# Feeding - Does your poodle self regulate his intake?



## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

No. Poppy has always been a piglet and now she is on steroids I swear she would eat until she burst, given half the chance.


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## cowpony (Dec 30, 2009)

My spoos have all self regulated once they got to adulthood. We shall see if Ritter does. I suspect he might be a competitive eater, plus putting my obese cat on a diet means I no longer have the option to free feed the dogs. Food insecurity and boredom tend to drive animals to greed.


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## Mufar42 (Jan 1, 2017)

I feed 2x daily a regulated amount. Renn is 3 now, most times he just eats it and is done, there are days he turns his nose up and when he does I take it away until his next feeding. (usually). He doesn't gobble his food or eat fast. He is a fairly slow eater and seems to chew each morsel . He has been this way from day 1 @ 9 weeks.


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## 94Magna_Tom (Feb 23, 2021)

fjm said:


> No. Poppy has always been a piglet and now she is on steroids I swear she would eat until she burst, given half the chance.


Ha! Poppy and Elroy both!


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## 94Magna_Tom (Feb 23, 2021)

cowpony said:


> We shall see if Ritter does. I suspect he might be a competitive eater


[emoji1787] Sign him up!


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## Mel (Apr 4, 2012)

When Sandy was younger and a only dog she self regulated. Once she was spayed and I had Nova she pigged out and started gaining weight. So she and Nova gets fed twice.


Nova kinda self regulates. She hates dog food🤦‍♀️. So I have to convince her to eat. If I left her food out Sandy would eat it. It’s a pain and I wouldn’t do it except that she is underweight and we show. Most dogs will eat when they are hungry but the problem is if they go so long without eating they don’t get super hungry unless they are starving. So if they are active the body eats the body fat. So that’s kinda where I am at.


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

Peggy self-regulates.

Gracie also self-regulated for the first half of her life, until she stayed with my parents and their two dogs for five months, one of whom was a voracious eater. From then on, she couldn’t eat fast enough. It was sad to watch, actually, and a good reminder to wean your dog off free feeding ahead of any sort of communal dining situations. She later developed Cushing’s disease, which took her appetite to the next level.


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## PowersPup (Aug 28, 2020)

Topper has self-regulated since he was a small puppy. He tends to eat more supper than breakfast or lunch. If there are leftovers from breakfast, I put them in the fridge and offer them for lunch. I just transitioned him from Instinct kibble + raw to Sojos puppy (all raw), because he was SO lean and wasn't very interested in the kibble portion of his meal. He loves the Sojos but still eats it fairly slowly and often leaves some in his bowl.


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## WinnieThePoodle (Sep 1, 2020)

Winnie has almost always self regulated. I used to worry about her not eating enough but not anymore. She just has one meal in the evening now. At 6 months I went from 3 feeds to 2 but after a few months she decided one is enough. I give her a small chew at lunchtime to entertain her while we have lunch and she has training treats so altogether she is satisfied and has always gained weight even when she skipped meals entirely. I put a little bit of kibble down in the morning 'just in case' but 99.99% of the time it's untouched so I put it towards her evening meal. Even when she has her evening meal she won't finish it in one go. She has about 75% and then waits half hour to go back to finish it but even then will often leave a little bit of kibble in the bowl.


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## a2girl (Oct 4, 2020)

Hugo does not self-regulate. He is a food hound. I believe he would eat much more than I give him if he could but I do try to regulate him! As it is, he gets more than the manufacturer guidelines in terms of kibble once I start adding in what I put in his Kong/Toppl. Plus he gets extra calories from the fruits/veggies/yogurt/small amts. of peanut butter I add into his Kongs, and he also gets training treats. He does not seem overweight but he is not the elegant slim mini I sometimes see on PF. LOL! He seems to be a bit heavy in the chest.


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## TeamHellhound (Feb 5, 2021)

By "self regulate" do you mean "would down an entire 16 pound bag of kibble in one sitting if allowed to"?


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## 94Magna_Tom (Feb 23, 2021)

TeamHellhound said:


> By "self regulate" do you mean "would down an entire 16 pound bag of kibble in one sitting if allowed to"? [emoji23]


Exactly! Elroy would sure try!


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## cowpony (Dec 30, 2009)

94Magna_Tom said:


> Exactly! Elroy would sure try!


That might change once he is grown. Puppy Galen ate more puppy food than the bag recommended. On top of that, after hoovering up all his own food he'd go over and finish off whatever Pogo had left. As an adult he is a lazy breakfast eater, and he is consistently pretty ribby.


