# Calories for a toy poodle



## vicky2200 (Feb 14, 2012)

I am finally switching Weegee to adult food. I know there are many different opinions about if puppy food is necessary. Anyway, his new food has about 350 calories a cup and the bag recommends that he should eat a little under 3/4cup a day. Could that few calories be right?


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## mom24doggies (Mar 28, 2011)

Sounds about right to me. My puppy eats 1/2 c a day, he is about 6.5 lbs. He also gets various treats and chews throughout the day. They don't need much.


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## tortoise (Feb 5, 2012)

How much does he weigh?


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## vicky2200 (Feb 14, 2012)

He is 8.5lbs and he is tall, just under 12inches at the shoulder.


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## tortoise (Feb 5, 2012)

He needs 303 calories per day, 0.87 cups of his new food.


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## CT Girl (Nov 17, 2010)

I would use the 303 calories as a guideline but keep an eye on your dog. I feed raw but I feed more than suggested because Swizzle is very active and the regular amount is not enough. I discussed this with my vet. She agrees with my decision as Swizzle is lean and he needs more. Start with the proper calorie count and tweak it depending on the activity level of your poodle. I think it is tricky with toys because the amounts you are feeding are so small.


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## cavon (Aug 10, 2010)

All of the information that I have read, that was written by certified animal nutritionists, advise that the age, activity level and overall health status of each individual animal should be taken into account when determining the correct amount of food to feed your dog.

For instance, a puppy needs more calories than an adult dog, who needs more calories than a senior dog. Additionally, if your pet is sedentary and overweight, they would require less calories than a dog that is extremely active in performance events and is training on a regular basis. In human terms, think of a growing child vs an average active adult vs a couch potato vs an elite athlete.

My suggestion to you is that you do some research, read information provided by individuals who have been educated in the field of animal nutrition and then also speak with your vet about what is appropriate for your dog specifically.


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## tortoise (Feb 5, 2012)

CT Girl said:


> I would use the 303 calories as a guideline but keep an eye on your dog. I feed raw but I feed more than suggested because Swizzle is very active and the regular amount is not enough. I discussed this with my vet. She agrees with my decision as Swizzle is lean and he needs more. Start with the proper calorie count and tweak it depending on the activity level of your poodle. I think it is tricky with toys because the amounts you are feeding are so small.


This is true. 

My almost 1 year old mpoo was doing a little begging last night. I feed him in the morning and he doesn't nornally beg so I thought it was unusual. I recalculated his caloric requirement. It doesn't work out quite right for him because service dogs burn more calories while in public that pet dogs do while walking the same amount. My fiance/vet doesn't think this is true (it's published in the most recent edition of Small Animal Clinical Nutrition textbook.) So I calculated his way and it showed I was overfeeding, but when we checked his body condition score he was thin. Not too thin, but an extra snack or training session (treats) in the evening wouldn't be innappropriate for him for now.

Also keep in mind the online calculators are less accurate that doing the math by hand - especially for very small dogs. The most accurate formula involves a difficult bit of math. Also, regardless of which formula used to find RER (resting energy requirement), with an online calculator you don't know which multiplier they are using for life stages. And your vet will use a lower multiplier than the calculator for an altered pet with "typical" acticity level - the calculators will use 1.6 while your vet will use 1.2 or 1.3. And to make it even more sketchy, some of the online calculators use MER instead of RER. 

Once you get in the right ballpark amount of food, it should be adjusted for your dog's body condition over time. Your dog's caloric needs vary day-to-day with activity and may vary seasonally depending on exposure to weather and change in activity levels.

Example, when we go on a fishing trip and my fiance's golden is dock diving, we feed him roughly double because his calorie expenditure is so high for those days.


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## liljaker (Aug 6, 2011)

Also, bear in mind that different foods have different caloric content so you need to adjust depending on the specific food you are feeding. The caloric content is different with a grain free kibble, for instance, than it might be with premade raw, or canned.


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