Our oldest doodle was a year old in January. We have never been bothered about her not eating too much & have just let her graze all day. She is an f1b. We got our 2nd doodle on Monday whole is a 16 week f2b & an absolute gannet!
Now I am starting to worry that Bonnie doesn't eat enough & our other problem is that Izzy will eat Bonnies food if we don't lock them in their crates to eat (& there is still the problem that Bonnie wont eat her food straight way).
Has anyone else had this problem with their doodle being fussy eaters that don't eat alot?

Leon used to be a very picky eater, he'd sometimes not eat his dry food at all. Since he wasn't losing weight we assumed he just didn't need a lot, and, like you, would leave it down for him to snack on. Then we started fostering, and he had both competition for food and near constant exercise playing with the other dogs. The change was amazing, he started eating everything in his bowl. Now he is keen to have his meals and in lovely condition.

I suspect that you will have a similar situation with Bonnie now you have another dog. I'm sure she will eat if she feels she needs it and knows it won't be there an hour later.

Poppy (my choccy/cafe doodle) only eats what she needs, and she is a slow eater. The others are piglets and will eat anything they can get their paws on, so Poppy has her food in a room where I can shut the door. If she doesn't eat her food in about 15 minutes I take it away - sometimes she doesn't eat her breakfast - she's a trim poodley build and stays pretty much a constant weight.

How funny, this is something my OH were just talking about.

Fletcher is 18 months old and often leaves meals. I used to worry but he's incredibly healthy, and his weight is consistent so I think he's just not greedy and just eats what he needs/wants (wish I could learn that trick!). Also, every now and again, he will ask for more dinner which I always give him as I know it's not him being greedy, he's actually hungry

I've always believed that food should be given to a dog at a certain time and not left for them to graze throughout the day but Fletcher is so laid back, I don't need to be his 'alpha female/food provider' so I just leave it. He sometimes eats his breakfast at 4pm because he left it all day, and then his tea at 6pm!

BUT we are due to get another Doodle puppy on Tuesday so I will be interested to see what difference it makes!

WOW Fletchers brother comes home this week so exciting !!!!

Bonnie really reminds me of luna's sister jessie ! i imagine thats what jessie will look like when she is older absolutely beautiful.

hope you get the feeding side of things sorted - good luck xx

I'm sure your oldest doodle would not go hungry so don't worry unless she has a dramatic weight loss..
Gracie has always been a very careful, not picky eater, so I have to give her a head start with her dinner sometimes as our Gannet Maddie bolts hers down and then hovers over Gracie while she carefully eats..
I think the more Labby the Dood, the more greedy they are, especially the bitches..
Daise xxx

Grazing all day isn't really good, so it would be better to stick to regular mealtimes, ideally with the two dogs separated as you say. If she doesn't eat it, take it away. She will get hungry and eat if not for one meal, then for the next or the one after. Then you build a routine and she knows that if she doesn't eat at mealtimes, there won't be anything else until the next one. I don't know what you're feeding her, but if you're worried, try a different food with different ingredients. For example, my dog has a problem with excessive starch, and therefore doesn't take well to foods with a high potato or rice content.

This is new territory for me too! I have two terriers who you would think are constantly starving - I swear Monty hoovers his food rather than eats

Along came Phoebe and she regularly leaves her food - especially breakfast. I have tried all sorts of toppings to encourage her to eat but sometimes she just doesn't want it. She is healthy in all other respects and doesn't look underweight so I have just accepted that she may not be hungry

Either that or she prefers to eat the two pairs of reading glasses she's had this week and the new BlackBerry phone that was less than a week old (mine )