[Godslilgrrl]

I just got a new pet chihuahua and I think that I'm underfeeding it, but I also don't want to overfeed it. So exactly how many times a day should a chihuahua eat and exactly what should it eat; dry or wet dog food?

[ChihuahuaMomma]

I bought a self-feeding bowl for my little chihuahua. It's constantly stocked with dry food. SHe eats whenever she's hungry. And then runs around like a tiny maniac for three hours, then sleeps for one, then runs around some more, so I never worry about her overeating or being lazy. She gets a pouch of wet feed per week. Kind of as a treat. I've heard that too much wet food is bad for their teeth, I'm not sure if this is true, it's just what I've heard. Might be worth researching if you plan to feed your pup wet food.

[bushg]

My mil feeds her dog twice a day. Each time she puts about a tablespoon of mighty dog on top of her dry food. She is slim and trim and has very nice teeth. She never has a problem with her not wanting to eat.

I feed my chi/ mix about the same except he gets cooked chicken, beef, pork on top of his dry. He is very active and has never been overweight.

[linnealand]

One quick note about dry food, though. Friends of ours had two cats die from kidney disease at ages 6 and 7. They only ate dry food, and the vet blamed those cruchy kibbles on their kidney failure. I don't know more about this (maybe it was a salt content thing? I don't know), but it might be worth looking into.

The best thing you could do would be to ask your vet what he or she recommends for your pup's breed, size and age.

How old is your dog? Young puppies need to eat about 4 times per day. As they grow, that number goes down to three, and eventually to two. Proper puppy food, which has been designed especially for your puppy's growing needs, should be fed until 4 to 6 months (I've read both numbers - again, ask your vet about this).

On the other hand, I had a persian cat that ate only dry food for just about his whole entire life, and he didn't develop any problems from it, as far as we could tell. I tried everything I could to feed him kitty table scraps on occasion (salmon, tuna, meats, cheeses), but he wouldn't have any of it. I tried for a long time to get him to eat canned food, but he would only lick the gravy off the little meat cubes. When he was a tiny kitten, we gave him baby rice cereal with lactaid milk and baby food, and when he was at the end of his life, he was happy to return to baby food again.

We had two siamese cats that lived until they were each 21 years old. Alrhough this was long before the modern popularity of feeding real food to pets, they only ate baked chicken and turkey.

There is a large move into feeding pets whole foods, human-grade, and I'm inclined to believe that there's a lot of truth and good behind their information. Plenty of books on this kind of food for dogs is out on the market, so you might find pleasure (and wisdom) from picking up a couple of them.

Our breeder feeds her puppies a really unusual concoction. It's tuscan bread, soaked in water, and then she squeezes most of the water out of the bread and crumbles it into a mush. Then she mixes in raw ground meat. A raw egg yolk, cream, and corn oil. I thought that cockers can get allergies from corn, but what do I know. The pups seem to like it. She also gives them crunchy food, so that when the puppies change homes, they'll already have had experience with different foods.

[Byrd]

I have two small dogs... a chihuahua and a miniature pinscher that I've always just left dry food (Iams small bites) in a bowl out all day for them to eat at their leasure as I was working all day and no one was home to put them on a feeding schedule. I never had any weight problems with them until they were spade a year ago. They've gained way too much weight since the spaying while their diet stayed the same. My only other main problem was their peeing and pooing in the house everyday which I found out was partly a "Dominance" problem amongst themselves and also their lack of a feeding schedule. I recenty learned that you should put the recommended amount (depending on the dogs size and age) into a bowl for each dog and put it down at the same time each morning (say 8am). Allow them only 20 to 30mins to eat their meal, then put the bowl up. They get no more feed until at or around 4pm. Allow 20 to 30 minutes. For them to eat this meal. If at the end of the 20 to 30 min. time, they are still eating, do not put the bowl up until they are finished eating or they will remain hungry. Just be sure to be consistent with putting them on a schedule which cuts down on them having food and water in their gut all day which promotes them to pee and poop all day. This promotes good house trainning results if your dog is an inside dog. Be sure to monitor the recommended amount to feed your dog and don't overfeed him/her. This advice helped me tremendously. Good Luck!

[blackblue]

Always keep food out for your dog from day one (unless it is apparent that they overeat)
Especially little dogs.Mine tend to nit pick throughout the day.My big one tends to overindulge so I must control the feeding.