Essential Tips for Picking Dog Food for Small Dogs – FAQs

Love for a furry friend brings with it a lot of responsibilities on your shoulders. If you choose to make a small dog (small breed) your friend, you can’t only cuddle it or keep it on your lap. Be equally attentive and responsible for what your dog is to be fed. Giving a balanced meal is paramount.

Since the tummy size of a small breed dog is much smaller than a big or medium breed, the food diet of a small dog should be different from that of other dogs. To make lives easy for the owners of small dogs, we are providing you a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) with their answers.

A thorough study of these FAQs will help you decide how and what to pick as food for your small dog.

Question: What is the ideal food intake of small dogs?

Answer: Rover, a popular website, has recommended a list that helps determine the ideal appetite of small dogs. For dogs weighing between 3 to 9 pounds can be fed, one quarter to half cup of food every day will be an ideal choice. The small breeds can weigh up to 25 pounds.

So, you should be aware of the necessary food intake of dogs that weigh between 10 to 25 pounds. For dogs of smaller breed, you can give three-quarters to one and a half cups of food each day.

Question: Should the small breed dogs be served lunch and dinner?

Answer: The smaller breed of dogs has smaller tummies. However, they need proper nutrition for ideal growth. So, you should not give it less quantity food than its requirement. For a dog weighing 25 pounds, you should give one and a half cups of food every day.

But it may happen that because of their small sizes, they may find it difficult to digest the food as a single attempt. So, it’s better to divide that required amount into small portions. The small portion meals work well for the small breed dogs. However, it’s not only the weight that matters. It’s the age as well.

It is essential to determine the portion meals based on the age of the small dogs as well. Your vet is the best person to create the food chart for your favorite friend.

Question: Should they be served with homemade food only?

Answer: It’s best if you can cook and serve. It’s is beneficial you give your dog natural food and cooked meals. However, you must be aware that many products in the market come with fake labels such as “All-Natural”. Be cautious of these fake ones. Try to buy from an authorized pet food store so that such camouflage can’t fool you.

The digestive health of your dog is significant. Hence, you must try maintaining a required balance of proteins, starches, carbohydrates. Include vegetables in good quantity. Choosing high-quality ingredients keep your dog healthy and happy.

Question: What types of homemade food can be served?

Answer: If you are cooking food for the dog at home, cook it well. While cooking, try to include the items such as broccoli, carrots, sweet potato, cucumber, green peas, pumpkins. Rice is good food for small breed dogs because of the carbohydrates. But don’t add sugar while cooking. It is recommended that you don’t change your recipe frequently.

The small breeds get used to a recipe, and their internal system gets adjusted to it. So, if you frequently change the recipe, the dog will feel awkward. It can affect its food intake. Also, its bowel movement can be disturbed. It can eventually affect its health.

Question:  Can the small breeds be treated with fruits?

Answer: If you are treating them with apple or berries, it’s always recommended. However, grapes should be avoided. The smaller dogs are often allergic to grapes.

Question: Which food items should be avoided for your pet?

Answer: Try to avoid the following items:

• Soy
• Corn
• Grapes
• Sugar
• Avocado
• Onion

Needless to mention, you should never give them fried food items. Even the readymade or ready-to-cook items should be avoided for your pets. Try not to share your food items such as burgers, pizza, or soft drinks with your pet. Also, don’t ever offer alcohol to them. They may vomit badly.

Question: If the small dogs are served with readymade meals, should they be branded food items?

Answer: It’s always recommended that you buy branded food for your canine friend. The non-branded food items can claim ‘All-Natural’, ‘Zero preservatives’ on the food packet, but they can cheat you. Even the ingredients they mention in the labels are often misguiding. So, it’s better to shed a few extra bucks and go for branded food products.

Question: Should the small breed dogs be served with any specially branded food product?

Answer: We are not recommending any specific brand. We would suggest you ask your vet regarding the brand. Discuss on social media platforms with other dog owners regarding the same. However, whichever brand you choose, try to stick with that one unless your dog is allergic to it. A frequent change of brands affects the taste of the dog.

Hence, that is not welcome by the dogs. If you serve your dog with food items of different brands, the dog may end up eating insufficiently.

To conclude,

To provide the essential nutrients to promote good health, you must mix their daily diet plan. Feed them fish, meat, vegetables to provide balanced nutrition.