Help feeding my chihuahua

Tiarella

Tiarella

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Hi, I have had my 1yo chihuahua for 1 week now and he is settling in great. I am a first time dog owner but have been around dogs all my life etc. I was just wondering if anyone could advise what to feed him. He currently has a handful of bakers puppy (having read other hho posts I will be taking him off this) and pedigree puppy meat (just to make it a bit tastier) I am well aware this is probably totally the wrong diet for him and I don't want any patronising comments, just some helpful advice/tips as I never realised how much food was available! Thankyou :)
 
Brilliant thanks, will have a look this afternoon at pets at home. I just wasn't too sure what brand would be suitable for a little chi. There are so many forums that contradict each other so thought to ask for direct advise :)
 
Would have put money on the fact the title of this thread was " help feeding my chinchilla!!"

Odd place to put it thinks me- then read it properly!

I liked the Wainwrights stuff, and also Skinners duck and rice (available on the net- decently priced) before moving on to raw....
 
Wainwrights trays are fab, if your chi is anything like my tiny JRT you may find the Skinners F&T kibble is a bit big... she point blank refused to eat it initially... until I got my 2nd dog, at which point she was fine eating it - although i cant watch her as she really crunches it!!
 
Haha he may aswell be a chinchilla, he is about the same size! Could I ask a silly question... When you feed raw, what do you actually mean by that - sorry I sound like a shouldn't own a dog at all! I'm still in the process of learning and want the best for him :) I must post pics too!
 
I feed my chihuahua the Royal Canin mini dry food and then they also have a variety of cooked meats (favourite is chicken but they also get lamb and beef) and then raw stuff (just as in uncooked :) ) like tripe and meat mixes.

My Evie chihuahua has a bit extra as she is a fussy eater and a skinny little thing, she gets cooked fish and scrambled eggs a couple of times a week.

Chi's can have terrible teeth problems so plenty of dry food and bones/chews is very important.
 
Raw is meat- raw! + bones Lots of suppliers do it now minces/ chunks/ offal would cost you about 10p to feed your chi A DAY!!

there is a sticky at the top of this forum!
 
Sorry guys to bring this thread back up. I'm still struggling slightly to feed him. I am currently feeding him James wellbeloved puppy Kibble and wainwrights chicken and rice out of the pouches. I slowly changed onto this food a few days ago and he has had very smelly farts and now has quite loose poo. Shall I take him off the pouches? But then he doesnt want to eat the dry food. He is starting to loose a little bit of weight (nothing major) as he has quite an active life for a little dog so trying to find something suitable!

And one more question about raw as I'm still confused over it (what is wrong with me?!) if I go to sainsburys and buy a pack of 4 chicken breasts for example do I just put a suitable amount in his bowl? I'm so stupid - sorry!
 
If you are going down the raw route- read the sticky and everything else you can find on the subject. A few simple rules tho
1) feed 2-3% of their ideal ADULT weight so a 10kg dog should be fed between 200-300g per day
2) Start with chicken and add other meats one at a time so chicken for a week, then add some tripe, for a week, then lamb or whatever, so you can check if they have different bowels
3) Dont mix kibble and raw in the same meal (it is possible to feed one kibble meal and one raw meal per day- as far apart as possible.)

Wainwrights wet made my dogs botty stink too!
 
Fish For Dogs is very good ( a little expensive, but last yonks) My ChixJR eats cooked chicken quite a lot.

I have tried him a couple of times on raw chicken and every time he was extremely ill. so be aware that it does not suit every small dog.
 
Okay, I'm still not 100% sure about the raw diet, like poster below said does it not make them poorly? Especially a little chi? I will have a look at fish for dogs on the Internet. I just don't want him to lose weight yet still enjoy his little active life Style :)
 
NO it does NOT make them poorly (if given properly)- all dogs even little chi's are designed to eat meat. It is not for everyone tho- just try and find a high meat content dry food.
 
I have two chihuahuas both are relatively fussy eaters but I have found that Royal Canin for small dogs or Burns mini biscuits are their favourites. I cook them chicken daily and remove the meat from the bones of course taking care with the drumsticks that the spikey little bone does not get mixed in! I sometimes alternate this with minced beef or lamb but find this upsets their stomach a little. I also cook basmati rice for them a couple of times a week and mix this with their meat instead of biscuits which they enjoy. As mentioned on here chi's do suffer with dental problems as one of mine has just found out even though they have a denta stick cut in half once a week! Hope you find a solution for your little dog.
 
If your going to feed the wainwrights trays don't feed kibble with it they are a almost raw meal in themselves and poor little chi will be digesting them at different rates which will explain the poop.
I have recently moved back in with my parents and my malamute girl they dont have the space for a chest freezer but have kindly given me a drawer in their freezer so any bone scraps i can get from butchers can be stored so at the moment she is on the wainrights trays and bone and her poop is nice and solid once I get our own place she will go back on full raw diet
 
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