Gravity Fed Food Dispensers

PoetikDragon

We had a galvanized dog feeder for my Labrador when I was a kid, and he could eat dry food whenever he wanted. He did gorge himself (he was a Lab after all) but overall I feel it worked well. Now I am contemplating getting similar feeders for each of my four dog runs. But I need help deciding!

http://www.amazon.com/PetSafe-Healthy-Station-Large-PFD17-11860/dp/B002RT8M5W/
http://www.amazon.com/Little-Giant25-Galvanized-Feeder-CH25/dp/B000FK03LQ/
http://www.amazon.com/Bergan-Aut-O-Dine-25-Colors-Vary/dp/B000BQSKS2/

First of all, these are all rated by the weight of the food rather than by the volume. So I weighed a cup of our dry food and did some quick math:

1 cup = 3 ounces
1 day = 2.5 cups per dog (they also get canned food)
1 day = 7.5 ounces per dog

10 pounds = 160 ounces
10 pounds = ~21.3 days per dog
10 pounds = 3 weeks per dog

25 pounds = 400 ounces
25 pounds = ~53.3 days per dog
25 pounds = 7.5 weeks per dog

Now here are my thoughts so far on each one:

PetSafe Dog and Cat Food Station with Stainless Steel Bowl
Pros: Its pretty! Seriously, I like the look. Also, a smaller amount of food means that if it goes bad (eg. mold) there is less wasted. It should last me about 3 weeks which seems plenty. Has a beautiful matching water tower.
Cons: The food is exposed, which means getting wet and going moldy is highly likely. Other animals can access the food, and being out in the open will encourage ants. The shape of the container is inefficient. It might not mount easily on chain link, being round.

Little Giant 25Lb Chow Hound Galvanized Dog Feeder
Pros: Metal is more difficult for dogs to chew up and destroy. Holds more food than the one above, which means less time spent refilling the bins. Magnets keep the door secured close. Can be mounted with a shim on the back to make the gravity feed work better. Food is protected from the elements.
Cons: More food means more wastage if water gets in. Some reviews complained about the thin metal being easy to bend. I have concerns about suspending 25lbs of food off the ground in a flimsy container. It will eventually rust out (although some reviews said it took 15+ years).

Bergan Aut-O-Dine 25
Pros: Matches our dog kennel and wont rust. Holds more food than the first feeder, so less time spent refilling the bins. Plastic has baffling which will help it hold its shape better.
Cons: More food means more wastage if water gets in. Dogs can chew and claw up plastic very easily. The door is only held shut by gravity and can get stuck open. Some reviews complained about the gravity feeder not dispensing food properly and getting stuck.

What are your thoughts? If you've got another gravity feeder to recommend, I'd be happy to hear about it. I picked these three from those available on Amazon because of their pros/cons but also because they're all under $40 and eligible for amazon prime free shipping. Price is a big concern since I will be buying 4.

lindsayt

Whatever your reasons for going with hands off feeders are, do you really need that for 4 runs? All I remember about gravity feeders when used for the farm dogs growing up, was 1) ants, 2) mold, and 3) bored fat dogs. I would avoid plastic and place them on a side of the runs that is covered and that abuts a solid wall to keep the rain out. Rinsing and washing them out with soap whenever you refill will keep things cleaner.

ayk

I thought it was plastic that would discolor noses, not stainless steel?

PoetikDragon

@lindsayt part of my reasoning is that I want to remove the excitement of meal time. If the food is always available, there's less to get excited over. By reducing the excitement I hope to minimize Gojira's food issues with the other dogs. I have observed that she doesn't actually want to eat her dry food and doesn't care if a dog goes near it (on the other side of the fence) after its been in her dish for a while. But when I am taking the food out to them for breakfast she gets all worked up and will snarl and be nasty at the dogs in the other runs, sometimes before I've even put food in her bowl. Its the expectation and excitement, not the food itself, which she reacts inappropriately to. Having the feeders for only some of the runs wouldn't help, as she would still get over excited by me bringing out food for whomever its for. Possibly, she'd even get more jealous that they get something in a bowl and she only has this crappy feeder (even though its the same food).

The other part is that I feel all of my dogs do not eat enough and need to put on some weight so I hope that if they have more access they will eat what they need and fill out. They are no longer puppies that act like they are starving themselves and gorge at every meal, or I wouldn't be considering it. I very often see dry food left in Gojira's and Mosura's bowls a long time after meal time. They eventualy get around to eating it. Its possible, if the option existed, that they would "graze" a little more and put on some healthy weight. That said, its easy to *not* use the feeder or regulate how much I put in it and how often, if I do think they are becoming fat.

Also, my dogs all need different amounts of food and it changes based on moods and who is in heat and its honestly difficult for me to keep track of. The 2.5 cups listed above is the average but not the norm. Lastly, with four dogs the canned food is getting expensive. My husband wants to cut back on the canned and use more dry food to offset the cost. If they fill up grazing during the day it will be easier to cut back on the canned.

Oh, my dogs do not spend all or even most of the time in their runs. But sometimes my husband and I have to go somewhere early in the afternoon well before dinner time (3pm or so) and wont be back until very late (1am or so). We feed them before we leave, but its still a huge stretch of time. Having something to tide them over is a plus. I wouldn't leave a dog locked up somewhere it couldn't potty that long, and I don't think it should be without food or water that long either.