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## twyla (Apr 28, 2010)

Of the 7 I have had 4 self regulated and 3 absolutely did not


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## 94Magna_Tom (Feb 23, 2021)

cowpony said:


> That might change once he is grown. Puppy Galen ate more puppy food than the bag recommended. On top of that, after hoovering up all his own food he'd go over and finish off whatever Pogo had left. As an adult he is a lazy breakfast eater, and he is consistently pretty ribby.


I hope he does.


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## Basil_the_Spoo (Sep 1, 2020)

Basil nose ups just fine. We have to do human food in moderation, ie: grandma "special" meals. Meat off 2 instant pot chicken leggs or 1 boneless skinless chicken thigh = breakfast

~1/16th of a cup of treats won't cause upset stomachs for new her. Anymore = increased risk for unplanned disaster.

Sure wish I had Basil's metabolism.


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## Streetcar (Apr 13, 2014)

Oliver is a hearty and forever interested eater, and not one who nibbles. He would very much like it ALL and now, thank you very much 😂🤣.


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## 94Magna_Tom (Feb 23, 2021)

Streetcar said:


> Oliver is a hearty and forever interested eater, and not one who nibbles. He would very much like it ALL and now, thank you very much [emoji23][emoji1787].


Gobbling his food can make "Bloat" more likely. You can slow him down with a slow feeder bowl like this. Kong feeders slow him down just as well. Elroy would finish every one of his meals in less than a minute if he could!


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## TeamHellhound (Feb 5, 2021)

Simon's breakfast is kibble and baby food stuffed in a large Toppl and then frozen. He gets part of his dinner as a small frozen Toppl as well (if I remember to prepare it), and the other half in a bowl. Lunch is usually served as rewards during a training session. If we don't train for lunch, he gets it in either a JW treat ball or Kong Wobbler. 

Toppls Toppl®
JW Rockin Treat Ball JW PET Rockin Treat Ball - Chewy.com
Kong Wobbler KONG Wobbler Dog Toy, Large - Chewy.com

By the way, GSD puppy + Buster Cube + crate with metal pan = Dog awful racket.


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## Dianaleez (Dec 14, 2019)

Normie is inconsistent. He thinks nothing of skipping meals. He also gobbles and regurgitates - much to the dismay of humans. 

We're trying a slow feeder, but so far he says it's just not worth the trouble.


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

A slow feeder worked great for Gracie.










I think there’s a delicate balance to be achieved between slowing voracious eaters for their safety, enriching the eating experience, and creating frustration.

I don’t personally love the idea of making my dog lick their way to satiety. Time-consuming, for sure, but not a very natural way to eat. I’ve seen people creating some maddening dining scenarios on Facebook, in the Canine Enrichment group. The admin finally had to intervene.


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## TeamHellhound (Feb 5, 2021)

Simon screams like a banshee at the mere prospect of the possibility of food. Since I'm not always human in the morning, the Toppl gives me a chance to wake up and get going. The evening Toppl buys me a few minutes worth of quiet at an otherwise hectic time of feeding animals and getting my son ready for bed. The half a cup or so of kibble in his dinner bowl disappears in .05 seconds. One of these days, I'm hoping that I will be able to just feed him from a bowl like I've done all my other dogs.


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

TeamHellhound said:


> Simon screams like a banshee at the mere prospect of the possibility of food. Since I'm not always human in the morning, the Toppl gives me a chance to wake up and get going. The evening Toppl buys me a few minutes worth of quiet at an otherwise hectic time of feeding animals and getting my son ready for bed. The half a cup or so of kibble in his dinner bowl disappears in .05 seconds. One of these days, I'm hoping that I will be able to just feed him from a bowl like I've done all my other dogs.


A few minutes sounds perfectly reasonable to me. Some people in the Canine Enrichment group were bragging that their meal set-ups take _hours_ to get through. Just non-stop licking.


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## TeamHellhound (Feb 5, 2021)

PeggyTheParti said:


> A few minutes sounds perfectly reasonable to me. Some people in the Canine Enrichment group were bragging that their meal set-ups take _hours_ to get through. Just non-stop licking.


Yikes. That's too "too", IMO. His breakfast one takes about 30 minutes to get through. By then, I've usually ingested enough caffeine and sugar to at least pretend to be human, and have gotten dressed and my contacts in. His dinner one is more like 5 to 10 minutes.


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## 94Magna_Tom (Feb 23, 2021)

Elroy's meals served in his slow feed bowl gets served as 3 portions. Each portion takes about 2-3 minutes. The meals served in his Kong ball gets served as 4 portions, then he gets the liquid "gravy" (about 1/3 cup) in a bowl. Entire meal time is about 15 minutes (probably 6-8 minutes is me filling the Kong). He never seems frustrated.


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## Piper 2020 (Aug 16, 2020)

If I can't self regulate myself, I seriously doubt Bode will self regulate.


