# Please help!! -- new toy poodle arriving soon.



## Jamesknox (Feb 11, 2014)

Hey Poodle Family!

I have a few questions. 

1. I have done a ton of reading on the forums and I wanted to directly ask about protein levels. I had done a ton of research for the past few months and decided that I was going to feed him the brand Acana. -- I don't care about the price. I really like their quality. Have actually spoke with members of their corporate team and I like everything about them. However, I read here that for toy poodles you want the protein level to be in the mid twenties and Acana has a protein level between 31 and 33 percent. --- Is this too much or will he be fine?

2. I really want to give him fish oil and/or coconut oil. I wanted to ask for those who do use fish or coconut oil. How much do you give? and do you just drizzle it over the kibble? --- Is it okay to give both fish and coconut oil or must you choose one? If you must choose one....which would be best?

3. Read a lot on here about canned sweet potato and canned pumpkin. Do you all give this with each meal or more sparadically? I'm assuming you just add this to the kibble. How much?

4. Now this is really throwing me for a loop. The "how much to feed" chart on the Acana package says that for a dog of 4 pounds you should feed about 1/4 dry food PER DAY! ---- That seems like such a smalllllll amount; especially if you are diving it over 2 meals per day. It would mean that each meal is only 1/8 cup of kibble?? LOL. It seems like I could just feed him that out my hand. Whats the point of a bowl!


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## Jamie Hein (Aug 17, 2013)

1. I have heard great things about Acana. If you aren't worried about price at all though I would suggest a doing prey model raw, pre-made frozen raw, or dehydrated raw food. 

2. I give my dog both occasionally and he does fine. 

3. As far as I know adding canned pumpkin is something you do to firm up a dog's stool when they are having a digestive upset. I don't see a need to add that to a food if you are getting a good quality food that isn't causing digestive issues. 

4. Is your toy poodle really going to be just 4 lbs? Mine is around 7 lbs. However, higher quality foods are more densely packed with calories and nutrition so you do not have to feed as much as you would with a low quality food.


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## Jamesknox (Feb 11, 2014)

Jamie Hein said:


> 1. I have heard great things about Acana. If you aren't worried about price at all though I would suggest a doing prey model raw, pre-made frozen raw, or dehydrated raw food.
> 
> I don't quite think I am ready to take on the "raw" right now. Maybe later but not now. Not because of the price but I don't feel I am appropriately knowledgeable about a raw diet just yet and I think it would be quite a bit more work.
> 
> ...


Yes, he is only going to be 4-4.5 lbs. He's more tiny-toy ish.


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## Jamie Hein (Aug 17, 2013)

That is what is nice about premade raw food. It is all already balanced for you. You just serve it up  For the freeze dried stuff you just add water. Petco carries Nature's Variety Instinct raw frozen that is in the shape of kibble, and is very easy to serve. I used that before I started doing my own thing. When I give coconut or fish oil I just give him a spoonful- I know, not very precise but I don't give it to him regularly either, just when I remember.


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## N2Mischief (Dec 3, 2012)

Jamesknox said:


> Hey Poodle Family!
> 
> I have a few questions.
> 
> ...


Misha is now 4 pounds exactly (weighed 2 days ago). It will depend on the calories in the food you choose, but Misha gets between 1/8 and 1/6 cup twice daily.


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

Whatever you decide to feed, I would start with whatever he is used to and transition gradually. You don't want to risk upsetting his tummy, especially as he is so tiny. For the same reason I would go very easy on adding any oils - with such a small puppy it would be more a case of a drop or two rather than a drizzle, I suspect! His tummy will be about the size of a walnut, so he will only eat tiny quantities: you may want to consider free feeding if there are no other animals around to stealthe food, and for a young puppy that size I would be planning at least four meals a day, starting as early and finishing as late as possible. If you are getting an older dog, two meals a day should be fine, but I would still transition slowly to a new food.


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## Tiffany (Feb 13, 2014)

Acana is high quality dog food so it's not filled with a bunch of fillers and preservatives.

Think of it like a burger with a lot of fluff like bread and all other kinda of things to make it look big when it's actually no meat in it.

So cheap dog food is like a Big Mac with like 3 burger buns in one burger.

And Acana is the same size burger but all meat and no extra bun.

So eating less of Acana is going to give you the same nutritional value as like idk a cup or more from like kibble a and bits.


My puppy is one Blue Grain Free, before he was on Nutra Ultra which said I should feed him 1 3/4 a day of food which he didn't eat!!! 

One Freedom Puppy he only is supposed to eat 3/4 a cup DAILY.
And my dog weighs approx 12 lbs.

http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com

Just check out the website and think of the cheapest food you can think of compare. You'll see what I mean. I've seen this site posted again and again on poodle forums a seriously valuable resource, they have a couple of informative articles too! 

Good Luck!



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