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Tazlab Aqua-Fur Travel Dog Bowl Review

October 7, 2009 By 2 Comments

As I’ve mentioned in the past we love to travel with our dogs.  Also, as a Guide Dog puppy raiser we are always out and about with our dogs and we are often in need of portable travel dog bowls for both food and water.

This past weekend we were lucky enough to participate in the Orange County Transit Authority (OCTA) bus training.  It was great fun and we were allowed to not only give our puppies a chance to get used to riding the bus, but also we had the opportunity to visit Knott’s Berry Farm with our puppies.  OCTA was kind enough to set us up with free passes into Knott’s for the morning of our bus training.  Not only did we have a chance to do all this great training, but we also had the opportunity to test some of our travel dog bowls.

This week we’re covering the Tazlab Aqua-Fur Travel Dog Bowl.

Tazlab Aqua-Fur Travel Dog Bowl Review

As I mentioned earlier we had a chance to put the Tazlab Aqua-Fur Travel Dog Bowl to the test on our OCTA bus trip to Knott’s Berry Farm.  Here are the specifications on the bowl.

Product: Tazlab Aqua-Fur Travel Dog Bowl
List Price: $15.00
Product Features:

  • Folds up flat!
  • Made from food-grade silicone.
  • Guaranteed not to wet through.
  • Available in 4 Great Colors.
  • Perfect for dogs on the go!

Product Description

Hiking and biking, climbing and riding, one constant exists when adventuring with dogs: they need water and food. Cumbersome metal bowls do not fit well in backpacks, and they slide around the back of the car. Sewn fabric bowls just don’t stand up as tall as we wish they would, Tasman has a hard time when the bowl tries to close around his snout while he is getting a drink. Tazlab came up with the Aqua-Fur, the cutting edge in dog travel bowls, made from FDA approved food grade silicone which does not off gas, does not contain BPEs, does not have any nooks and crannies for bacteria to breed in, and best of all it folds up to stash just about anywhere. Just like silicone bakeware the bowls are dishwasher safe, which means that when it gets all slobbery and caked with food it is a breeze to sanitize. You can even bake a bowl shaped cake if you feel like it! Our silicone travel bowl is a drooly dream come true for every dog lover!

Puppy In Training Video Review

We took the Tazlab Aqua-Fur Travel Dog Bowl to Knott’s Berry Farm, but we didn’t get any video footage…any good footage that is…I have a video of Sidney drinking water out of the Tazlab bowl, but I only captured the top of his head and about half the bowl in the video.

Anyhow, here’s a video of Stetson, Linus, and I showing how the Tazlab Aqua-Fur Travel Bowl works.  Check it out:

I hope you enjoyed the video of Stetson, Linus, me, and the Tazlab bowl.

My Thoughts On The Tazlab Aqua-Fur Travel Dog Bowl

We love the Tazlab Aqua-Fur Travel Dog Bowl!  It’s a great travel dog bowl for both food and water.  As I mentioned earlier we grabbed our Tazlab dog bowl, threw it in our backpack, then spent the day riding the bus and walking around Knott’s Berry Farm.  When my Guide Dog Puppy In Training, Sidney was thirsty I whipped out the Tazlab Dog Bowl, unfolded it, and poured water.  Sidney had no problem drinking out of the bowl.  When we were finished I picked up the bowl folded back together and put it neatly in the pocket of my backpack.

As you can see from the video above the bowl can be used easily to give your dog food or water.  As mentioned in the product description section it is made of food grade silicone and has no nooks or crannies for bacteria to breed in.  If you’ve been keeping up with our dog bowl reviews then you know that we’ve been having some trouble with plastic dog bowls, bacteria, allergies, and canine acne.  Perhaps a silicone bowl is the solution.  I actually asked the makers of the Tazlab Aqua-Fur Travel Dog Bowl if they planned on making a bowl to help slow down fast eaters made of the same food grade silicone.  Unfortunately, not at this time.

