Food & NutritionI have 3 dogs, so 3 dog food bowls. All 3 sit directly on the floor. I had someone tell me that I needed to elevate the bowls since I have a beagle, lab mix, and pit. Is elevating the food bowls better when they eat or does it matter?
Generally only dogs with a condition called megaesophagus where the food they eat gets trapped in the dilated esophagus and they vomit frequently after eating, and dogs with neck pain would benefit from elevated bowls. Some studies have shown that eating from raised bowls actually increases the amount of air dogs ingest when eating and increases the risk of bloat. I think the person who told you to raise the bowls was concerned re: bloat in your medium to large breed dogs. My best recommendation is that if your dogs eat very fast/scarf down their food, that definitely does predispose them to developing bloat which can be life threatening, and puzzle feeders available on Amazon for about $10-$15 that are bowls with ridges in them to slow down eating would be more beneficial than raising the bowls. Good luck!
Updated on August 12th, 2025
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