Skinny Doodle!!!

[Kelli, Fenway, & Dustin Pedroia]

My girl Fenway is a medium labradoodle and super duper active. She doesn't stay still for very long unlike our other doodle who is the laziest dog I've ever met. She weighs between 28 and 30 pounds, but she is sooo skinny! She has always been a petit little thing. You don't notice it too much until you pick her up or when she's wet and shrinks to about half her size. All of that fur really hides how skinny she is. The vet does not seem concerned and she's healthy, but I would really like to see her weigh a little more. Since she was a baby she really hasn't been concerned with food. She can take it or leave it (even human food). She will eat, but only a little and is much more of a grazer, never even eating all of her food in one day. We've tried mixing cheese, broth, yogurt, and various other things that she really likes in with her food to try to entice her. This may work for a day or two, but then she's not interested anymore. We have to be very careful about the type of food we feed her anyway, because she has very sensitive skin and her hair starts falling out when we feed her stuff with chicken or chicken parts in it so we stick mostly to lamb and salmon, which we've had more luck with. Does anyone have any other suggestions to fatten Fenway up a little bit? I don't think she's unhealthy, but I wish she had just a little more meat on her bones. Does anyone else feel like their doodle is a little too skinny? What did you do about it?

[Kim]

My Medium Goldendoodle Allie is kind of the same way - she can take the food or leave it. When we brought her home, I tried to feed her 3 times a day - but she would NEVER eat when we wanted her to, and we thought it would be cruel to take it away... Our breeder advised that we DO NOT free feed... but I feel like I have no other choice. I don't want her to starve, and figure that when she wants to eat she will eat. I do take the food dish away 1-2 hours before bed though. She never ends up eating the amount the package of food recommends per day, but the Vet is happy with her size, she is around 40 pounds and will probably not get any bigger, so until he tells me differently, I will keep free feeding her.

[Barbara Burrows]

Abby is a medium and weighs 21 pounds at 17 months. Molly is a mini and weighs 17 pounds at 11 months. Their vet said Abby's weight is fine, she is healthy, she just has a small build. When we got Molly I started mixing a little EVO meat with Abby's food, to get her to eat before Molly ate for both of them. She eats 1 cup a day but has not gained any weight since she was 10 months old. I would like her to weigh about 28 pounds but I don't think she ever will.

[Tegan]

My girl Kali is the same, she is a very tall standard goldendoodle but only weighs 53lbs (even though she eats everything in sight). My vet thinks that she is perfect the way she is. I was a little worried that she was underweight but at our last check up despite the fact that she had lost a few lbs our vet thought she looked great. If your vet isn't concerned perhaps you don't need to fatten her up. It's a lot healthier for her to stay slim (especially for her joints).