Pros:

  • Folds up nice and compact making it easy for storage and travel.  We prefer just tossing it in one of the pockets in our backpack.
  • Food grade silicone seems like a possible solution for the issues we’ve been having with Stetson’s canine acne.  I’ll have to use the dog bowl more often and see how Stetson’s chin reacts.
  • Very durable
  • Doesn’t leak…it even says you can bake a cake with it…maybe in our next review…

Cons:

  • If you’re using it as a travel dog water bowl then you have to guess how much water your dog will drink then toss out or try to siphon the water back into your water bottle.
  • It was a little tricky to figure out how to fold the bowl back up at first.  However, it  only took a few minutes to figure it out how to fold it back together (I know I’m reaching on the cons, but we have to list something for you).

Overall, we love this bowl for traveling.  You can use it for either a food or water bowl (or even to bake a cake…).  It’s folds up nicely and is easily stores away in the tiny pockets of your backpack.

If you travel a lot with your dog and need a nice compact travel bowl then we highly recommend the Tazlab Aqua-Fur Travel Dog Bowl.

Has anyone else out there used the Tazlab Aqua-Fur Travel Dog Bowl?  If so, let us know what you think of this bowl in the comments section below.

Filed Under: Dog Bowls Tagged With: , , , , , ,

DogPause Dog Bowl Review

September 22, 2009 By 3 Comments

It’s Tuesday and you know what that means time to talk dog bowls.  This week Stetson and I review the DogPause Dog Bowl for fast eating dogs.  Unfortunately, I didn’t have my High Definition camera for the video, but I’m not too sure it matters since we’ve been uploading to low resolution videos to YouTube.  Instead of my regular handy dandy Canon HD Video Camcorder I used a simple point and shoot digital camera: Nikon Coolpix S60 Digital Camera.  The Nikkon is not much for shooting video, but it does shoot some decent still images and has a touch screen.  I use my Nikkon for most of the still images on this site and now my first video.  Overall, I’d say it’s a slightly above average digital camera.

Anyways, back to the DogPause Dog Bowl Review!

DogPause Dog Bowl Review

As mentioned earlier today we are reviewing the Dog Pause Dog Food Bowl.  Of course the purpose of this bowl is to slow down fast eating dogs.  Below are the specifications on this dog bowl.

Product: DogPause Food Bowl
List Price: $12.95
Product Features:

  • Divides the bowl into 4 feeding zones
  • Each feeding zone is 1/2 cup in capacity and designed to “block” the dog from putting his full snout into the bowl; this slows down eating pace as your dog needs to use his tongue for each bite
  • After your dog finishes each zone, he must re-position himself for the next zone
  • The bowl is designed to slide a little on the floor, further slowing down the dog as he needs to re-position for each bite
  • DogPause Food Bowl comes in two colors (Red and Blue)
  • Clinically proven to slow down fast-eating dogs.
  • Virtually eliminates the risk of choking.

Product Description:
This bowl is sized for dogs between 15 and 100 pounds and most dog breeds ranging from Beagles to Rottweilers. It’s particularly effective with Labs and Golden Retrievers!

Dog Pause Food Bowl

Puppy In Training Product Review

DogPause Bowl Video Review

Our trusty speed eating tester…Stetson was up to the challenge and ready to demo the DogPause Dog Bowl on camera for the benefit of our readers.  Check out the Video review below of the DogPause Dog Food Bowl.

As you can see in the video it took Stetson approximately 10 seconds longer to finish the food in the DogPause Bowl versus his regular stainless steel bowl.  This is good, but not a great result and we have tested the DogPause Bowl extensively with similar results each time Stetson eats a whole meal of food.

