# Help ?



## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

Welcome to Poodle Forum!

What are you putting into the home cooked food? If she enjoys that, and you are happy to put the time and effort into researching recipes and preparing it, that may be the easiest solution. But it is important to ensure the diet is balanced, and contains all the necessary nutrients. I found the information at www.dogaware.com very useful when I started home cooking for my animals.


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## Jadehunter (Aug 1, 2021)

Thanks for replying !  I give her scrambled eggs and boiled chicken. I also give her sweet potatos. I do not add seasonings. I was told that she’s probably having diarrhea because I did not transition her old food to her new food, I just gave it to her suddenly. Not sure though. 




fjm said:


> Welcome to Poodle Forum!
> 
> What are you putting into the home cooked food? If she enjoys that, and you are happy to put the time and effort into researching recipes and preparing it, that may be the easiest solution. But it is important to ensure the diet is balanced, and contains all the necessary nutrients. I found the information at www.dogaware.com very useful when I started home cooking for my animals.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

It doesn't look like what you are home cooking is nutritionally complete. I second fjm's recommendation to find information for nutritionally complete recipes that are either good for a puppy or for all life stages. You will need things like sources of electrolytes plus calcium and phosphorus that are not in what you have been cooking. I home cook for large dogs so there are times my kitchen is like a restaurant kitchen, but it has been worth it to do so because it cleared up some low grade chronic health concerns. If you home cook you will not really be able to free feed but you can teach free feeders to eat regular meals by not always leaving food out. You put a meal out and leave it initially for about 15 minutes then take it away. Do this for several meals in a row and the pup will eat before the food gets taken away.

Poodles (especially pups) can be pilly eaters but you can beat that since healthy dogs really won't allow themselves to starve and once they know the rules they will eat well and regularly. For small puppies a meal schedule can also help establish an elimination schedule and that has gret benefits to the success of housebreaking.


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

Chicken (bone free, of course) and eggs would be fine as a topper if they encourage her to eat kibble, but are not complete in themselves. If you decide to go the home cooking route you need to include calcium in the right proportion, and some organ meat, including a very little liver. There are lots of threads on here, but the basic principles are to feed a range of protein sources if she tolerates them, to balance the phosphorus in meat with adequate calcium, to feed a little organ meat for all the nutrients it contains that are not found in muscle meat, and fish or another source of omega 3 once a week or so. 

Has she had digestive issues while on kibble, or was it just the home cooked?


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## Basil_the_Spoo (Sep 1, 2020)

what does the vet say?

Your furbaby could be totally healthy....


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## Dechi (Aug 22, 2015)

Many poodles aren’t big eaters. They eat to live, they don’t live to eat. Leaving food down and letting her eat as she pleases is a good way to go if that’s what suits her.

Just find a good quality, balanced food and let her eat eat when she wants. As long as the vet days her weight is good, then it’s all fine.


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## Jadehunter (Aug 1, 2021)

Thank you so much, I will try this. 


lily cd re said:


> It doesn't look like what you are home cooking is nutritionally complete. I second fjm's recommendation to find information for nutritionally complete recipes that are either good for a puppy or for all life stages. You will need things like sources of electrolytes plus calcium and phosphorus that are not in what you have been cooking. I home cook for large dogs so there are times my kitchen is like a restaurant kitchen, but it has been worth it to do so because it cleared up some low grade chronic health concerns. If you home cook you will not really be able to free feed but you can teach free feeders to eat regular meals by not always leaving food out. You put a meal out and leave it initially for about 15 minutes then take it away. Do this for several meals in a row and the pup will eat before the food gets taken away.
> 
> Poodles (especially pups) can be pilly eaters but you can beat that since healthy dogs really won't allow themselves to starve and once they know the rules they will eat well and regularly. For small puppies a meal schedule can also help establish an elimination schedule and that has gret benefits to the success of housebreaking.


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## Jadehunter (Aug 1, 2021)

No, her poop is solid (normal dog poop) while on kibble, Whenever I mix the chicken and eggs with kibble she doesn’t eat the kibble and just picks the eggs or chicken out so I stopped doing that altogether. 



fjm said:


> Chicken (bone free, of course) and eggs would be fine as a topper if they encourage her to eat kibble, but are not complete in themselves. If you decide to go the home cooking route you need to include calcium in the right proportion, and some organ meat, including a very little liver. There are lots of threads on here, but the basic principles are to feed a range of protein sources if she tolerates them, to balance the phosphorus in meat with adequate calcium, to feed a little organ meat for all the nutrients it contains that are not found in muscle meat, and fish or another source of omega 3 once a week or so.
> 
> Has she had digestive issues while on kibble, or was it just the home cooked?