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## 94Magna_Tom (Feb 23, 2021)

Piper 2020 said:


> If I can't self regulate myself, I seriously doubt Bode will self regulate.


Ha! We expect so much from our fur babies!


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

Poppy's meals take approximately 15 seconds from the bowl hitting the floor to her wondering whether Sophy might just possibly have left a few molecules of hers. But because of her liver issues she is fed very small portions four times a day, with snacks in between, so I am not concerned. Sounds as if some of the members on the FB group needed to check the difference in definition between "enrichment" and "frustration"!


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## cowpony (Dec 30, 2009)

It sounds also like some of the enrichment people might be setting their dogs up for mouth abrasions. My mouth is always a little sore after I work my way through a popsicle or lollipop. Eating that way is fine for an occasional treat, but I can't imagine getting all my nutrition that way.


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## Spottytoes (Jul 28, 2020)

While I do regulate the amount of food Bobby eats rather than free feed, Bobby seems to self regulate because he has left food in his bowl often. He is a slow eater.


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## Piper 2020 (Aug 16, 2020)

Bode eats everything! I wanted to give him a small pill so I put it in a duck flavored pill pocket. Then I worried the pill pocket was too big and might upset his tummy. Thus, in attempting to minimize the pill pocket, the pill fell onto the floor and Bode just gobbled it up. What a pleasant suprise!


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

Piper 2020 said:


> Bode eats everything! I wanted to give him a small pill so I put it in a duck flavored pill pocket. Then I worried the pill pocket was too big and might upset his tummy. Thus, in attempting to minimize the pill pocket, the pill fell onto the floor and Bode just gobbled it up. What a pleasant suprise!


That’s helpful, for sure! But also a little worrisome when I think about how often I drop my own pills and other potentially dangerous items on the floor. I’d prioritize teaching your hungry little boy a good automatic leave-it. Proofing this is one of Peggy’s favourite “games.”


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## Dianaleez (Dec 14, 2019)

PeggyTheParti said:


> That’s helpful, for sure! But also a little worrisome when I think about how often I drop my own pills and other potentially dangerous items on the floor. I’d prioritize teaching your hungry little boy a good automatic leave-it. Proofing this is one of Peggy’s favourite “games.”


My Top 3 phrases:

I love you.

On sale.

Leave It.


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## JLH (Jul 4, 2020)

94Magna_Tom said:


> Elroy is now almost 5 months old. To date, he's never regulated his food intake. I kind of want to just keep feeding him to find out when he'll stop, but I haven't done so, and don't plan to. He'll always take treats, he'll always eat his meals to the very last morsel. This is great for training, but as he gets older, I wonder if he'll ever self regulate? Anyone's else's puppy start out like this?


I agree with others that he will slow his intake as he goes into adulthood. My spoo ate like a horse until a year. At 5 months we could never imagine she would slow down! Now on very active days she will continue to gobble down and on slower activity days or during very hot weather she will not finish her bowl. We now feed her once in the morning and once in the afternoon (we used to feed her 3x daily). The other thing to be aware of is that food amounts on the package are only a guideline. Out dog always actedy hungry so our Vet had us increase the portion substantially from what was subscribed. She had a fast metabolism combined with about 3 hours of exercise a day. We immediately noticed she felt more satisfied. Looking back we realized we were probably under feeding her. Especially if your dog is not overweight it could be that you have to feed them more. There are many exceptions but Poodles are not known to be like Labs or some other breeds that will never turn away food.


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## 94Magna_Tom (Feb 23, 2021)

JLH said:


> I agree with others that he will slow his intake as he goes into adulthood. My spoo ate like a horse until a year. At 5 months we could never imagine she would slow down! Now on very active days she will continue to gobble down and on slower activity days or during very hot weather she will not finish her bowl. We now feed her once in the morning and once in the afternoon (we used to feed her 3x daily). The other thing to be aware of is that food amounts on the package are only a guideline. Out dog always actedy hungry so our Vet had us increase the portion substantially from what was subscribed. She had a fast metabolism combined with about 3 hours of exercise a day. We immediately noticed she felt more satisfied. Looking back we realized we were probably under feeding her. Especially if your dog is not overweight it could be that you have to feed them more. There are many exceptions but Poodles are not known to be like Labs or some other breeds that will never turn away food.


I am feeding Elroy waaay more than the PPP Puppy packaging suggests. Right now, at 5 months old, he's eating 330 grams/day. I'm adding 5g/week until we hit 4 cups/day (per breeders recommendation). With the PPPP kibble, that's 468 kcal/cup (112g/cup), so right now Elroy is eating a WHOPPING 1378 kcal/day. He's still not overweight at all per my Vet (and me). He is very fit. I can easily feel his ribs and spine, but they don't stick out. If he was naked, you'd be able to see the last couple of ribs.


