[baffy]

I have two Papillons, one male (3) and one female (2). The female is very thin, but healthy, active, great coat/hair growth. The male... is a moose. He's 12 pounds! While he is built more stocky than she is, I feel he is 2-3 pounds overweight. The vet doesn't seem concerned with either one's weight, but he's heavy heavy heavy. No health issues or parasites for either of them.

The problem is this: If I try to feed her separately, she won't eat. If I put the food down for both of them, I worry she isn't getting enough, as the male will eat the entire portion I put down if I don't stop him. I put down about 1 cup of dry food once a day, making sure he doesn't inhale all of it and picking it up when they walk away from it.

Any ideas? I wish I could take 3 pounds from him and put it on her:D

[Sariss]

Has your vet done a thyroid test on the male?

[shazamataz]

Are they both eating out of the same bowl?

This is a big no-no

You need to feed them in separate bowls and supervise them while they are eating.
If your female will not eat out of her own bowl then she will soon learn that it is the only way she is going to get fed.

I have one rather fat female here (she's a lot better since I started her diet) and a very skinny male here... they were getting the same amount of food, same treats, same exercise just my male is a little more high strung and energetic and my female is a couch potato... he also has a much faster metabolism.

[baffy]

I will try getting a different bowl for her...

And no, the vet hasn't done a thyroid test; as I said, they didn't seem concerned about his weight.

[shazamataz]

Keep perservering... she will eat out of her own bowl eventually, it's something that needs to be done to make sure they are eating the correct portions.