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## 94Magna_Tom (Feb 23, 2021)

She's 10 lbs. and you want her to gain weight. What should her weight be? It's probably easiest, and probably best (properly balanced), to feed her a high quality puppy kibble. You said she will only eat her kibble if she knows you aren't going to give her something else. You need to hold the line and just feed her the kibble. Has she been eating good quality puppy kibble for the 1st year of growth? This is (and has been) a very important time for properly balanced nutrition.


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## Rose n Poos (Sep 22, 2017)

Do you know her height at the shoulder? What needs to be determined is whether she's a healthy weight for her height. 

Poodles run to an athletic build. 



Raindrops said:


> About weights, poodles tend to be on the lean side of acceptable. A fit poodle will never look like a fit lab and you don't want them to. They are always going to have different body types. Poodles are very athletic dogs and will tend toward having an athletic build which is the sort you see in working pointers and vizslas. Here are some examples.


I'd thought that I had a picky eater on my hands but in our case, I just hadn't found a kibble he truly liked. 

I did find it, finally, around 2 years ago and he still loves it. He gets the same kibble but a different sprinkling of a small topper of our dinner protein and a veggie with every meal.


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## Jadehunter (Aug 1, 2021)

Basil_the_Spoo said:


> what does the vet say?
> 
> Your furbaby could be totally healthy....
> [/QUOTE





Rose n Poos said:


> Do you know her height at the shoulder? What needs to be determined is whether she's a healthy weight for her height.
> 
> Poodles run to an athletic build.
> 
> ...





94Magna_Tom said:


> She's 10 lbs. and you want her to gain weight. What should her weight be? It's probably easiest, and probably best (properly balanced), to feed her a high quality puppy kibble. You said she will only eat her kibble if she knows you aren't going to give her something else. You need to hold the line and just feed her the kibble. Has she been eating good quality puppy kibble for the 1st year of growth? This is (and has been) a very important time for properly balanced nutrition.


 Hello ! So when I looked up mini poodles growth chart it said they are usually 15 pounds by 1. Maybe she is just on the smaller side. Also yes, I always bought my dog the best kibble their is. The vet said the kibble I feed her is very good for dogs. She just doesn’t care for it.


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## Jadehunter (Aug 1, 2021)

She is 12 inches by height and 10 pounds in weight.


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## Skylar (Jul 29, 2016)

It’s very hard to measure the withers especially if you don’t have a wicket. Most sports organizations that require a height, such as agility use at least two measurements done on separate days by different trained judges. Your 12” maybe accurate or it may not. Obviously it’s easier to weight a dog but your home scale may not be the most accurate. This is why the best way to determine if a dog is at a healthy weight is using that diagram Rose n Poos posted above. 

At a year, your dog is probably finished most of her growth. I have a 7 month old minipoo and I believe he’s finished most of his growth. He had a recent growth spurt where he was eating a lot of food and now he’s being really picky and not eating much. He’s active, happy, potty habit is normal and he feels somewhere between the athletic and puppy so I don’t worry about those days when he doesn’t eat much. He can eat a little more tomorrow as he self regulates his food. I feel his rib area each day … I can feel his ribs, but I can also feel they are covered by a layer of normal fat. The link below explains how to palpate your dog to assess. 









Body Condition Scores | VCA Animal Hospital


Body condition scoring is an effective objective method of determining if a pet is at a healthy weight. There are 2 scoring systems: one out of 5 and the other out of 9. This handout outlines how to body condition score pets and recommends tracking body condition score to keep pets at a healthy...




vcahospitals.com




I keep my older minipoo on the athletic side and will do the same for my puppy when he’s finished growing. While he’s a puppy my goal is between athletic and pet. 

I do feel frustrated by how much my puppy is eating, I never know how much he wants during this phase some days I was adding more food to his bowl and other days I was refrigerating a lot of leftovers in his bowl … I can’t predict how much to feed him right now. 

I give my puppy about 15 minutes to eat after which I pick his food up and refrigerate it for his next meal. He’s fed in the morning, late afternoon and he gets a filled kong plus a puzzle ball filled with kibble around 8 pm. If he didn’t eat enough during the day, he will eat a lot of kibble. If he’s not hungry he only eats his kong treat. He gets a mix of his puppy kibble and wet food.