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## TeamHellhound (Feb 5, 2021)

I want to say that all my puppies of various breeds/mixes have routinely eaten more than the recommended amount. As adults, they have all pretty much needed less than the recommended amount. Leo, for example, was eating upwards of 6 cups of kibble a day at one time, just to keep from losing weight during a major growth spurt. Today, she gets less than 2 cups of kibble a day.


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## Rebel's mother (May 5, 2021)

Rebel ate like a starving wolf until he was 10 months old. Then overnight he became a nibbler/free feeder. It takes him forever to finish and he rarely ever eats everything in his bowl.


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## 94Magna_Tom (Feb 23, 2021)

Rebel's mother said:


> Rebel ate like a starving wolf until he was 10 months old. Then overnight he became a nibbler/free feeder. It takes him forever to finish and he rarely ever eats everything in his bowl.


Welcome to the forum! What size poodle is Rebel? Elroy (5 months, SPOO) always eats like he's starving to death.


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## Rebel's mother (May 5, 2021)

94Magna_Tom said:


> Welcome to the forum! What size poodle is Rebel? Elroy (5 months, SPOO) always eats like he's starving to death.


Thank you. Rebel is a standard male. 67 pounds of fun. 3 years 9 months


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## 94Magna_Tom (Feb 23, 2021)

Rebel's mother said:


> Thank you. Rebel is a standard male. 67 pounds of fun. 3 years 9 months


Rebel's change is encouraging! I'm hoping Elroy becomes less of a starving wolf in the future too!


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## TeamHellhound (Feb 5, 2021)

94Magna_Tom said:


> Rebel's change is encouraging! I'm hoping Elroy becomes less of a starving wolf in the future too!


Uh, when I said that Leo eats less than two cups of kibble a day, I meant that I _feed _her less than two cups of kibble a day. She would gladly eat until she physically couldn't eat any more.


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## 94Magna_Tom (Feb 23, 2021)

TeamHellhound said:


> Uh, when I said that Leo eats less than two cups of kibble a day, I meant that I _feed _her less than two cups of kibble a day. She would gladly eat until she physically couldn't eat any more.


So that would be a "No" on self regulating then! 
I think Elroy would eat until he exploded if I let him. Although today during his breakfast, he paused, for like 15 seconds, when I set the bowl down for the 2nd half of his meal (I serve each meal in two or three portions).


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## a2girl (Oct 4, 2020)

Just as I thought that Hugo was a food hound, he seems to be eliminating his lunchtime meal. He just turned 6 months old. But it could be a function of his getting a Toppl Kong in his crate during the morning (I am prepping him for my return to the office after Labor Day) that is curbing his midday appetite. It could also be that it is hot as Hades here and so his exercise is more of the brainwork type because of that. But it's the first I've seen of him not being super avid for food all the time.


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## Olive Love (Jul 22, 2020)

Olive does regulate. In fact, she regulates a bit too much. She is quite a picky eater who will eat if it tastes good. If it does not, she will watch to see if she can get anything better, if not she will eat if she is hungry.


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## Puppy Love (Aug 10, 2015)

Mine is a 4 lb toy poodle. He is five years old and has always been a little piggy. He too, I'm quite sure would eat until he popped. I have always wondered at what point he would stop if given the chance to just go for it.


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## 94Magna_Tom (Feb 23, 2021)

Puppy Love said:


> I have always wondered at what point he would stop if given the chance to just go for it.


HaHa! "...just go for it."
I love the way you put that! My thoughts (for Elroy) exactly!


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## Deere (Jun 25, 2021)

94Magna_Tom said:


> Elroy is now almost 5 months old. To date, he's never regulated his food intake. I kind of want to just keep feeding him to find out when he'll stop, but I haven't done so, and don't plan to. He'll always take treats, he'll always eat his meals to the very last morsel. This is great for training, but as he gets older, I wonder if he'll ever self regulate? Anyone's else's puppy start out like this?


Ivan is the 1st dog I have had that self regulates It is kinda weird because all rest have been x2 day and they ate everything. I have the opposite problem with Ivan; he went from a Raw Diet to kibble( because of health reason I can't handle raw food) and he needs to gain weight.


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## Deere (Jun 25, 2021)

PeggyTheParti said:


> A slow feeder worked great for Gracie.
> 
> View attachment 478625
> 
> ...


I love the bow. What a great way to keep the rest of her face clean.


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

Deere said:


> I love the bow. What a great way to keep the rest of her face clean.


She’d just had some ointment applied to a sore, but a bandana would totally work to hold long ears back. And it’s cute.


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