JW Pet Skid Stop Slow Feed Dog Bowl. Does it work?

I recently adopted a five month old Newfoundland puppy from a rescue.  I have to say that out of the 20 plus dogs of various ages and breeds that I have owned in my life, never have I experienced one that devours their food like a Turkey Vulture  eating road kill off the side of the interstate!

Skylar, I realized had a rough start in life as a pet store puppy, meaning she was brought up in a puppy mill situation where she had to possibly fight off several dogs that shared her 4 x 4 cage for every piece of kibble that was strewn onto a feces and urine soaked floor. If you are not aware of puppy mills and puppy brokers click the link below.

http://2ndchance-caninecapers.blogspot.com/2011/02/pupy-brokers-new-stock-market.html

Because this breed has its health issues the worst possible nightmare entered my mind as I watched her gulp down her kibble.  GVD, aka, Bloat!  Bloat is a deadly twisting of the intestines usually seen in large breed dogs. One of the reasons this can happen is that the dogs gobble their food too fast and take in air at the same time.   If the air has no way to escape you will see the dog’s stomach getting bigger as the air fills it. However, what is happening inside the dog is something even more serious than a fat stomach, the twisting of the intestines. If you don't know the signs of bloat and if emergency help is not sought out immediately, you can lose your dog within an hour.

Years ago I had a close call with this disease with my Newfoundland  Bentley,  however I was fortunate to recognize the signs and got him to the veterinarian before the intestines had time to twist.  Bentley was not a fast eater like Skylar is, but Bentley had gotten himself all worked up due to an impending thunder storm and then came in the house and gulped down a lot water causing air to get into the stomach. So there are variables as to why bloat happens, and it is said not to allow your large breed dog to exercise ½ hour before or after a meal. In Bentley’s case the meal was water.

Read about Bloat here

http://www.petplace.com/dogs/gastric-dilatation-volvulus/page1.aspx

But I digress, let’s get back on track!  I happened to get an email from PetFlow.com  expressing  their remarkable deals. In my quest to find the perfect toy that will not expire within a week of its use by my dogs and the neighbor dog's who come to visit, I opened the petflow page. Not finding much in the toy department I went on too see other dog items, because let’s face it, once you are online for anything dog it’s like having a bag of open potato chips,  you can’t have just one! 

With this new search on dog items I came across the JW Pet Skid Stop Slow Feed Dog Bowl (what a mouthful!) Over the years I had heard of the ‘Break-Fast Bowls’ and have even recommended them to customers but they can be pricey.  The premise of the Slow Feed Dog Bowl is the same; there are barriers in the bowl to make it harder to get to the kibble out so in theory the dog slows down the eating pattern thereby taking in less air.

Actually this can also be done by putting an unopened can of vegetables into the dog’s bowl, but that might hit the range of the Crazy dog lady scale among your friends.

So for a whopping six bucks, (much cheaper that the Break- Fast Bowl) I ordered one and waited anxiously for its arrival.

Finally that day came and as soon as I pried it out of Brody and  Skylar’s teeth as they thought it’s sleek design and scent of plastic automatically made it a chew toy, I began the testing!

In a normal dog food bowl it took Skylar 2 minutes and 10 seconds to get through the 2 ½ cups of small kibble. In the Slow Feeder bowl, it took her nearly 6 minutes 30 seconds to eat through 2 ½ cups of the same kibble.

In my view this bowl works for what it is intended to do and I give it a 4 paws up for intent, its ease of use, and its pet friendly price. However it is not ‘skid proof’ as you can see in the video.  You may want to try placing a rubber mat or a rug under it.  On a positive note, the bowl moving along the floor may also have helped slow the eating.  But then again, Skylar’s head is as big and powerful as the pumpkin in Charlie Brown’s “The Great Pumpkin” so for a dog like a Golden Retriever or a German shepherd who may be a bit more gentle, the bowl may stay in place.

 JW Pet Skid Stop Slow Feed Dog Bowl http://www.petflow.com/product/jw-pet/jw-pet-skid-stop-slow-feed-dog-bowls

Compare the Break- Fast Food Bowl which sells from 9.95  to 24.95 depending on what site you go to. If you like a metal dish Break- Fast makes them as well. It will come down to choice and price for most.

click here for the BreakFast Bowl

To see a video of Skylar and the JW Pet Skid Stop Slow Feed Dog Bowl in use 
click here  

Until next time happy training!

The Yin Yang Yum Dog puzzle

 Is it worth the money?

Right before my move from Pennsylvania to Minnesota this past summer I had the privilege to acquire an 8 week old Newfoundland /Golden mix puppy which Peter fondly named Brody. Crazy you ask? You betcha!  But I have never been of sound mind anyway!

  The test of packing up one’s home of twenty years within a month then taking the 18 hour journey across the states in one day proved to be bittersweet.  We were embarking on a new adventure but also leaving good friends and family behind.  Then came the unpacking and putting away our old junk into the new home  and it was a task I did not really have time to think long about. The majority of our boxes went from the moving truck into the garage to make unpacking  the truck move a bit faster.   After all, we had plenty of time to unpack those boxes right?  Wrong! With the Minnesota cold air soon to be bestowed upon us we needed to get things out of the garage to make room for the cars.    