I don’t do toppers unless a pet is ill and needs to eat, usually elderly pets where there’s serious health issues. I don’t want a problem eater. A “healthy” dog won’t starve itself, they may resist and not eat for a day or two but then they become hungry enough they will eat anything.


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## Jadehunter (Aug 1, 2021)

You are totally right. My dog also has a athletic build between puppy. I just got worried because she is picky and I can feel her ribs but I can’t see them. I will try the feeding schedule to see if that will help us out. I do want to try regular human food mixed with her kibble but all she does is pick it out and leave the kibble behind. I will keep searching for different kibbles to see which one she enjoys best. May I ask what do you feed your puppy ? Did you have to transition him from kibble to food to avoid diarrhea or stomach issues? Thanks.



Skylar said:


> It’s very hard to measure the withers especially if you don’t have a wicket. Most sports organizations that require a height, such as agility use at least two measurements done on separate days by different trained judges. Your 12” maybe accurate or it may not. Obviously it’s easier to weight a dog but your home scale may not be the most accurate. This is why the best way to determine if a dog is at a healthy weight is using that diagram Rose n Poos posted above.
> 
> At a year, your dog is probably finished most of her growth. I have a 7 month old minipoo and I believe he’s finished most of his growth. He had a recent growth spurt where he was eating a lot of food and now he’s being really picky and not eating much. He’s active, happy, potty habit is normal and he feels somewhere between the athletic and puppy so I don’t worry about those days when he doesn’t eat much. He can eat a little more tomorrow as he self regulates his food. I feel his rib area each day … I can feel his ribs, but I can also feel they are covered by a layer of normal fat. The link below explains how to palpate your dog to assess.
> 
> ...


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## Skylar (Jul 29, 2016)

Jadehunter said:


> May I ask what do you feed your puppy ? Did you have to transition him from kibble to food to avoid diarrhea or stomach issues? Thanks.


First I must mention my older minipoo has a real allergy to legumes (soy, peas, chickpeas, green beans etc.) which is in almost all commercial dog food because they are a cheap source of protein but also a healthy form of fiber so my choice of what to feed my puppy was based on what could my older dog eat safely if she snuck some of the puppies food. If my older dog didn’t have dietary restrictions I might be feeding something different.

From his breeder he came home on Iams Puppy small breed. I slowly transitioned him to also eat FreshPet puppy food. He gets a mix of both in his bowl at 6 am and 4 pm. He gets a Kong filled with a mix of kibble, FreshPet and random other treats such as chicken and a puzzle ball filled with kibble. As he approaches a year old I will transition him to adult food.

I home cook for my older dog and it’s a lot of work and I’m not sure I want to double my load. There’s been new dog foods come on the market and changes to ingredient lists so I’ll be looking for a commercial food that hopefully both my dogs can eat.


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## Basil_the_Spoo (Sep 1, 2020)

Maybe she's just not that hungry. Basil (Spoo) will stop eating and "nose up" when she's full.

I would recommend trying to find more mpoos in your areas. I think you will be surprised by the size variations.

For SPOOs, we've met boys who top 35#s, and other big boys pushing 60#s. We have playdates with other girls who are in the 40# just like Basil, and another girl who is 52-54#s. So, it's all over the place.

I don't have the time to convert the weight to KG, but my point is that the internet is a generalization and your girl is happy and healthy right where she's at despite what you read.


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## Beesknees (Apr 4, 2021)

Jadehunter said:


> Hello, I have a one year old female miniature poodle. She’s only 10 pounds (I want her to gain weight but she’s picky. I let her eat whenever she wants (I leave her bowl out) because I never know when she is hungry. I’m currently feeding her bark eats custom kibble but she picks at it and only eats it fully when she knows I won’t give her something else, I also tried adding flavored bone broth and she still isn’t excited about it. She loves home cooked food but that just gives her diarrhea. Is she picky because she’s a puppy or should I keep searching for better food ?


