How Should a Doodle Eat His or Her Kibble?

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

Winston eats funny. He has started eating by taking one or two kibbles at a time taking them out of the bowl and chewing them up, then he goes back for a few more. He grazes on his food throughout the day. Sophie used to graze but is now becoming a bit of a gobbler.

I've been feeding the doodles the same food out of the same bowl. I used to feed them in seperate bowls but they would often just eat out of each others' bowls grazing on both throughout the day. So I just started putting all the food on one bowl and leaving it out in the morning, giving them a bit more in the evening. This has been working fine, and neither of them is under or over weight, so I figured it was working. But now that Sophie has been gobbling, and Winston eating as delicately as the Queen of England, I'm not really sure I should be doing this anymore.

I'm wondering if anyone else finds it strange that Winston eats the way he does? Do other doodles do this? How do others handle feeding two doodles at once? I know I can do the 'put the food down for 20 minutes and pick up again' thing, but I had thought it's not necessary. Now I'm not sure. Should I be structuring meals a bit more?

[Amy, Cubbie & Ollie]

I feed my two in separate sides of the kitchen with separate bowls for food and water (though they end up sharing water bowls).  Ollie will inhale his food and eats 3/4 cup in less time than it takes Cubbie to eat 1/2 cup.  Cubbie will stand there and chew every single piece of kibble.  Sometimes he will start eating by taking a small mouthful of kibble and spit it out on the carpet and then go back and eat from the bowl.  He used to finish the carpet kibble once his bowl was empty, but Ollie now runs to the carpet as soon as he finishes inhaling eating to polish off Cubbie's carpet kibble too.  I keep Ollie away from Cubbie's bowl and if Cubbie leaves anything in the bowl it gets picked up right away so Ollie doesn't help himself.  I do this to avoid any problems though. 

I think the free feeding works best when there is only 1 dog but when there are 2 things are a bit different.  I guess I just might be a bit more cautious because the of tension that is sometimes between my two, but I think I would still do things the same way even if they were the best of buddies all the time.

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

I have the world's smallest kitchen so space is a bit of an issue for me. It helps to have one set of bowls as i really don't have any space for two sets. I am thinking of moving my living room around and bringing the crate out into the living room and feeding Sophie there. If I put the food at the back of the crate Winnie won't go inside looking for it. On the other hand, keeping Sophie away from Winnie's food won't be easy. I guess I'll have to do the 20 minute thing. I guess I'm just a big lazy in the mornings and am always in a rush so it's been helpful to just throw the food in the bowl and run. I guess if I put the food out while I'm making my coffee and getting ready I can pick it up again before I leave. Hopefully Winston speeds things up a bit and it won't take too long to get used to.

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

p.s. I love how Cubbie has carpet kibble. Sounds like cubbie and winston are similar!

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

On days when you're home have you been able to tell whether or not Sophie is getting more of the food....because she's a gobbler?  If Sophie is getting more and not leaving enough for Winston, then I think that would be a problem.  If that's the case, I would put the food down...leave in for 20 to 30 minutes and then pick it up. It may take a few days, but they'll figure out that they need to eat it when you present it to them.  I feed my guys twice a day in separate bowls (they eat different food).  They eat theirs up immediately, but I've never free fed them.  If that's not the case, and they're each getting their fair share, then you many not need to change anything.

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

I actually can't tell exactly, but I do feel that Winston eats in the evenings. He's not starving or anything so I think he's fine. sometimes I try to encourage him to go to the food bowl and he doesn't seem to want to, so I guess he's fine.

 

Sophie doesn't gobble like crazy, just that when she does eat, she'll eat all in one go, face in the bowl, as opposed to Winston, who sort of comes and goes taking a few kibble here and there.

 

There is almost always food left in the bowl when I get home from work, and I add a bit more for dinner, and it's usually all gone by bed time.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

If there's usually food in the bowl when you get home, then Winston could have eaten if he was hungry.  It's not like Sophie is eating it all and he's not getting the opportunity to eat when he wants to. 

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

My vet's reasoning for getting us to do meal feedings instead of "grazing" is that if they ever need to be on medication (full stomach or empty stomach), then it's nice to have them be used to eating at specific times.

Of course, then you get to the stage that Luna's at where it's 1/2 hour before meal time and she's giving me the puppy eyes ;)

Even though she's only fed twice a day, Luna eats like a dainty princess eating 2-3 kibbles at a time and always chewing.

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

That sounds like a good enough reason to me. I hope they are never on that kind of medication, but you're right, it would be helpful to have scheduled meal times.

 

Awe, Princess Luna, what a delicate little angel she is ;-)

[F, Calla & Luca]

I could never do this. Luca is the grazer and he walks away and chews and goes back. Sometimes he doesn't eat til dinnertime but usually, not always, he'll eventually finish his food. He always leaves a toy by his bowl so I know he's probably the one who's eaten the food. Both dogs get food set in their downstairs crates. Calla inhales hers. If Luca is not eating I take his bowl upstairs with me or lock his crate because Calla will eat all of Luca's food after her own. I hate it when I forget to close the crate. Generally if each piece of kibble is polished off, and there's no toy, I know Ms. Piglet has been at work. Then I'll give Luca more later. The case is solved if he eats it. I wish I could free feed.

[Gail+Kathleen,(Sydney+Olivia:)]

Our Doodles, Sydney and Olivia have very different eating habits.  Sydney inhales her food (then comes over to us to help her burp (can you believe we have to burp our 7 year old puppy????).  While this is gong on, Olivia is taking one bite of kibble at a time and walking back and forth to her bowl.  We do separate their bowls so they cannot see each other eating.  But Sydney is such a "piggie", she will wait for Olivia to walk away from her bowl (thinking that Olivia is done eating) and attempt to finish Olivia's bowl.  This only took one time and Olivia growled and snapped at Sydney.  Now, Sydney waits for Olivia to be finished eating and waits for us to move Olivia's bowl over to Sydney's bowl to finish the few kibbles left.  EACH DOODLE SEEMS TO HAVE THEIR OWN HABIT FOR DINNING!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Regarding the way Winston eats, I've had dogs who do that. In fact, I had one who would carry a few pieces of food over to a rug in the doorway to the dining room, eat it there, go back to the bowl, and repeat. That in itself wouldn't bother me.

However, in your case, my concern would be that Winston is deferring to Sophie because he isn't sure that the food is his, and/or she's younger, smaller, and was there first. I really think he needs his own bowl of food. Also, you really have no way to know how much food each dog is eating on a regular basis, and to me that's important information, especially if a health issue does develop. There may be times when they need to be on different foods, too.

I would try feeding them in separate bowls and picking up the bowls before you leave for work. Winston will figure out that he either eats then or waits until dinner. At dinner when you are there to supervise, he can have more time.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Sounds like good sense to me.