If you have more than one dog in the house you will likely run into some competition for food.  The leading contest in my home is "who can eat the most the fastest gets more".  It never works out for them because ultimately someone has to be lead dog, and that's generally me.   However, slowing down the eating battles each day has been a difficult and often dangerous, task.

This unique product makes my job very easy.  Brake-Fast (
http://www.brake-fast.net/) has developed a bowl that forced the dog to slow down it's eating.  Tristan, my coyote/wolf hybrid, has begun using this bowl every night, and it has finally put him on an eating level with that of his friends, Roscoe and Cheiss.

Food conquers all in the dog universe, and he who has the most makes the rules.  My last two wolf hybrids, Malachi and Aquilla, often rapidly consumed their meals, then ran outside to throw up and bury their food so that they would have room for more.  It's a natural response in the wild to eat while you can, and often our animals never forget this instinct.  Brake-Fast allows us to slow down our pets eating.  Tristan now takes up to ten minutes to finish a bowl of food that he used to wolf down in two minutes!  There is no assembly required, just pull the dish from the shipping carton, place it on the floor, feed as you normally would, and voila!  Your dog is now eating at a normal rate! 

Overeating and eating quickly can cause a number of problems for our pets.  Some of these include GDV or Gastric Dilatation/Volvulus.  A result of eating too fast, this disease will cause a dog's stomach to fill with air, bloat and could eventually lead to a twisting of the stomach, similar to colic in horses.  And there are many more problems that can be caused by eating too fast, just ask your friends who have "fast eaters".

This bowl works on simple physics. Place obstacles in a dog dish and it will slow the dog's eating down.  If he can't get to the food quickly, he can't eat the food quickly.  A simple concept for a simple product, and one that I wish we had around when I was working with my wolf hybrids.  It would have saved me a lot in vet bills!

The bowl costs only $14.99 plus shipping, and you can order directly from the manufacturer.  Currently there is only one size available, medium.  It works very well for large breeds, of which I have three.  There are plans in the works to create a small and a large bowl as well, these bowls should be available sometime in 2007.

From the Dogs:

Growls: (From Tristan) It is really hard to eat from!  My mom and dad keep telling me that is a good thing, but I can't see how less food is ever a good thing.  Guess I'll have to take their word for it, as I haven't been into the veterinarian's office for awhile!  Woof! 

Leaps of Joy: (From Tristan) Can't say I'm really thrilled about it, but it is kind of unique looking, and so far I'm the only dog in the house who has a cool new bowl.  (From Cheiss and Roscoe) YAY!  It slows Tristan's eating down and creates less pressure for us to eat fast!  WE love this bowl!

From the Humans:

Two opposable thumbs up: We love it!  No more refereeing the food bowls!    

Drawbacks? The bowl moves around on the floor because there is non-slip edge on it.  However, we are assured that this is intentional - the goal of the food bowl is to increase time for digestion and the harder the food is to get, the better off we all are!