Should feed/water bowls be raised or not?

Just curious to see what others do and why. Cara has had a raised feed bowl since we got her, it does seem to help with her gas. Ollie is still eating from the floor even though he is as tall as she is now and does not seem to have any problems, and the OH and I were talking about getting him a raised station but I can't decide if it really is a good thing or not.

So any one have any links to studies done on raised feed dishes on whether they help or hinder the health of dogs?

Got no studies/research I am afraid but I had a raised bowl for my lurcher as she was tall and it aided her digestion, with a bowl on the floor she gulped her food and was sick straight after. My dog now is a goldie and her bowl is on the floor with no problems.

I imagine if you compared it to a human having to crouch over to eat their meal the results would be uncomfortable so I would assume it would aid a dog?

Don't know if its better for them or not as the experts seem to keep changing their minds as to whether its good/bad for dogs.
But mine have raised bowls and seem much more comfortable using them rather then eating from the floor - when i went camping i forgot to take the stand with me and Madison wouldn't eat from the floor so i had to hold the bowl for her.

I think the jury is out on this one. One minute its best to raise bowls, next its not. Think its a matter of preference. All mine have raised bowls.

Every person, book and website seems to say something different.

Personally, I would never use a raised bowl. Dogs eat off the floor naturally and not off a raised surface, so for me feeding from the floor makes logical sense. IMO.

I agree with labradork, wherever possible I like to follow nature. Nature designed dogs to eat from the floor and giraffes to eat from trees.

Having read extensively on this subject the Purdue study appeared to come out in favour of floor.

If I had a giant breed I might feed from a raised bowl however as nature did not design dogs this big, humans did!

Having experienced GD and GDV in two of my dogs and having breed predisposed to these conditions as you can imagine it is a subject which interests me.

Do what you think is best for your individual dog, that is all we can do.

Unless a dog of mine had a specific medical reason otherwise i would feed from the floor.

I was under the impression that the most recent study suggested not to use raised feeding bowls. However, there seems to be a lot of debate on the topic.

My Lab eats from the floor. As I do worry a bit about bloat, I ensure his food is divided into two or three meals a day and that we don't exercise within an hour before or after eating.

I agree with what SMOKEY BEAR said about giant breeds, if I had one I probably would use raised feeding and drinking bowls.

I think I've posted this before. Feeding from a raised bowl doubles the risk of a dog going into GDV and that includes giant breeds.

http://www.moonstruckmeadows.com/Blo...29%20Study.htm

I've heard it's just large dogs which need them raised to stop them slouching. I feed my dog with a Kong so we don't really use bowls anyway