My Thoughts On The DogPause Dog Food Bowl

This bowl does slow down Stetson’s eating and does appear to keep him from gagging and vomiting.  Although he still has done both on occasion it’s not nearly as frequent as when he uses his standard stainless steel bowl.  The main problem I’m having with this bowl is similar to the issues I’ve had with the regular Brake-Fast Bowl.  Over a period of time Stetson develops canine acne while using the Dog Pause Dog Food Bowl.  Stetson’s canine acne really makes it’s impossible to use the Dog Pause Dog Food Bowl as a permanent solution for slowing down Stetson’s fast eating.

Pros:

  • The bowl does work as advertise, but in our test it only extended Stetson’s eating time by 10 seconds.  However, if you check out the video on the DogPauseBowl.com website you’ll see a video of Hank.  It took him nearly twice as long to finish his food with the DogPause Bowl going from 1 minute 5 seconds with a stainless steel bowl to 2 minutes 1 seconds with the DogPause Bowl.
  • Stetson has been better with his gagging and vomiting when using this dog bowl.

Cons

While the Dog Pause Dog Food Bowl does do it’s job I think the main problem we have is that Stetson scoops food out like a shovel and swallows.  The DogPause Bowl helps a little, but not has much as we’d like.  My thoughts now turn to a giant dog bowl that would just spread all his food across so he can’t do his usual scooping action.  I’ve seen several great suggestions that I might try in the future that doesn’t really involve a special dog bowl.  First, I like the idea of trying a muffin pan.  The DogPause Bowl is very similar to a muffin pan and I think a muffin pan might work even better for Stetson as he won’t be allowed to scoop as easily with the little muffin holes.  A second option is to purchase a large stainless steel bowl and drop one of Stetson’s toys in the middle like his Kong to obstruct his eating.

I’ll probably try both of these at some point and time and report my results back here at Puppy In Training.

Do you have any suggestions that you use to slow down your dogs eating?  Let me know in the comments section so I can test it out with Stetson.

Filed Under: Dog Bowls Tagged With: , , , ,

Metal Brake-Fast Dog Food Bowl Review

September 8, 2009 By 13 Comments

It’s Tuesday again and time to review another dog bowl to slow down our speedy eaters.  Today we’re covering the Metal Brake-Fast Dog Food Bowl.  If you’ve been following us for a while then you would have seen the review of the regular Brake-Fast Dog Food Bowl over a year ago.  We really liked that bowl except for one problem: shortly after using the bowl Stetson developed canine acne on his chin.  Our Veterinarian informed us that using plastic dog food bowls often caused this ailment.  We continued to used the Brake-Fast Dog Bowl and did our best to keep it clean of bacteria however after a second case of canine acne we abandoned the original Brake-Fast Bowl.

However, all was not lost…we came across the metal brake-fast bowl and thought our prayers were answered.  Unfortunately we had a few problems with this bowl as well.  Check out our dog bowl review:

Metal Brake-Fast Dog Food Bowl Review

Today we are reviewing the Metal Brake-Fast Dog Food Bowl.  Here are the specifications on the bowl:

Product: Metal Brake-Fast Dog Bowl
List Price: $36.00
Product Features:

  • The Medium bowl provides for most dog sizes from Beagle to Bernese Mt. Dog. It is suitable for dogs over 30 pounds up to 120 pounds, with a narrow muzzle. Holds 5 cups of food.
  • Inside dimensions – 7″ x 2 1/4″
  • Weight = 2 pounds
  • Intentionally slides on floor to further slow the dog’s eating
  • Durable, dishwasher safe die-cast aluminum

Product Description:
New! Die-cast aluminum non-stick bowl! Brake-Fast® Dog Food Bowl’s design prevents your dog from bolting their food. The simple obstructions make dogs slow down to eat. The Medium bowl provides for most dog sizes from Beagle to Bernese Mt. Dog. It is suitable for dogs over 30 pounds up to 120 pounds, with a narrow muzzle. Holds 5 cups of food.

