Dogs are notorious for inhaling or gobbling their food. Unfortunately, this can be extremely unhealthy and risky behavior. By consuming food too fast, dogs can suffer from indigestion and increased risk of choking (in rare cases dying from chocking). Dogs that inhale their food (often whole) can quickly or immediately vomit the food, which is unsanitary and unhealthy. None of this is good for a dog, and aside from choking to death and destroying your Persian carpet with regurgitated food, all of this behavior often leads to obesity and a host of gastro-intestinal issues. Obesity is one of the biggest health problems that dogs face today, and continues to rise. It can rob your dog of a couple of years of their natural lifespan, increase issues associated with the natural aging process, and contribute to painful joint problems. Slow feeder dog bowls can helps to keep your dog from eating too fast or wolfing down their food. The best slow feeder dog bowls on the market can even train your dog to eat at a slower pace.
This study was undertaken to find the best slow feeder dog bowls so that pet owners with dogs that eat too fast have options to safely improve their dog’s mealtime habits. The slow feeder dog bowls here were the best of many examined and compared through a number of important safety, cost and other metrics that ultimately benefit dogs.
#1 Slow Feeder Dog Bowl (Premium): PetSafe Smart Feed Automatic Pet Feeder (Wifi / App Enabled)
• Features: This slow feeder dog bowl is top-class all around the board. It has a stainless steel bowl, a programmable timer, and even WiFi as it has an App that will work with a SmartPhone. You can preprogram feeding times or simply feed your dog from your SmartPhone (especially useful when you are away).
• Health and Safety Benefits: This offers many benefits, including the ability to slow down fast eaters with the unique slow-feed option. The main idea of not having to change your pet’s feeding routine is the key point behind this idea – it’s essential to maintain a regular feeding routine for maximal digestive and psychological health of your pet.
• Cost: $~180 – high cost driven by the high tech functionality and flexibility to control over Wifi.
• Company Profile: PetSafe specializes in smart feeders for animals and is a pioneer in the pet supply industry.
• What Pet Owners Like About It: This slow feeder dog food bowl is clearly one of the best slow feeder dog food bowls you can buy based on feedback and quality metrics. It is a slow feeder dog food bowl for the digital age, and is perfect for caring pet owners who live a hectic, fast paced lifestyle. It is easy to use, effective, and most importantly – reliable.
• Most often sold with: The Etna Electronic Pet Water Fountain is a great item to provide fresh, oxidized water to your pet. This pet fountain electronically recycles 62 oz. of water throughout the day so your dog has ample fresh water as the food is slowly dispensed. This unit is easy to clean (with water and a cloth) and to take apart. The unit costs $24.08, and has excellent reviews.
#2 Slow Feeder Dog Bowls (Budget): Arf Pets Automatic Pet Feeder Food Dispenser for Dogs & Cats
A premium automatic feeder with portion control and voice-recording
• Features: The Arf Pets Automatic Pet Feeder Food Dispenser for Dogs & Cats is loaded with important and useful features that can help make your dog eat at a safer pace. This slow feeder dog bowl has a portion control and alarm system with voice recording. The unit can be programmed to distribute 1-10 portions of food (24 ml) up to 4 times a day. You can record your voice to call your dog when its meal time, so if you are out the dog still knows when it’s time to eat. The digital system is easy to program and use.
• Health and Safety Benefits: This system ensures that your dog receives portion controlled meals that are doled out in portion sizes you deem safe. This means that there is no way for them to inhale their meal or consume an entire bowl of food until the meal is fully dispensed, aiding digestion, preventing the likelihood of choking, and improving your dog’s eating habits as they get conditioned to eating at a slower pace.
• Cost: $89.99.
• Company Profile: Arf Pets specializes in pet supplies and pet products that contribute to the health and welfare of animals, and are a highly respected company with a strong reputation. • What Pet Owners Like About It: The most cited feedback by pet owners is that it works perfectly and over time trains dogs to eat slower. Also it allows owner control and flexibility, providing portion control even when the dog is alone.
• Most often sold with: If you are going to have food dispensed throughout the day to your dog, what about water? The PetSafe Healthy Pet Water Station Dog and Cat Water System with Stainless Steel Bowl provides safe, fresh water to pets all day long. This goes well with the time release food delivery system perfected in the Arf Pets Automatic Pet Feeder Food Dispenser. That is why they often sell together. This water station can hold up to320 Oz., which sells for $23.79. This product is dishwasher safe, and customer feedback is extremely positive.