Look into a raw food diet and see if it’s right for you. Or a raw frozen diet. I feed raw frozen food for my pup and she loves it. I see so many people saying that poodles don’t live to eat but my paper does. She LOVES her food and swill never miss a chance to eat more. We have tried sever brands( stay away from instinct raw, terrible!!) we now get a brand called Northwest naturals, the salmon one I believe. She adores it and we have had no issues with it. You will notice your pup will drink less water because the raw food retains water where kibble drains water from the pup. Look into it, I know your pup will devour every meal. It’s 32 $$ I believe, but with a ten pound poodle( they have the proper amount you should feed her to gain weight on the bag) it should last you a bit. We go through a bag every four days for my pup but she is a standard and she is VERY active. Give it a try at least once, you won’t regret it. If you don’t wanna try this route you can also try giving the food to them as a treat that’s what I had to do for one of my other dogs who hated to eat.She works for her food she thought they were treats it worked out


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## Rose n Poos (Sep 22, 2017)

I have a couple of observations and a couple of questions.

At one year old, she's generally considered an adult. 
Assuming about 12" at the shoulder, she is on the smaller end of the 10"-15" range for miniature poodles.

I looked at the bark bites and it appears to be a good food. They state that they're meeting the AAFCO guidelines, they list ingredients, analysis, and calorie content but not the feeding guidelines.

While growth of various breeds and varieties within breeds isn't generally determined by weight, the food companies keep their guidelines limited to large vs small breed, puppy/adult/senior lifestages, and a few other categories. They have little choice but to use projected adult weight as their feeding guideline to keep things from becoming even more difficult to sort thru.

Are you feeding her the puppy version or the adult version?
Exactly how much kibble only have you been putting down for her per day and is there a guideline for servings on or with the package? 
How much of her daily intake is treats or snacks?

For example, below is the feeding guideline and calorie content from the food I give my mpoo boys. They are on an adult formula. The "food per day" calculation is including every bit of food/snack/treat given thru the day to maintain them. 

Looking at the 3-12lb range, I could feed them up to 1 1/4 cups of _only_ this food per day , a bit under 500 calories daily. 
Keep in mind this total counts not only the kibble but every other morsel and tidbit. 

If I gave my boys that much kibble daily _plus_ treats, they'd be gaining unnecessary and unhealthy additional weight. 
Instead, I feed my boys the low end of the kibble and factor in the treats, snacks and toppers to round out their daily intake. I don't count every calorie but I do look for nutritional balance, with the kibble as a base and weigh them periodically. If they're adding weight, I cut back on some extras. If they're losing, I add more of the base kibble. 








Calorie Content (fed)
4075 kcal/kg
397 kcal/cup


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## Skylar (Jul 29, 2016)

Jadehunter said:


> Did you have to transition him from kibble to food to avoid diarrhea or stomach issues?


I’m lucky my puppy has an iron stomach. Only pig ears have given him soft stool… we will not be giving my dogs pig ears again.

My older dog has ulcerative colitis, allergies to legumes and doesn’t do well on high protein or fat so I home cook for her. She was on prescription hydrolyzed dog food for awhile but does better on home cooking.

When did the diarrhea and stomach issues start? Was it just with transition to adult food or was it through out puppyhood too? Some dogs need a very slow transition to new foods.


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## Audi (Aug 3, 2021)

Hi, I just got a miniature poodle and she’s 12 weeks old. I dreaded feeding her because my 16 year old toy poodle would hardly eat at all. I had to pretend I was going to take it. Lol. My mini is lots better at eating to my relief. Medicine goes down without a problem, too. I fed my toy poodle boiled chicken with no seasoning and she loved Newman’s Own kibble. She lived 16 years and I miss her everyday. I know you’ll get your baby’s diet straightened out in time.


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## Jadehunter (Aug 1, 2021)

Hello, she gets the adult portion since she’s considered a adult now. She gets 1 1/4 cup a day but she only eats 1 cup sometimes only half a cup a day, and the vet said this is fine. For treats I give her sometimes eggs or blueberries, or raspberries but I do this in moderation. The image attached is the treats I give her daily, 3 daily. Not sure if I can give her more because she is small and I don’t want it to be considered unhealthy. A part of me wants to start adding salmon and a nutritional liquid topper to spice up her kibble, I feel she will probably look forward to eating. This will help because then I can do schedule meal times knowing she will eat right away and this will also help with potty training, something we still struggle with lol. Thanks for the advice though !












Rose n Poos said:


> I have a couple of observations and a couple of questions.
> 
> At one year old, she's generally considered an adult.
> Assuming about 12" at the shoulder, she is on the smaller end of the 10"-15" range for miniature poodles.
> ...