Puppy In Training Product Review

Product Video Review

Stetson and I decided to put the Metal Brake-Fast Dog Food Bowl to the test.  Do the pillar shape obstacles actually slow down a fast eating dog like Stetson?  Check out the video:

What did you guys think?  I added a little voice over audio this time rather then just sticking to music and on-screen text.  Unfortunately I couldn’t get a stopwatch on the screen.  I’ll see if I can do that in our next video review.

My Thoughts On The Metal Brake-Fast Dog Food Bowl

Hopefully you watched the video, but just in case you didn’t it took 38 seconds for Stetson to finish eating 1 1/2 cups of food out of his regular stainless steel bowl.  It took 1 minute and 3 second for Stetson to finish eating 1 1/2 cups of food out of the Metal Brake-Fast Dog Food Bowl.  It took 25 seconds longer to finish eating and therefore we can successfully say the the Brake-Fast bowl did it’s job and slowed Stetson’s eating.  That is a significant difference and I believe this would be a perfect dog food bowl for fast eating dogs if…

The only issue I had with this bowl is Stetson is such a violent eater that he was scratching the sides of his teeth with the bowl.  I was wondering where the grey marks on his canines were coming from and also notice a small chip on one of his canines.  I came to the conclusion that the metal pillars were damaging Stetson’s teeth.   I therefore had to stop using the Metal Brake-Fast Dog Food Bowl in fear that it was going to cause some permanent damage tos Stetson’s teeth.

However, if your dog is not a violent eater then this may be the perfect bowl for slowing down his eating.  Unfortunately Stetson and I will have to continue our search for the perfect dog food bowl.

Here are the pros and cons we found with this bowl:

Pros:

  • Heavy duty bowl – the thing weighs 2 pounds and is very solid.  It felt like a piece of granite in a box when it arrived at our door step.
  • Well constructed and designed
  • It did the job and slowed Stetson’s eating by 25 seconds.  That’s over 65 percent slow down.

Cons:

  • As mentioned earlier we believe the metal pillars were damaging Stetson’s teeth.
  • Sliding bowl is bound to damage wood and possibly stone, tile, and any delicate floors.

Overall we really liked this dog food bowl and would highly recommend it besides the two Cons we mentioned above.  If you’re interested in purchasing this dog food bowl it does come in several different sizes check out: Metal Brake-Fast Dog Food Bowl.  Also, if your dog doesn’t have any issues with plastic then try the plastic version of the Brake-Fast Dog Food Bowl.

We’re reviewing dog bowls every Tuesday for the next few months.  If you want to see an overview of some of the dog bowls then visit the Dog Bowl Reviews article.

Have you used the Metal Brake-Fast Dog Food Bowl.  If so, let us know what you thought of this dog bowl in the comments below.

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Not Quite A Dog Bowl

August 28, 2009 By 1 Comment

Welcome to part 3 of our dog bowl series.  Today we cover two water dispensing devices.  Our third product actually is a dog bowl, but didn’t fit in our two original categories:

  • Slow down the fast dog eaters
  • Traveling dog bowls

However, instead our third dog product – the Chatter Bowl is meant to keep your dog company when your not home.  I picked up these dog products over the past few years and figured they fit in the category of dispensing food or water to your dog so we can consider some of these products in-place of dog bowls.

Just in case you found us and missed our first two overview articles on dog bowls then check out these links:

  • Dog Bowl Reviews – This article is an overview of dog bowls to slow your dogs eating and drinking.  Great bowls for fast eating Labrador Retrievers.
  • Dog Bowls For Traveling – This article covers not just dog bowls, but other dog products good for dispensing food and water while traveling.

Not Quite A Dog Bowl – Well One Is…

  • Lixit Dog Waterer L-100 – these little guys have been around for a while.  Just attach to your outdoor faucet and teach your dog to lick it.

dog waterer

water dog

  • Large Chatter Bowl – Does your dog miss you when your not home.  Try the chatter bowl.

chatter bowl

We are reviewing one bowl a week every Tuesday for the next few months.  If you are interested in any of these dog bowls or products then be sure to visit the Puppy In Training website every Tuesday for our weekly review.  You can also subscribe to our RSS feed to automatically receive all of the Puppy In Training posts.

