URBANANIMAL: Choose a dish based on dog's size and style of eating

Dear readers,

A good friend of mine just adopted an adorable beagle-mix puppy named Sally who was described to me as "10 pounds of dog and three pounds of ears."

Sally's breeder sent her home with a grab bag containing everything from a puppy-sized collar to an instruction booklet on housetraining to a brightly coloured food bowl in the shape of an oval.

"That's to keep her ears from flopping into her food and water," my buddy told me, "It's called a Neater-Feeder and it's ingenious!"

Sure enough, later that day, I watched Sally's long, floppy ears glide smoothly along the outside of the bowl while she drank water. When she finished, my friend picked her up and lifted her ears to show me the results of such a fabulous invention. "Look! Dry ears."

Frankly, I was rubbing Sally's tummy (is there anything nicer than rubbing a pup's tummy?) at the time, but agreed the elongated bowl was indeed a major boon to dogs with ears like Sally's.

Choosing the perfect dog bowl can be a lot of fun, but other factors need to be considered such as size, shape and material, as well as your dog's physique and style of eating.

If your dog is long-legged, portly, elderly or arthritic, he might find it difficult to crouch or bend his neck in order to reach the bowl placed on the floor. Look into elevated feeding platforms that raise the bowl to the dog's lower chest level to help reduce strain on joints and aid in digestion since food and water take a more expedited route to the stomach.

These can be purchased at pet supply stores or make it yourself with a strong cardboard box cut to the correct height to suit your dog. Check with your veterinarian first, however, since it's been found that elevating food bowls aren't the best choice for all dogs.

The bowl should be big enough to accommodate regular meal portions without spilling over the edge, but your dog's snout will determine the correct depth. Generally, deep dishes are great for dogs with long snouts, but shallow dishes may be best for puppies and short-snouted dogs that don't have much space between mouth and nose, which puts them at risk of choking when food piles up at the sides and bottom of a deep bowl.

The most popular bowls are made of plastic, ceramic or stainless steel and each comes with pros and cons. Plastic and ceramic are often the least expensive options and come in a great variety of colours and graphics. Ceramic is heavier than plastic, which makes it more difficult to be pushed around the kitchen floor by the four-legged diner. The problem with both plastic and ceramic is they're easily scratched or chipped, which can cause bacteria to enter.

Stainless steel is durable and is the easiest to sanitize. If weight is important, choose one with a weighted and skid-proof bottom.

Some dogs tend to eat their food too quickly and, years ago, people with canine gobblers found placing an obstruction (such as an oversized hard rubber ball or even a large rock) in the bowl caused the dog to slow down as he had to eat around the obstruction.

Just as dog bowl manufacturers had invented the elongated bowl for floppy-eared dogs like our Sally, they saw a niche for gobblers and began producing "slow-feeders", which included raised partitions or domes.

Hundreds of thankful dog owners ditched those hard rubber balls and rocks in favour of the ready-made models.

If you like products with the word "system" in its name, there are self-feeding systems that are great for people who have erratic schedules and may not be home in time to serve regular meals.

These are basically kibble dispensers that deposit food into a built-in bowl when the dog pushes a pedal with his food or nudges it with his nose.

Obviously not the best choice for dogs who eat as much as possible at one sitting, so programmable models are available that dispense food at specific times of the day. Self-feeders are also available for cats.

Dogs need fresh drinking water available at all times and a self-serve water dispensing system delivers clean water into a built-in bowl using a sensor to determine when it needs to be replenished.

This would be a particularly good choice for multi-pet households.

Dog bowls and all their accessories come in a variety of shapes, colours and sizes so you'll find something to suit your own dog and kitchen décor. Choose the best products based on your dog's individual needs and plan to re-evaluate your choices as your dog gets older or feeding routines change.