 2009)

Leave them elevated for comfort, SURE

Elevate them for bloat prevention, Nah....

Evidence leads towards stress as being a contributing factor for bloat, not the location of their food bowl :wink:

If anyone here is seriously concerned about bloat they should look into a Gastropexy for prevention and not worry themselves with extraneous BS like raised feeders, limiting exercise, etc...


----------



## RCTRIPLEFRESH5 (Feb 11, 2010)

BoxerMommie said:


> Not really. I have a feeder with 2 bowls in it it's "raised" but only like 6 inches off the floor. It's more to look nice and hold the bowls in their place so they don't get moved around the floor. The water bowl is just on the floor. My Boxers and my GSD have all done fine.
> 
> I think with raising bowls it may make it easier for them to eat faster which has been linked to bloat hence the association with the raised bowls, but that's just a theory on my part.


u have the large stainless steel bowls right? I have the same ones, but without the raiser. I'm just going to keep them raised for comfort.


----------



## BoxerMommie (Jun 26, 2008)

RCTRIPLEFRESH5 said:


> u have the large stainless steel bowls right? I have the same ones, but without the raiser. I'm just going to keep them raised for comfort.


They're not large, but they're medium sized and they're stainless steel yes. This is what I have:

Amazon.com: Our Pets Signature Series

I use the shortest legs there are with it (comes with 3 sets...well mine did anyway) like the one closest to the screen in the picture the shortest one but mine's black and silver, so it's only raised about 6 inches but keeps the bowls in place so they don't slide around plus it looks nice in the room that they're in.


----------



## Guest (Dec 23, 2010)

Dave,

This is what I'm using.

Bergan Elevated Dog Feeder - Sale - Dog - PetSmart


----------



## BrownieM (Aug 30, 2010)

jdatwood said:


> Evidence leads towards stress as being a contributing factor for bloat, not the location of their food bowl :wink:


I definitely agree with this. Henry bloated when he was under much stress.


----------



## wags (Jan 31, 2009)

Gosh I have never elevated the dogs bowls. On the floor they are! when were outside (when its nice) they are on the patio!


----------



## cast71 (Sep 16, 2010)

BrownieM said:


> I definitely agree with this. Henry bloated when he was under much stress.


Just curious, what kind of stress?


----------



## MollyWoppy (Mar 19, 2010)

wags said:


> Gosh I have never elevated the dogs bowls. On the floor they are! when were outside (when its nice) they are on the patio!


I'm the same, my train of thought has always been that if my dog was out in the wild she'd be eating her food either off the ground or lying on the ground. 
Must add though, that if she was prone to bloat I'm sure I would have researched it a bit more.


----------



## wags (Jan 31, 2009)

Mollywoppy~~~your avatar I'm cracking up here! too funny!!!!!!!!!!!:biggrin:


----------



## MollyWoppy (Mar 19, 2010)

wags said:


> Mollywoppy~~~your avatar I'm cracking up here! too funny!!!!!!!!!!!:biggrin:


Thank you sunshine! I like that you've got the same sort of humour as me. 
That elf one really tickled my funnybone for some reason!


----------



## BrownieM (Aug 30, 2010)

cast71 said:


> Just curious, what kind of stress?


Well there were a variety of factors but we were out of town and he was staying at my sister's house (essentially an unknown home and person to him) and wouldn't eat more than maybe one meal the whole time we were gone (3-5 days) because her dog would steal his food and because he gets very depressed when either my mom, dad or I are not with him. My sister dropped him off at our house with a small amount of food and water about 2hours before we were expected to arrive home from our vacation. I guess he ate all of his food on an empty belly, and then we arrived home, he was hysterically excited and then we noticed he was in excruciating pain. He couldn't have been bloated for long according to the vet, so it very well could have happened the minute we walked in the door. Also, he was not visibly bloated and the vet suspects he may have twisted first. By the time he was being prepped for surgery, the vet said his belly was noticeably becoming dilated/bloated.

So, long story short he was stressed from an unknown environment, empty belly, extreme excitement. We'll never know what really happened, but I personally think the physical stress of eating a meal on a very, very empty belly and then the extreme emotional stress of being separated and then his excitement when he saw us might have just been too much.


----------



## cast71 (Sep 16, 2010)

Thanks, now I get what you mean about stress.


----------