I’m sure there are many other dog food bowls and dog water bowls out there including a variety of other water and food devices.  If you’ve come across an interesting dog product you think we should review then please let us know in the comments section below.

Have you tried any of these products?  What did you think?

Filed Under: Dog Bowls, Dog Products Tagged With: , , ,

Dog Bowl Reviews

August 26, 2009 By 22 Comments

Some people are looking for a beautiful custom made ceramic dog bowl that matches the interior of their house like any other piece of art. Others however look for a functional dog bowl, one that gets a specific job done. A dog bowl for most people provides your dog’s meal and a place to drink water.

Do you think I’m looking for a dog bowl as a piece of art or for it’s functional purposes?  That’s right when I look for a dog bowl I try to find one with a purpose.  Take a look at the bowls we’ve collected and reviewed below:

Dog Bowls

That’s Linus, Derby, and Stetson trying to figure out which bowl will hold their next meal.  Not all the dog bowls reviewed are in this picture.

Be sure to check our website every Tuesday for the latest in-depth dog bowl review.  We will continue reviewing dog food and water bowls every Tuesday for the next few months.

Dog Bowls With A Purpose

As a Guide Dog Puppy Raiser and a Labrador Retriever owner we run into two problems quite often.  First of all, as a puppy raiser I take my dog everywhere and often times need a nice traveling dog bowl for both feeding and giving my puppies water.

Second, I have Labrador Retrievers and if you know Labs you’ll know they don’t eat food they gulp down food.  Early on I noticed this was a problem with Stetson.  As a puppy he would eat so fast he’d either start choking on his food or he would vomit shortly after eating.  This happened probably about every other meal.

We tried several different dog bowl options and received many suggestions from our friends and family which led to our very first dog bowl review.  We picked up the Brake-Fast Dog Food Bowl from Linus’s trainer and it helped slow down the eating frenzy.

However, shortly after using the Brake-Fast Dog Food Bowl Stetson began breaking out all over his chin.  He had canine acne and our veterinarian told us the most likely cause was using a plastic bowl.  According to our vet the plastic bowls harbor more bacteria and end up causing canine acne in some dogs.  He suggested we switch back to a stainless steel dog bowl.

That’s where our dog bowl journey begins.  We didn’t totally rule out plastic bowls, but we did keep in mind that a plastic dog bowl might cause acne in our dogs.

Dog Bowls For Fast Eaters

  • Contech EatBetter Dog Bowl – Another dog food bowl with obstacles.  A slightly different configuration then the Brake-Fast Bowl.

contech eatbetter dog bowl

Dog Pause Food Bowl

metal brake fast dog bowl

Dog-Water-Bowl

Those are the contenders for dog bowls that will help slow down a fast eating dog.  I’m sure not everyone runs into the problems associated with a speed eater like my Labrador Retrievers.  We will continue our series on Dog Bowl Reviews over the next couple days.  Tomorrow we’ll cover Traveling Dog Bowls and Products and Friday we’ll check out the ever so popular category of Not Quite A Dog Bowl (most of these products are good for traveling with your dog).

This list may grow over time as I’ve already seen some other products I’m interested in reviewing so check back often to see if your favorite dog bowl is under review.

Are there any dog bowls you think I should add to this list?  What dog bowls have you used to slow down a fast eating dog?

Beginning next Tuesday (every Tuesday we will reveal a new dog bowl review) we will start releasing in-depth reviews of each dog bowl.  Some reviews will include exclusive video footage and all reviews will have great images and detailed reviews from our staff and our dogs.

Filed Under: Dog Bowls, Featured Tagged With: , , , ,