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## Jadehunter (Aug 1, 2021)

Sorry to hear that ! The diarrhea only happens when I switch her food suddenly, I tend to forget she needs to slowly transition, but it’s hard because even when I try to transition she only picks the human food out and leaves the kibble behind.




Skylar said:


> I’m lucky my puppy has an iron stomach. Only pig ears have given him soft stool… we will not be giving my dogs pig ears again.
> 
> My older dog has ulcerative colitis, allergies to legumes and doesn’t do well on high protein or fat so I home cook for her. She was on prescription hydrolyzed dog food for awhile but does better on home cooking.
> 
> When did the diarrhea and stomach issues start? Was it just with transition to adult food or was it through out puppyhood too? Some dogs need a very slow transition to new foods.


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## Jadehunter (Aug 1, 2021)

I am so sorry for your loss. Thanks for replying and Good luck with your new mini <3.


Audi said:


> Hi, I just got a miniature poodle and she’s 12 weeks old. I dreaded feeding her because my 16 year old toy poodle would hardly eat at all. I had to pretend I was going to take it. Lol. My mini is lots better at eating to my relief. Medicine goes down without a problem, too. I fed my toy poodle boiled chicken with no seasoning and she loved Newman’s Own kibble. She lived 16 years and I miss her everyday. I know you’ll get your baby’s diet straightened out in time.


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## Jadehunter (Aug 1, 2021)

Beesknees said:


> Look into a raw food diet and see if it’s right for you. Or a raw frozen diet. I feed raw frozen food for my pup and she loves it. I see so many people saying that poodles don’t live to eat but my paper does. She LOVES her food and swill never miss a chance to eat more. We have tried sever brands( stay away from instinct raw, terrible!!) we now get a brand called Northwest naturals, the salmon one I believe. She adores it and we have had no issues with it. You will notice your pup will drink less water because the raw food retains water where kibble drains water from the pup. Look into it, I know your pup will devour every meal. It’s 32 $$ I believe, but with a ten pound poodle( they have the proper amount you should feed her to gain weight on the bag) it should last you a bit. We go through a bag every four days for my pup but she is a standard and she is VERY active. Give it a try at least once, you won’t regret it. If you don’t wanna try this route you can also try giving the food to them as a treat that’s what I had to do for one of my other dogs who hated to eat.She works for her food she thought they were treats it worked out


I will look up northwest naturals, do you feed her this by itself or do you add toppers, if so what toppers? Thank you so much !!! Okay i’m editing this because I can’t find northwest naturals. What source do you buy this from ?


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## Audi (Aug 3, 2021)

Jadehunter said:


> I will look up northwest naturals, do you feed her this by itself or do you add toppers, if so what toppers? Thank you so much !!! Okay i’m editing this because I can’t find northwest naturals. What source do you buy this from ?


I think I’m going to look into this raw feeding. She loves raw turkey necks frozen and spinach. Also raw chicken backs.


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

You could try my Peggy feeding routine, which is a small portion of wet food for breakfast and dinner, and then kibble free-fed in a separate dish. This keeps her on a schedule and guarantees a little food in her belly in the AM (which can stimulate appetite and also prevents bilious vomiting).

By serving the wet food in a separate dish, rather than as a topper, it doesn’t contaminate the kibble, which she can then eat as her appetite dictates. Some days she eats a lot. Some days very little. It also doesn’t encourage her to eat more than she can comfortably digest. I think that’s the downside of toppers.


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## Jadehunter (Aug 1, 2021)

This sounds great! However I tried this and my dog picked the wet food over the kibble and she ended up with diarrhea for days because her body was not use to just wet food. Oh and yes I can’t forget about the vomiting, if my dog eats too fast she vomits, I bought a slow feeder bowl but my dog still manages to eat fast.


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

Diarrhea is fairly common if you switch foods too quickly. Could it have been that?


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

And the idea is not to feed so much wet food that it eliminates the need for kibble. Just a taste. Peggy gets a heaping tablespoon at breakfast and dinner, and she weighs 45 lbs.


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## Starla (Nov 5, 2020)

Anecdotally, I had a jrt that was a super skinny puppy. I spent the first year trying to put weight on her and the next 10 trying to keep it off. If your vet says she’s fine and she is not hunger-puking and she is still pooping and not losing weight, I would just pick a food and trust her to eat what she wants.


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## Jadehunter (Aug 1, 2021)

Yes I switched her foods to quickly. Also I will try just a teaspoon in a separate bowl. This is a good idea. Thank you.


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