Cold weather also means Brody who is now six months old, but still very much a puppy, cannot stay outside all day as he would like too, to check out, dig up, and eat every clay filled frozen piece of dirt with a little grass mixed in. That grass root vegetable source is very important to him!

So with much to do myself I did have to figure out how to keep him occupied at times. Tearing up boxes only lasts so long before you get tired of picking up pieces of cardboard strewn in every room.

 I have to admit, I love to give my dogs something that stimulates the mind especially when normal training can’t be done several times a day on a daily basis. I like the idea that someone came along to invent a product for a dog because this tells me they do realize that the family dog is not just for the outside dog house anymore! There are things one can do to keep busy a fussy needy pup that can stimulate its mind at the same time. When the mind is stimulated the dog gets a bit more tired and we know that a tired dog is a good dog!

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In moving, I lost my hometown doggie support group but  I was lucky enough to move into a home that had a puppy the same age as mine living right next door!  This works well for late afternoons and the weekends, but the neighbor does have to work.  Far be it from me to tell her to take a day off so the pups can play, though I am sure she would agree to do so if there weren’t a pesky mortgage to pay!

Enter a trip to Petco where we, Peter and I, found the Yin Yang Yum dog puzzle. I have to admit it seemed like a good purchase at the time. There were hidden compartments to put the dog’s treats or food in and the dog had to open these compartments in order to get the reward.

  When I first gave Brody this puzzle I used a high value reward so the smell would come through very clearly.  Upon first examination of this contraption Brody was interested because of the food inside   however he did give up a few times, walking away from the puzzle to see if mom or dad had that same treat in their pocket.  We did, but refused to give it to him and redirected him back to the puzzle to watch him struggle with it a little while longer.  Finally he was able to get the puzzle apart and retrieve his reward. The first go around lasted a little while, the second and third rounds went fairly quickly and by the fourth time he had the puzzle opened and emptied in about 2 minutes 30 seconds.  That was that.  From that point on he knew exactly how to get his treats out. 

As I stated above, I like my dogs to use their minds but if I am busy I would like their entertainment to last a little longer than 2 minutes.  I find that my homemade Gatorade bottle does the same as far as mind stimulation but also keeps the dog engaged a lot longer.   

So if I compare this puzzle for mind stimulation it would rate fairly high but rating it as to keeping the dog active for any period of time it rates fairly low.  

Yin Yang Yum

The product: Plastic, large and small chambers. Two round removable parts for the dog to take out to get to the first two chambers.  Sides that slide open to get to the remaining chambers.

Price: $14.99 at PetCo

Pros: Your dog has to use its mind to get to the chambers holding the food. It is entertaining and mind stimulating.

Cons: 

1) Once the dog figures out how to use the Yin Yang puzzle the dog can virtually get in and eat everything in a short time.

2) There are two loose pieces which can get lost or chewed on. If the pieces are lost or destroyed then the first chamber is open leaving the dog to only have to paw at the side to get to the inside chambers.

Time: It does not last long once the dog has figured it out so you have to constantly refill it.

   

The inside chambers: You are limited to what you can put inside them. The chambers are small so don’t hold larger biscuits, even small biscuits have to be broken in half.

The Yin Yang Yum ~VS ~ the Large Gatorade Bottle

I stated to feed Brody his meals in a large Gatorade bottle when I needed him out of my hair for a bit. This worked out well which is why I invested in the Yin Yang puzzle to begin with.

Large Gatorade Bottle

Pros:

1)  The price! Buy a large 2 liter bottle of Gatorade, drink it, and use the bottle for a puzzle toy. 

2) You can put a lot more food and treats inside the bottle so playing with it can last  from 20 minutes to a half hour or more. A dog’s full meal can be placed inside.

3) The dog has to use its mind to get the food out but also the mind is used to figure out how to grasp the bottle and remove it from tight places such as underneath a table or couch.  

Cons:

It does make a mess until the dog eats the food.

It can get stuck under furniture which may require you help the dog.

The dog will continue to eye every Gatorade bottle you ever hold in your hand until it is empty!

Your home becomes a plastic recycle bin!

The DOWNSIDE OF EACH product:

 Either of them can become a hazard if the dog is not supervised as eating non food items such as plastic can cause a blockage of the intestines.  Sharp pieces can actually pierce a hole in the intestinal tract causing serious illness.

As always never leave any item with a dog unsupervised.

Brody started eating his meal out of the Gatorade bottle a couple of months ago when I started back to work at my computer in the basement.  He has gotten to the point where while in the basement he will only eat his kibble from the bottle, however upstairs in the kitchen he will eat out of a dog bowl. I sometimes wonder what I am creating here! All I can say is he is happy to toss the bottle all around the basement floor, and doing  this uses his mind, fills his belly and tires his body which makes it a good thing!  To make it a bit harder to get the food out so it lasts even longer rather than break up every biscuit I put one or two full ones in there which blocks the entrance of the  bottle neck which makes it harder to get the food out. The other night Brody worked on the bottle for a long time and in the end with the one long biscuit remaining he brought the bottle to me to take the biscuit out for him! How could I refuse? 

To me the Gatorade bottle is similar to the box of the very large expensive toy you just bought your kids. They'd rather play in the box!

To see video of the Yin Yang Yum in use click here

To see video of the Gatorade Bottle Addiction click here