# What do you feed your tiny toys?



## Basil_the_Spoo (Sep 1, 2020)

Why not just feed her 3 pucks?


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## LittleCloud (Apr 21, 2021)

Nano is not a tiny toy despite the name  but our vet did tell me, that he needed to gain weight when I got him. He is on kibble (Farmina N&D) These are the things that helped us:

Soaking kibble
Calorie dense foods (check kcal/kg on packaging and compare)
Foods made for dogs recovering from surgery (calorie dense, easily absorbed and palatable)
Adding a little wet food on soaked kibble randomly, it’s always exiting when it’s new. Maybe in your case you could chop the stake super fine and mix it in? I know how they pick it out if it’s not small enough 
Using food for training (even if Nano isn’t interested in his bowl he’ll take a bite if it’s in my hand and he has to work for it)
Exercise, Nano can get super hungry after an intense game of fetch or running around outside, so it’s a good time to offer him a meal

Ultimately he is still a picky eater and skips meals, but I don’t worry, he self regulates.


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## twyla (Apr 28, 2010)

What does your vet say? 

Poodles are lean by nature, and it's humans that make small dogs picky unless there is a medical reason no dog will starve itself.

How much do you think your dog needs to eat as in calories?

I calorie count for my dogs which means I include their meals and treats.

My toys eat two ounces of kibble twice a day, they get a teaspoon of peanut butter and fish chews every other day. My toys are 6 pounds and 8 1/2 pounds, they eat more in the winter but not that much it's about 180 calories.


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## MittyKittythePoodle (12 mo ago)

Basil_the_Spoo said:


> Why not just feed her 3 pucks?


Unfortunately she is not begging for more. It’s a struggle to get her to eat 2 as is. If she was scarfing them down I would for sure give her more.


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## MittyKittythePoodle (12 mo ago)

twyla said:


> What does your vet say?
> 
> Poodles are lean by nature, and it's humans that make small dogs picky unless there is a medical reason no dog will starve itself.
> 
> ...


The vet is a bit useless and that is why I’m switching this spring. He says she needs to gain weight but then when I ask him how, he jus gave me some wet food that they give post op dogs. When I gave it to Mittens she just stared at it and sniffed it and walked away, lol.

The peanut butter a good idea and probably I should just give a few chewy treats every day. Thanks for your response 😊


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

How are her meals spread out? I would assume she can only handle a _very_ small amount at a time. Maybe try increasing meal frequency, but reducing portions?


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## MittyKittythePoodle (12 mo ago)

LittleCloud said:


> Nano is not a tiny toy despite the name  but our vet did tell me, that he needed to gain weight when I got him. He is on kibble (Farmina N&D) These are the things that helped us:
> 
> Soaking kibble
> Calorie dense foods (check kcal/kg on packaging and compare)
> ...


Appreciate all the ideas! It’s true we should exercise her more, maybe it’ll increase her appetite. When she was a pup we used to wet her kibble and then hand feed it to her. I think a lot of it with Mittens is her attitude. She likes beef, but then even if you feed it to her a bunch of days in a row she does get sick of it. She does like variety so maybe I could switch up the flavours of the freeze dried raw she eats. I also give the Farmina ND, I give her the puppy formula for small dogs the Blueberry, Lamb and Pumpkin, she’s so so about it.


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## MittyKittythePoodle (12 mo ago)

PeggyTheParti said:


> How are her meals spread out? I would assume she can only handle a _very_ small amount at a time. Maybe try increasing meal frequency, but reducing portions?


I let her graze all day and when she runs out of food I just give her more. She’s not a big morning eater.


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

My three are all toys but not tiny - around 4 times Mittens' weight. Poppy is now on a special hepatic canned food with added chicken but mostly I take the calorie counting approach and cook for them myself. They get a mix of chicken and beef and sometimes lamb with a few mixed vegetables, balanced with liver and calcium if the meat does not already include offal and ground bone. The latest batch was jazzed up with a few ounces of chopped chicken hearts and some canned pumpkin. If ever my dogs stop eating I know there is something wrong - they love their food!

Given how tiny Mittens is I would seriously consider cooking for her. She may find the smell and texture of cooked ground meat in gravy more appealing than dry nuggets, and even if you source the meat from a supermarket it would not cost much, given how little she needs. The basic principles are: use a variety of protein sources; include a small amount of organ meats especially liver; and take care to include the correct levels of calcium (DogAware.com: Homemade Diets for Dogs). Cooking in batches and freezing in ice cube trays would enable you to offer her something different every day if necessary.


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## MittyKittythePoodle (12 mo ago)

fjm said:


> My three are all toys but not tiny - around 4 times Mittens' weight. Poppy is now on a special hepatic canned food with added chicken but mostly I take the calorie counting approach and cook for them myself. They get a mix of chicken and beef and sometimes lamb with a few mixed vegetables, balanced with liver and calcium if the meat does not already include offal and ground bone. The latest batch was jazzed up with a few ounces of chopped chicken hearts and some canned pumpkin. If ever my dogs stop eating I know there is something wrong - they love their food!
> 
> Given how tiny Mittens is I would seriously consider cooking for her. She may find the smell and texture of cooked ground meat in gravy more appealing than dry nuggets, and even if you source the meat from a supermarket it would not cost much, given how little she needs. The basic principles are: use a variety of protein sources; include a small amount of organ meats especially liver; and take care to include the correct levels of calcium (DogAware.com: Homemade Diets for Dogs). Cooking in batches and freezing in ice cube trays would enable you to offer her something different every day if necessary.