#3 Honorable Mention: Slow Feeder Dog Bowl (Budget): AïKiou Activity Food Interactive Feeder for Dogs
This is a unique slow feeder dog bowl, and though it is a budget alternative without all the fancy technological features, it is still one of the best slow feeder dog bowls on the market. Made by reputable AiKiou (makers of specialty pet food products for over a decade), this slow feeder dog bowl is also a training game. With 2 purposes in one bowl, your pet is forced to think to get his or her food. This slows down the eating process so dogs don’t inhale their food, causing indigestion and other stomach issues, but it also requires your pet to exercise their cognitive functions. The food is stored in various compartments. The dog has to figure out how to get the food dispensed. Most dogs figure this out within a few minutes, but it does cause the dog to solve a puzzle and slow down the eating process. This unit sells for $24.95 and it is dishwasher safe for easy cleaning. If you notice that your dog is having difficulty figuring out how to use this, discontinue using it because over-time it could cause stress and mental fatigue. (While it’s generally easy for 95% of dogs, some may find it difficult. Imagine if you had to take a test before having a meal each day!)
Criteria used for this study
The research used in this mixed method study analyzed both data collected from the Internet, as well as product testing, and reviews, customer feedback, customer ratings, and information taken from countless blogs, websites, articles and testimonials. Many slow feeder dog bowls were considered but the products listed here ranked as the best slow feeder dog bowls based on a number of factors, including safety, benefits for dogs, ease of use, and cost factors. All of the data collected and analyzed was culled from public sites and the criteria compared standardized variables as closely as possible. Benefits varied greatly, as some bowls were more modern and some bowls offered manual means for slowing down the eating process of the dog. Technology does, however, often improve the quality of life and the same can be said for the quality of slow feeder dog bowls.
Technology often drives up the cost as well, so 2 premium slow feeder dog bowls were chosen as they clearly were the 2 best slow feeder dog bowls to be found. A budget alternative was also added as an option. This also met the standards of the criteria set for this study, and exceeded in all facets. All 3 units were also extremely popular and exhibited excellent customer feedback.
Only safe slow feeder dog bowls were considered for this study – food is extremely important in a dog’s life so products that can be faulty / erratic can produce serious stress. Go with well-known and reputable products. Products with breakable pieces or reported to have potential safety issues were immediately eliminated from consideration. Criteria examined included:
• Features: All features and benefits of each candidate were reviewed and compared with a numerical rating system.
• Benefits: This section of the comparison was given the most weight, as health and safety factors were compared.
• Cost: Costs were listed and compared, but valuation was considered more important than actual cost.
• Company Profile: Company experience, philosophy and reputation were examined and compared when the best slow feeder dog bowls were narrowed down.
• Pet Owners Opinions: This was based on available customer feedback, reviews and published testimonials. The more positive the feedback, the better the score.
This study was designed to provide research for pet owners whose pets eat too fast for their own good. This study was designed to save time and identify a few of the best slow feeder dog food bowls to provide statistics, benefits and other attributes of the products for easy reference. As always, even the best slow feeder dog food bowl on the market may not be right for your dog, but hopefully this study helps identify and narrow down the research process.
Tips to Get Your Dog to Eat More Slowly
• A good slow feeder dog bowl is the best way to get your dog to eat safely, but portioning meals into smaller sizes will also help. So instead of feeding your dog twice a day, try feeding him or her 4 times a day. This is good as a training tool, but in the long-run it’s important to keep your dog fed fewer times a day, as that’s what their digestion is naturally designed for.
• Elevate the food bowl. There are excellent raised dog food bowls on the market that help dogs with posture and digestion, but it also helps a dog to stop gulping as they take in less air as they eat. Raising your dog’s bowl, even if you have a slow feeder dog bowl, to the proper height for your dog is always and excellent idea.
• If you have multiple pets, separate them when they eat and feed them at separate times, where they can eat alone and not feel an instinctive urge to compete for or consume the food as quickly as possible. When a dog’s instinct take over, consuming the food as quickly as possible to minimize the risk that it will be taken away is its number one priority, which is why for many dogs a slow feeder dog bowl is simply a must. If you were looking for other dog food bowl choices, please follow this link to see our other selection.
