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Feeding Schedule for your Tiny or Teacup Puppy
Tiny and
Teacup and Toy Puppies are in essence Special Needs
Puppies.
Their feeding
requirements due to their size and higher metabolism,
are more complex than those of an average size toy pup,
and can easily be satisfied by a proper "free choice"
feeding schedule coupled with the correct type of
nutrition dense puppy food.
 
Reminder:
The underlying theory of successfully raising your
teacup or tiny puppy into a healthy adult, is to avoid
for it to have hypoglycemic episodes.
Low blood sugar is
caused by a variety of things – but in short - basic
calorie usage exceeds calorie intake – hence the puppy
crashes. Mild hypoglycemia can be easily taken care off
by you, repeated episodes or a prolonged severe episode
may cause irrevocable damages or in the extreme may lead
to death of the pup. Severe episodes require
veterinarian support and certainly generate enormous vet
bills, that are unnecessary if you make smart selections
and provide proper care in the first place.
Providing your teacup pup with the best dog
nutrition you can afford to feed, coupled with an
effortless way of actually eating free choice feeding
schedule - 24/7, reduces the potential of hypoglycemic
episodes. If in addition to that, you learn how
to properly manage the activity level of your puppy, you
mostly have the danger of low blood sugar episodes under
control and are well on your way to successfully raising
your baby!
The ideal
commercial puppy food for teacup and tiny puppies needs
to be high in nutritional density as well as offer the
smallest kibble size. ROYAL CANINE DRY FOOD MIXED WITH
CESAR MOIST FOOD.
 
Individual Meals or Free Choice?
Due to their
small tummies and high metabolisms, tiny and teacup
puppies need to eat more than once or twice a day.
My
recommendation – and the least complicated feeding
schedule to implement - is to have dry food mixed with
moist available free choice!
This means there is always food in
the bowl, and the puppy has access to 24/7. it
This is the
easiest way to assure yourself that your pup has puppy
food available all the time, even if you are not home,
or are running late. This also covers the spouse or the
kids forgetting to "do" a routine meal, day trips or
unexpected delays that keep you from getting home in
time for the next meal.
Most toy
breed dogs tend to be nibblers. Talk to anyone
who has one – many will pick up a mouthful from the bowl
in the kitchen and carry into a different room, eat it
under the kitchen or dining room table, or sneak it into
their crate or bed and consume it there. It seems to be
a size specific idiosyncrasy - both my poodles and
Chihuahuas tend to do this, and I have observed other
toy breeds to do the same. What this really means –
other than having dog food crumbles where you really
would prefer they are not, LOL - is that many are
actually “snacking” or “grazing” throughout the day,
rather than settling down to one or two large meals and
be done eating. Having food available 24/7 or a "free
choice feeding schedule", allows for snacking and
grazing, and will keep your pup eating all day long,
which is ideal for teacup puppies and tiny toys.
Amount of Food
& Monitoring Food Intake
A pup that
has dry puppy food available free choice, may only eat
5-10 kibbles at a time – but will go eat [snack] as many
as 10-15 times each day, depending on the size
of the bites, the palatability of the brand and what
else other than dry food you'll put into the bowl. If
you are going the commercial dog food route, you want to
eventually be able to feed dry food only [not canned],
but with teacups or tiny pups you may have to gradually
work your way up to that.
 Very
young or extremely tiny puppies may eat as few as 5
kibbles and call it a meal. For these puppies
you should offer something in addition to just dry puppy
food – either canned food, a bit home cooked chicken.
Pups that are less
than enthusiastic eaters also require a nutritional
supplement such as Nutrical, Nutristat or Dyne
. A powdered vitamin supplement is also
recommended in addition to the the later supplements,
but not necessarily required if you feed a high end dry
puppy food – however it can't but help for optimum
development and covers any nutritional deficiencies your
puppy food may not address.
How
do you tell
if your puppy eats well?
Turn it
onto its back and look at the tummy. A well fed
pup is chubby with good fat reserves, and has a full,
rounded belly area. When your pup is standing on all
fours, look down from above [not the side]. Where in
people you would observe the waist area - the tummy
should swell beyond the sides instead of being in a
straight line.
If you have a
“model type” waist – slightly concave looking from
above, or wrinkles and a sunken in tummy when you turn
the pup upside down – your puppy is not eating enough.
Please come back and visit here again [page in progress]
to see what you can do to generate more interest in
eating and get some enthusiasm going when it comes to
topping off the food bowl. If you have a skinny
pup, you also need to reduce the pups activity level or
curb/limit most “bounce and play time” to the playpen.
Repeat with me –
no hypoglycemic episodes!!!
Needless to say,
that eating all day long also equates to frequent potty
trips, but that is a given with the smallest of
puppyhood anyhow. This is one of the main reasons I feel
so strongly about using a puppy playpen to raise
your tiny puppies! The puppy playpen
effortlessly allows for these wee pups' needs and care
requirements without trashing your entire home and the
mobility & convenience of it, permits
you to keep your fur child with you wherever you are in
the home.
Features of the
playpen- We sell for $139.00 including shipping.
Order on line below or call 954-353-7864
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