She would like that very much I think. Do your dogs get runny stools? I find that she does get an upset tummy if I feed her our food (ie. chicken or lean parts of a roast) on a regular basis. If it’s just a one off meal once a week her tummy is fine.


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

No runny tums if I watch the fat levels and keep the amount of bone right.


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## Beryl (May 29, 2020)

I love Primal Dehydrated Raw and have been feeding it for a few years now. It sounds weird but what I like most is the formation of the poop. [emoji23] 

It is pricey though.

I turned my niece on to Primal for her 5lb toy poodle and she has the same reaction. Poops are small anyway but if she can’t find it when she walks her dog at night, the poop dries up and blows away in a few hours. Her dog like the most expensive formula — duck.


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## Lubancoco (Oct 2, 2021)

MittyKittythePoodle said:


> Hello everyone! Newer to the forum, but I have a tiny toy poodle named Mittens and she is about 2.3lbs and is almost 2 years old. She is definitely a bit underweight and she could definitely stand to gain a pound, problem is she is so picky!
> 
> If she had her way she would only eat medium rare prime rib as she loves that and when she does that it the only time she has a big round belly after eating, but obviously she can’t eat that all the time. When we feed it that multiple days in a row she just gets an upset tummy. Note I only give her pieces that have no fat or seasoning and it’s just a treat once a week.
> 
> ...


 All toy poodles are different. I have a 4 1/4 lb toy poodle puppy that was the runt of the litter. Her two brothers stole her food. Anyway, she vacuums up her food, so I have to feed her three times a day and have to measure her food out to prevent overeating. 
she will eat until she throws up. Her breeder fed her a homemade raw diet and I am feeding her a commercial raw diet, Bil Jack puppy kibble for snacks and freeze dried raw liver treats for rewards.
My late poodle lived to 17 but she was soooooo picky. Wouldn’t eat for 4-5 days. I gave up with dog food and fed her unseasoned roasted chicken, wild rice, canned pumpkin with calcium powder. Anyway, my late Coco lived for quite awhile on this diet. Cocos breeder said she came from a skinny family?!?!
Anyway, with my current puppy C.C., I bought some frozen green tripe. It’s a bit stinky but dogs love it like cats like catnip. It is full of digestive enzymes and might help your puppy out. I add a tiny bit, like a garnish to her food. 
So, I have had two poodles now at the opposite end of the feeding spectrum.


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## MittyKittythePoodle (12 mo ago)

Beryl said:


> I love Primal Dehydrated Raw and have been feeding it for a few years now. It sounds weird but what I like most is the formation of the poop. [emoji23]
> 
> It is pricey though.
> 
> I turned my niece on to Primal for her 5lb toy poodle and she has the same reaction. Poops are small anyway but if she can’t find it when she walks her dog at night, the poop dries up and blows away in a few hours. Her dog like the most expensive formula — duck.


I will look into that for sure. Agreed the poops are really tiny and very dry looking, unfortunately they don’t blow away 😂


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## MittyKittythePoodle (12 mo ago)

Lubancoco said:


> All toy poodles are different. I have a 4 1/4 lb toy poodle puppy that was the runt of the litter. Her two brothers stole her food. Anyway, she vacuums up her food, so I have to feed her three times a day and have to measure her food out to prevent overeating.
> she will eat until she throws up. Her breeder fed her a homemade raw diet and I am feeding her a commercial raw diet, Bil Jack puppy kibble for snacks and freeze dried raw liver treats for rewards.
> My late poodle lived to 17 but she was soooooo picky. Wouldn’t eat for 4-5 days. I gave up with dog food and fed her unseasoned roasted chicken, wild rice, canned pumpkin with calcium powder. Anyway, my late Coco lived for quite awhile on this diet. Cocos breeder said she came from a skinny family?!?!
> Anyway, with my current puppy C.C., I bought some frozen green tripe. It’s a bit stinky but dogs love it like cats like catnip. It is full of digestive enzymes and might help your puppy out. I add a tiny bit, like a garnish to her food.
> So, I have had two poodles now at the opposite end of the feeding spectrum.


Mittens is also a runt, but litter was only her and her sister. We chose her because her markings. She has a white chin, chest and all 4 of her paws are white and that’s why we called her Mittens. The reason we feed commercial is because if I gave her say a balanced meal with rice and veggies and chicken, she would pick out the chicken. Luckily she has never gone days without eating. I find she will hold out and not eat if I have given her a treat meal the day before (lean steak or beef, no seasoning) because she’s waiting to see if she will get another steak dinner.


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