Is my Bernedoodle underweight and how should I feed?

Lots of times I hear people worried about their Doodle’s weight but I gotta tell you that they have Poodle genes. Their weight may not be a problem unless your vet says they need to gain weight. Poodles have a high metabolism and eat when they’re hungry. (If only people were like that. ) It’s out of the norm to see an overweight Standard Poodle. In fact, I would have them checked for a thyroid issue if they were overweight. (I’ve had Standard Poodles for 35+ years.)

As far as feeding, my vet says that I’ve probably not seen bloat in our dogs because I feed them in their crate or in a quiet place (breakfast and dinner) and make them rest and digest their food for about 1.5 hours. It increases their chance for a tummy twist if they eat and then run and play. Also bloat can happen if your dog is heavily panting and then drinks water. You want to let them cool down (by panting) and maybe relaxing on a cool floor before giving them water.

Tummy twists are a life threatening emergency and can happen to any dog but especially deep chested dogs like Standard Poodles, Labrador Retrievers, Great Danes, Dobermans, Irish Wolfhounds, and even Bernese Mountain Dogs to name a few.