Feeding - different age/size doodles

[Mary Minier]

I'm not sure I've seen this specific question addressed. We have a 2 1/2 year old standard goldendoodle, 55 pounds. We just adopted a 9 month old mini goldendoodle, 20 pounds. We feed our bigger dog the large breed dog food, so try to keep the little one away from this. Problem is, they each refuse to eat their own food, and only want the others' - to the extent that they will go all day without eating unless we allow them to eat each others food....  

Is there any food that could be fed to both pups considering their ages and sizes?

Thank you in advance!!

[Erin]

Others here have more knowledge on this topic, but I do believe that your standard sized pup does not need large breed food based on his size.

[Kristina 'n Parker]

I experienced the same problem. I would feed younger dog in her crate initially. Now I can come back from a walk and have them sit for their bowls and they will eat from their own bowl only. I do place some adult kibble (Orijen) on the 10 mo old puppy food - she's eating Fromm - that seams to satisfy her. Once I'm done with the current container of puppy food I'm going to feed them both the same Orijen recipe. The older one lights up when she smells Origen.

My older goldendoodle is 3 - they share the same mom are 15 lbs different in size and have very different coats.

[Amy and Annabelle]

Your larger dog does not need large breed dog food. That food is for the BIG dogs, like Great Danes or Mastiffs. They can both eat the same regular dog food. Now they would need different amounts. One downside of dogs stealing each others food is, you don't know if one is underfed and the other over.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Limiting mealtime to 10 minutes instead of free feeding, and supervising while they eat helps with that. 

[Amy and Annabelle]

Yeah, I agree about free feeding. I would probably separate them for meal times if it was a big issue and the dogs wouldn't eat without sharing. Maybe have the little one eat in the expen and the other out with his food being well away from the other.

[Lori, Daphne, Lucy & Pippa]

Again, Karen is right! I have a big food thief and one who eats like my grandmother so I have to stand by while they all eat to keep that from happening. 

[Lori, Daphne, Lucy & Pippa]

My girls, all different sizes and different ages all eat Zignature which is an all life stages food. They may require more of it as a puppy because they need more calories but the instructions for that are on the bag.

Im guessing Karen will answer too but we have all learned that your 55b Doodle does not need a large breed food.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

As a couple of others have mentioned, your older dog does not need a "large breed" formula. Those are really meant for the giant breeds, dogs who weigh more than 80 or 90 lbs as adults and who don;t reach their full skeletal growth until well into their second year. 

At 9 months old, a mini's bone growth should be just about complete, so you can switch both dogs to an adult or "all life stages" formula. Be sure to check feeding amounts on the new food, as it will most likely vary from the large breed and puppy formulas.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

If you work on it a bit you can keep them out of each others' food dishes - most of the time (never 100% fool proof) :-}.  Put both of them in a sit-stay or sit-wait (whatever your command training is).  They should learn that they have to wait until YOU release them to eat before going to their bowl.  Supervise as needed.  I play games with Clancy and Charlie in that I switch it up - sometimes I release one at a time, sometimes both together.  Ned doesn't join in the games because he prefers to eat on his own.  His food is set down also though, and if he doesn't come to it by shortly after the others are finished, it is picked up.