I timed Max and Kara eating their dinner for the past week and while Kara averaged 2 minutes 50 seconds, Max averaged 1 minute 40 seconds. Eating too quickly can cause bloat, regurgitation and canine obesity. Or in Max's case: horrendous gas.
Because I work in a feed store, I was able to check out the catalogue from which we place orders and choose my own slow-feeder. Maybe I picked this one because it was teal. Whatever.
The back of the box boasts that feeding dogs with this feeder will show them down in a natural, healthy and playful way. My dogs are pretty smart and we purchased a puzzle for them last Christmas, so this product appealed to me.
The first time we tried to feed Max using this bowl, he didn't want to use it. He tried to steal all of Kara's food. So that took 50 seconds. But after that, it took him 8 minutes to finish his dinner. It was tricky for him; the bowl is a maze of ridges and valleys. It really slowed him down.
Will update after some more timed trials. :)
*** Update:
It's been a few weeks and Max pretty consistently takes about 5 minutes 15 seconds to finish eating. Kara's time has remained the same. I originally thought that maybe she would slow down if he slowed down, but that didn't happen.
Recently Max has decided that he is afraid of his dinner bowl. I'm not sure what's going on there, but hopefully it will pass. Especially once we get Kara her own bowl.
