I have a labrador-weimaraner rescue and she has no chill especially when it comes to food. It only takes her a little over 1 minute to finish her food when she eats out of a regular bowl. I've tried all sorts of slow feeders but none of them increased her feeding time to 2 minutes. I found this slow feeder at my dog's daycare and was kind of shocked at how expensive it was (we have the large one) but it has raised my dog's feeding time to 3 minutes. My dog doesn't vomit whole kibbles anymore! The key is to make sure that the kibble is distributed evenly on the feeder and not to dump all the kibble in one spot. My dog has chewed on the edges of this slow feeder but the effects are mostly cosmetic and it's still very intact, even 5 years after purchase. The only thing I don't like is that you can't handwash this thing if you want it cleaned well. So I put it on the widest part of the bottom rack of my dishwasher to get it cleaned. Other than that, overall a great product!

I got this feeder for my Australian Cattle Dog after attempting to slow her eating down with the JW Pet Skid Stop Slow Feed Bowl (with the four grooves). She was recently diagnosed with Chronic Hepatitis and has been prescribed Prednisone to reduce the inflammation in her liver, and one of the side effects is increased appetite. It was difficult to get her super interested in her food before, so she had just a regular dog food fool with no obstructions. Once we started her on Prednisone though, it would take her about 20 seconds to finish a cup of food. So I tried the JW Pet Skid Stop Slow Feed Bowl - it would slow her down to about one minute. I decided that that was still unacceptable and ordered the Northmate Interactive Feeder. I'm happy to report that it now takes her over 5 minutes to finish one cup of food at each of her meals. I especially love watching her trying to figure out how to lick the food out of the blades; she often ends up flinging the food out of the feeder, but she's quick to clean it up. I know I could slow her eating down further if I put 1/4 cup in the feeder at a time since she slows down the most when there's an evenly disbursed layer of kibble on the feeder. The Northmate Interactive Feeder is a bit of a pain to wash, but it's certainly doable. It's pretty rigid and tough; I've had it for about a month now and there aren't any gashes on it from her eating from it. Overall, I think it's an amazing product that does exactly what it advertises. This is a wonderful feeder for someone who is trying to slow their dogs' eating, especially for those deep chested breeds who are more susceptible to bloat. EDIT 2013/11/13: Just found out that the Green Feeder is dishwasher safe! If you don't want to go the dishwasher route, or you feed more than twice daily and wash in between uses, I'd suggest using a bottle brush to effectively scrub between each blade. I use the Boston Warehouse Glass Brush (Bee) and I am able to quickly wash the Green Feeder.

Our dog trainer recommended this slow feeder to help prevent bloat and to give our large breed, active dogs (a Labrador Retriever and a German Shepherd) something productive to do. The lab loved it from the get-go. The shepherd needed some convincing, but now also enjoys it. They went from eating in one minute or less to taking 5-10 minutes to eat. I love that this feeder mimics how wolves eat in the wild (licking up the scraps up meat in the grass blades) and really makes my dogs work for their food. There is a bit of learning curve but it's fun to watch them sniff for the last pebbles and use their tongues to work the food free. I've used this for both dry food and human foods (corn, turkey, eggs, green beans, etc.) and it works well for them all. The only downside is it's not the easiest to keep clean. Definitely rinse with hot water after each use. I believe they're dishwasher safe, but I've not tried that out yet.

