A specialized bowl for french bulldogs? You can’t be serious.
I’m so serious.
We got a chance to try out a bowl made specifically for frenchies (and other smushy-faced breeds). We were a little skeptical, since a bowl can’t possibly be anything more than a bowl. I guess I was wrong.
Why a specialized bowl for french bulldogs? Why not…a regular bowl?
The whole idea might seem preposterous and ridiculous, so let me start with this. Think of this as a luxury for your french bulldog. We found practical uses for the bowl, including reducing the amount of choking and coughing while our frenchies scarf down their food. So it goes both ways. In the end, these things are dirt cheap, so nothing is really lost if you don’t observe any noticeable benefits. We found that our french bulldogs appear to be much more comfortable while stuffing their face.
This began when we noticed that our female French Bulldog began to, literally, try to inhale her food. She was displaying food aggression towards her puppies and would eat so fast that she choked. I scratched my head over it for a little while and then someone told me to google search “Enhanced Pet Bowl”. So, off I went. At the other end of a google search I found myself looking at a specialized bowl for french bulldogs.
The bowl itself is kind of funny-looking. It has a progressing angle with the front rim being significantly closer to the ground than the back. It was new to us in every way. We had been using elevated bowls for years. We decided to take the plunge and we bought one of them. We have to buy things one at a time–even though we have five french bulldogs. If they end up not using it, we usually pass whatever “it” is along to someone else. Try before you buy (for the rest of your frenchies, haha).
The Principle Behind a Specialty Bowl for French Bulldogs
The idea is simple. French bulldogs are close to the ground and they have thick necks. It isn’t ideal for them to fully extend their head horizontally while eating. The ideal position would be to hover over their food (“prey”) like they would in wild nature. In this position, there’s less strain on their neck and they can adjust their forward/backward distance from the bowl as needed. With an elevated bowl, your french bulldog would just find her chin sitting on the edge if she took two steps backwards. The idea behind this bowl is to put your french bulldog into a more comfortable position while eating. The hope is that doing so will encourage better eating habits (i.e. slower ingestion) and more chewing.
The bowl also has an inclined feeding surface, which encourages the food to progressively shift down towards the lowest part of the bowl. This aids in keeping your frenchie’s face closest to the most dense portion of food while they eat. What we’ve observed so far is that the bowl definitely makes our female French Bulldog choke and gag less, but she doesn’t eat any slower. This isn’t surprising. There are specialty slow-feeding bowls for that purpose, which we also have. Overall, we’re pleased with the results, so after we move into our new home, we’ll likely purchase 4 more for the rest of the smushy-face crew.
Order From Frenchie Shop
So, what are the benefits of a food bowl for french bulldogs?
Well, the benefits aren’t so cut and dry. This is a luxury item but we’ve found practical uses for it.
- Correct posture while eating.
- Low front rim allows your frenchie to get closer to their food.
- More comfortable and natural stance while eating.
- Decreases strain on your french bulldog’s neck.
- Conducive to slower eating and more chewing, but we’ve not observed this yet.
Hi Jordan. Thank you n your wife for your web site info. As a new (8 months n 3weeks) French Bulldog owner lol I find your site very informative n appreciate your advice on related n varied issues. Love my Jagger he has completely taken over my life for the better. Still getting used to the silent n deadly wind passing – it can be really nasty smelling at times n leaves me gagging. Lol. Thanks again guys. Cheers Kay
Thanks so much for your kind words, Kay! Those french bulldog farts are of legendary proportion and stench. Thanks to you and all the best.
I have fallen in love with this breed, and I am trying to learn everything I can about them. Can you help me to understand about the illnesses that they can get. I joined a site that use a lot of abbreviation like at/ay words like tri carrier and I dont know what they mean. I continue to do research about the breed so I am aware of the types of breathing problems they can have, but I want to understand the lineage
Do you recommend a stand for the specialty bowl or is it ok on the ground. What about for water, do you just use a regular bowl?
Found your info very interesting- I have a rescue frenchie – got her in December she’s about 9 months now and although had a clean bill of health over the last two weeks has suddenly started being sick every day – the vet thought she might have a blockage and opened her up but there was no blockage- no one seems to know why she’s sick. There’s no pattern to it and she seems bright in herself mostly – any thoughts? I’d be so grateful love my puppy and am v worried about her. She was fine and now she’s being sick most days but now not every day so you think she’s better and then it starts again. Tried food changes drugs from the vet – where next?
Thank you
Are you using any essential oils in a diffuser? Some especially Tea Tree oil is toxic to them. If not, Maybe try adding a probiotic.
May I ask which bowl is in the very first picture of this blog? It’s not the bowl linked here because that one is elevated, and it’s almost flat…perfect for a Frenchie. I’d love to get one for my little guy, but I can’t seem to find one.
Hey Melissa, that picture was submitted by someone with a Boston Terrier, and they told me that the bowl in the photo came from Amazon, but I’ve not been successful in digging it up. I will agree, it looks even more appropriate than the bowls I tested out in this post.
I believe it’s this bowl YMAXGO Ceramics Single Food Feeding Bowl Set for Flat Face Dogs/Cats, Double Non-Slip Design found on amazon
I have a Frenchie name is Luna and she is 9 months old. I bathe her with Earthbaths/Oatmeal shampoo, however she is still very scratchy. Our Vet prescribed Apoquel, but really wish I could narrow down the cause of her itching/allergy.
Deb
My French bulldog eats her wet food very fast and takes in a lot of air and therefore has a ton of terrible gas.
I have been looking for a bowl for wet food that slows down her eating. All the bowls I see are for dry food :(.
Please help
My Frenchie eats like a cat, she licks her food rather than chewing. As a result, she ends up ingesting a lot of air while she eats. I figured it out because almost immediately after eating she would walk to the same spot in the kitchen and wait to burp or on occasion she’d upchuck.
It was awful to watch, she’d throw up a bit of food and then re-eat it.
There are two steps in our kitchen that go up to a different area in the house, so I actually sit on the lower step at every feeding and now hand feed her. I feed her raw food that is fairly easy to form into small little balls. It makes her sound incredibly spoiled but I really enjoy the opportunity to spend the time with her, it guarantees shes not ingesting a bunch of air and I’m able to regulate how quickly she eats. It sounds like a lot of work but I do really enjoy the time with her, and it only takes minutes to do.
I was interested in buying a French bulldog.Had a couple questions.This beeder,located in Las Vegas,shot me down,called me names.Happens his partner in crime is a kid,that used to come to my house all the time.He had no mom,so I was a mother to him.So He called me nuts,and leave them alone.I think they are not good breeders.