If you feel that raised dog bowls are unnecessary and fancy products that have absolutely no practical utility for dogs, then just take your meals sitting on the floor for an entire week.

Sitting on the cold and hard floor and straining yourself for every bite will not be enjoyable. Once you realize how tough it is to sit on the floor and eat, you can appreciate how your dog feels about eating from bowls placed on the floor.

Humans make use of their hands, spoons and forks to bring the food to their mouths. Dogs do not have the ability to use their hands to eat. They simply dip their mouth into the bowl to lap up the food.

A young dog or a small dog may not have a lot of trouble eating off bowls placed on the floor. However, a big dog or an aged dog or a dog suffering from illnesses like arthritis will not find it easy to eat from bowls placed on the floor.

There is no doubt that raised dog bowls are very comfortable. There is no reason to deny this comfort to your dog. Just because a dog is not human does not mean it should be denied comforts and facilities.

Further, getting such a bowl will help you as well. One thing that humans can learn from dogs is to enjoy a meal. A dog will never hide its joy and pleasure when eating a good and tasty meal.

However, one dirty consequence of this tendency of the dog is that it often ends up spilling food and water all around the bowl. It is not hygienic to allow the spilt food and water to remain on the floor. The mess has to be cleaned up promptly.

If your child makes a mess while eating, you can punish the child by asking him or her to clean up the mess. However, you cannot ask the dog to clean up the mess. The smartest thing to do is not prevent the dog from making a mess

Raised dog bowls are very helpful in this regard. Further benefits of these bowls are:

1. Less strain on the joint and muscles of the dog.

2. Dog swallow less air when eating from raised bowls. This speeds up digestion.

3. Good posture is good for the long term health of the dog.

When buying a dog feeder, consider the following points:

• The bowl should rest not less than six inches below the dog's front shoulder.

• The bowl should be big enough to hold the entire meal of the dog. You can avoid filling the bowl again and again.

• Get light weight, easy to clean, rot resistant bowls. The bowls should not conduct heat well. This will ensure that the dog’s tongue does not get scalded by the hot bowl.

• Get bowls made of good quality metal or plastic.

• Opt for colorful bowls. Your dog will enjoy eating its food from brightly colored raised dog bowls.

OK, who has these at home? Show of hands, please!