My initial reaction to this product was concern...I have an 80-pound Bull Mastiff mix, and he seemed frustrated the first time we used it. But that worry was subsequently gone the next round. He quickly figured out how to navigate this very unique and effective feeder. Is it full-proof? Depends on your dog. Obviously, this thing challenges...I mean, look at it! It's like nothing else on the market! And I would bet that it serves most dogs just as it was created to: by pouring the dry food throughout the spikes, "guzzling" is all but eliminated. Unless your dog is like mine. He definitely maneuvers the spikes, catching individual kibbles in the process, and he successfully pushes them out the sides, just like he's supposed to...but he also jostles the thing to knock out his nuggets, sending them sailing in great numbers. Once freed, the emancipated nuggets are consumed in a hurry - though still not as fast as bowl-feeding would allow. He still has to track them all down, and that does create a slight delay. Fortunately, he hasn't figured out how (and may never be able to) tip the thing over to fully empty the contents, so he has to return to the maze to complete his mission. So, if you're compulsive about neatness and order, you'll want to disappear while your dog eats if your beloved canine is as aggressive as mine. My dog quickly figured out it was easier to knock the thing around than it was to use his tongue to dig them out. The product is wonderfully sturdy, properly weighted, and skid-resistent, but it isn't made to replicate the traditional feeding process in any way. This is a game, exercise, fun work for dogs! As a spectator, I am hugely entertained by his technique. And because he is so eager to get at those nuggets, I never doubt that he'll find the farthest flung :D This is a superior product, both in its construction and design. It does exactly what it is meant to do, which is slow my dog's roll when it comes to inhaling his food. Laughter is the bonus for his human. Your dog may not be as brutish as mine, and you may not get the "show" I do, but ANY dog that eats too fast can benefit from this product. We've been using it for several weeks now, and I highly recommend it!

Mi perra como más lento y lo disfruta más , es duradero , a ella le gusta

This is a brilliant product, well designed and the dogs love it. Eating time is greatly extended. It has even worked with one of my dogs who used to be very reluctant to get out of bed and eat his breakfast - now he's there - no problem! It works just as well with wet or a mixture of both wet and dry food. Little more difficult if you want to add any tablets, not so easy to hide them. There are a few more considerations before you buy, especially if you have several dogs. These feeders are very big and the dogs need plenty of room to get all round them without getting into each others space - can't just stick it in a corner. Also they are not ideal if you are in a rush, although you can speed the time up just putting food round the outer edges but this defeats the object slightly. I agree with the comments that cleaning can be bit of a challenge (amazed how many people don't clean after each use?!) I have found it best to wash promptly before any residue has time to dry on. A good wash in hot soapy water (can do in a bowl, clean one half then flip it round) with the aid of a silicone pastry brush, this is perfect for cleaning round the surface and nodules, Rinse and leave up on their side to drain and dry - job done (a dish drainer is useful if you have more than one to wash). A final point to bear in mind - if your dog has "spaniel type ears" they can get quite dirty and wet, so if you don't want smelly, matted ears you'll need to give them a brush at the end of the day (if you don't already). I consider the aforementioned as minor negatives compared with the pleasure and aid to digestion the dogs gain. I can't praise the feeder enough!

UPDATE: It's been about 6 months and we still LOVE this feeder. We use it twice a day, every day but it is still in perfect condition. Our dog still takes around 10 minutes to finish her meals. We are also happy to report she hasn't scratched her snout on the hard plastic in the feeding process. She's VERY food aggressive so I was worried this might happen based on other reviews. It is designed for the dog to use their tongue rather than their snout to push the food around, which I think contributes to her scratch free face. If the dog were to try force its snout between the "blades of grass" it is possible scratches might occur. Our dog fortunately doesn't do this. This is the best slow-feeder we have found for our dog, who typically scarfs down her dinner in about 5-10 seconds. With this slow feeder, it now takes her upwards of 10 minutes to finished her dinner. It's extremely well built and sturdy. I have no doubt we will be able to use this for years to come.

Su consiglio di un amico abbiamo comprato questa ciotola per cani “famelici” che divorano il pasto in men che non si dica. Devo dire che aveva ragione, funziona! La nostra Betta da quando utilizza questa ciotola ci mette quei 2-3 minuti per terminare il pasto e non rischia di strozzarsi per la voracità con cui divorava le crocchette. Stra consigliato!!

Nice product. Useful.