Height of Dog Bowls

How important is the height of a dog’s bowl?  I have read a lot of information regarding barrel-chested dogs (Great Danes, Boxers, Standard Poodles, etc) and how they should be fed from an elevated bowl.  The school of thought is this would help to prevent bloat.  Having known of several dogs who died from bloat even with the use of an elevated feeding bowl, I am not so certain it is necessary.

It may look more comfortable for the dog to not bend over; however, if they were eating in a more natural setting; i.e., a rat, rabbit, squirrel, they would not carry it around in order to find something to put it on so they could be more comfortable as they ate.

I have tried elevated and the eat-like-the-rest-of-the dogs bowl on the floor and Mac (who is very tall and barrel chested) prefers to get very comfortable.  Since a contributor to bloat is caused from inhaling too much air as a dog eats quickly, I think Mac may be on to something.  There’s no chance of that with him…