This genius dog bowl makes a game out of mealtime and prevents my dog from eating too quickly

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• My dog is a fast eater and usually swallows her kibble whole. 
• I got her this puzzle feeder bowl that significantly increases the time she spends eating. 
• She still gets excited about mealtime and I think she enjoys the challenge.

My little rescue dog Poppy is feisty, smart, and like most dogs, completely obsessed with food. Her internal clock revolves around breakfast and dinner and she even knows the words to mealtime, so I have to be extra careful to not get her hopes up. 

Poppy is 12 pounds of pure excitement, which is fun and chaotic, except when it extends into her eating routines. When I first adopted her, I put her kibble in a regular bowl and it was gone within seconds. This was concerning because Poppy would inhale her kibble whole and then gag and sometimes vomit after. 

As a nervous new dog mom, I didn't want Poppy to choke or keep getting sick from eating. After seeing a friend use a slow feeder dog bowl for her energetic husky, I thought it was brilliant so I ended up getting an $8 slow feeder bowl for Poppy to slow down her eating.

How it works

The Upsky slow feeder bowl is made of nontoxic, recyclable plastic with raised barriers that create crevices to store several pieces of kibble for Poppy to work her snout into. I make sure to shake the bowl after pouring her kibble in to make sure it gets evenly distributed. The bowl also comes with gripping stickers to put on the bottom to prevent sliding.

When I first introduced the bowl to Poppy, she was quite huffy with me, as I had deeply inconvenienced her. After she weighed the pros and cons of the situation, Poppy ended up loving the maze-like bowl. Plus, it's dishwasher safe so the bowl is easy to clean regularly. 

It now takes Poppy between five to six minutes to eat her food — a huge improvement from the ten-second timespan using a regular bowl. 

The cons

The more Poppy used the bowl, the better she understood how to get the kibble out the fastest. This likely varies by dog and behavior, but I noticed the speed increase fairly quickly. Now that she has used it for over six months, she has a set speed that is still much slower than when she ate from a regular bowl. 

The bottom line

Despite her initial skepticism, Poppy likes mealtime even more with a slow feeder bowl. I haven't heard her gag or get sick since using the bowl. From time to time, I even hear her crunch on her kibble — a huge advancement in her eating habits. 

Even if your pup isn't a fast eater, a slow feeder bowl can be a fun way to make mealtime a positive challenge for your dog. This is by far one of the best investments I've made for Poppy and I feel at ease knowing she is eating safely and enjoying it as well.