No longer need to worry about getting home to feed the dog if I'm working late or out for the day. Don't have to get up early if I've been out late the night before. This does the job of keeping my Black Lab happy with a meal in his belly.
I did have an earlier version of this feeder, also listed on Epinion, it broke within 3 months and was replaced by PetMate with their newer unit. This review is based on the newer unit, which has undergone some considerable updates in the timer programming (which was very clumsy) and food dispenser itself. If you have used an older LeBistro feeder in the past and were not that happy, give this another look.
Programming the unit is very simple. The display shows the current time, as well as other information on meal settings. You can program for 3 different meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner), as well as specify the amount of food to dispense for each meal (in one quarter cup increments). For my 70lb Lab, I have 1 cup dispensed for breakfast and dinner, three-quarter cup for lunch. Three squares a day for him seems to be better than the 2 meals a day he'd get before I had the dispenser. You also specify the time of day when you want the meal to be dispensed.
The feeder works by use of a paddle system (think of something similar to a paddle boat) that turns within the base unit. Each paddle holds approx 1/4 cup of food (which is why the programming is only in 1/4 cup increments. As the paddles turn it dispenses into the food bowl.
As for noise of the unit, that's always subjective. It's not quiet, you can hear it as the paddles turn, but it's not noisy. We keep the feeder in the kitchen and it doesn't bother us. It only makes a noise while it's dispensing and that only takes 5-10 seconds. Honestly the most noise we hear from the unit is the kibble as it drops into the food bowl, which serves as a summons of "dinner is served" to our Lab who knows it's time to eat.
The food container attaches firmly to the base. It turns, locking into the base. In the year since we've owned this we never had it fall off. I can't speak for every dog (as they all have a personality unique to themselves), but our 3 year old Black Lab, has never once tried to tip or move the unit. He has found that if he sticks his tongue into the feeder chute he might be able to loosen a kibble or two from the feeder. As shown in the product picture, the food container is rounded and doesn't provide a lot of opportunity for a dog to grab onto the unit. Our Lab is known for being able to open a Lazy Susan cabinet door and grab a box of cereal, chips and nuts, but he's not once (to the best of our knowledge) tried to crack into this feeder.
The large food container is more than ample to hold sufficient amount of dog food. We only need to refill it about every 2-3 weeks (holds about 5-6 lbs of dog chow). You refill the unit by removing the black top from the large feed container. This provides a very large opening that makes it very easy to fill so you don't spill. The food holder is also clear so it makes it very simple to see if you need to refill it.
The food bowl is removable from the base, this lets you easily clean the bowl.
The unit uses 3 "D" batteries to power the unit, so you can put it anywhere. It's estimated that the batteries will last up to a year. In our experience we easily get 8-10 months between battery changes. There is a "battery low" indicator light to alert you batteries need to be changed. Removing the batteries causes the unit to forget it's settings, so you need to reprogram it.
While my review has focused on using the feeder for a dog, this unit can be used to feed cats as well. I've read an interesting tip when using this feeder. As the paddles hold 1/4 cup increments, this may be too large for some smaller pets. It was suggested that you might glue a piece of Styrofoam into the paddles that dispense the food. This then reduces the amount of feed that each paddle section holds. I've not tried this, but seems to make sense as long as you use good quality glue.
This has worked without any major issues and are very pleased with it (our Lab is too).
Review updated 12/31/09 to incorporate feedback questions from pestyside (thanks for the feedback).
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