Chihuahua Information Center
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How to Feed a Chihuahua
Understanding Food Needs
Correct feeding is very important for your dog. A Chihuahua can become overweight if care is not taken regarding their diet. Overweight dogs can have health troubles. Extra weight can cause diabetes, and damage to joints.
Small breeds burn calories faster than larger breeds. As they grow older, their needs change for dog food and/or more exercise.
A Chihuahua's digestive tract is designed to process large quantities of proteins. You may need to do a little experimenting to see what type of dog food your Chihuahua enjoys best, Also many foods we love are poison to a canine.
Correct feeding is very important for your dog. A Chihuahua can become overweight if care is not taken regarding their diet. Overweight dogs can have health troubles. Extra weight can cause diabetes, and damage to joints.
Small breeds burn calories faster than larger breeds. As they grow older, their needs change for dog food and/or more exercise.
A Chihuahua's digestive tract is designed to process large quantities of proteins. You may need to do a little experimenting to see what type of dog food your Chihuahua enjoys best, Also many foods we love are poison to a canine.
Changing Dog Foods
There will be 2 main times when you wish to change your Chi's food:
Making a switch is just fine, in fact it is certainly recommended in order to get your dog to the point of being on a really great diet.
What you must keep in mind is that changes must occur slowly. It is dangerous to your dog's health if you make a fast change. Therefore, when wanting to switch, do the following:
How Much?
How much dog food does a Chihuahua need? A dog must eat enough to be healthy and not too much so they become overweight. The amount of dog food and the feeding times will vary depending on the age of your dog and activity level. Only leave out the dog food for 30 minutes at each designated feeding time. If your dog doesn’t eat it in that time, put it away.
Growing puppies need about 1 ounce (.02 kg) of dry, premium dog food per pound (.45 kg) of body weight every day. This is distributed throughout 3 to 4 meals, depending on the age of the puppy.
Adult dogs need less: Approximately 1/2 ounce (.01 kg) of dry dog food per pound (.45 kg) of body weight every day. Adult dogs (over 2 years old) can usually eat just one meal per day.
If using manufactured dog food, in addition to dry dog food, a small amount of canned dog food can be added. If you are using quality dry and canned food, a good ratio is 2/3 dry and 1/3 canned. Dog supplements are helpful, they can make the coat shiny and keep the body nutritionally balanced. Older dogs definitely need dog supplements to help with their joints and many other health issues.
What to Feed Your Chihuahua
Feeding begins with offering the best of food. It is important to know that the main element that separates a high quality or poor quality dog food is the amount of fillers. A dog's digestive tract is designed to process large quantities of proteins, not carbohydrates...and certainly not fillers.
Even the best high quality dog food has fillers. They are ingredients which have zero nutritional value and simply "bulk up" the dog food to make it appear as if there is more. For example, if you are looking at a cup of dog food, what you are really seeing is about 3/4 to 4/5 of actual food (depending on the brand) and the rest is not food. It is very cheap ingredients, thrown in to not only fill up your Chi's bowl but also to fill their stomach.
These fillers quickly pass right through the body (since they have no nutritional value and the body does not absorb them). This can lead to nutritional deficiency and also behavioral issues such as eating grass or eating feces.
As you know, a Chihuahua is a fragile dog; his digestive system is small and sensitive as well. The food that you choose to feed your Chi will almost immediately change their activity levels and will have long lasting health effects, for the rest of their lives. For this reason, we highly suggest home cooking food for your Chi. By doing so, you are in charge of the ingredients, you know that you are not giving your dog any fillers and you can offer your Chihuahua the best of nutrition.
If you choose to not home cook for your Chi, we would then recommend: Eukanuba or Purina (Purina has not had the greatest track record in the past, but has made many changes and is not one of the best manufactured dog foods, with less fillers than others).
Home cooking can also save you money. Many of the ingredients are those which you would normally purchase. For example, if you will be getting hamburger to make a meal for your family, you can set aside a certain amount for your Chi's dinner. You can make a large amount and then refrigerate or freeze servings. In this way, you can prepare your dog's dinners once per week and not need to be cooking every day (Unless you love the kitchen!)
Feeding your Chi in this way is not the same as allowing your dog to eat table scraps! It is important that each meal be prepared correctly and with the proper ingredients.
Some of the best ingredients that you will want to use are:
Rations will change slightly depending on which recipes you use, however you will want to keep it roughly: 40% meat, 30% veggies, 30% starch.
Read more detailed information about home cooking for your Chihuahua
For any Chi owner who chooses to serve manufactured dog food, we will give you the best advice possible.
Wet or Dry?
It is suggested to feed your Chihuahua mostly dry dog food with a bit of wet dog food mixed into the menu. Eating only wet dog food may affect the bowels. Because a dog can quickly come to love wet dog food, you will not want to feed them only wet even for a day or two; they will put up a big fuss if you try to switch them over.
If you are currently feeding your Chihuahua only wet dog food and your dog is having very runny bowel movements, you should plan a slow switch over to dry food. You can begin by providing a mixture of 50% dry and 50% wet. Be sure to mix well, so that the wet food covers the dry nuggets. As time goes on, you can add less and less of the wet, ending up with a balanced diet of 80% dry dog food and 20% wet dog food.
There will be 2 main times when you wish to change your Chi's food:
- When you 1st bring your puppy home. In many cases your preference of feeding will not be the same as the breeder's (or the person whom you obtain your puppy from)
- When you notice that your little dog is giving you signals that a change is needed: they are very finicky or do not seem to be thriving on the food you are currently giving to them
Making a switch is just fine, in fact it is certainly recommended in order to get your dog to the point of being on a really great diet.
What you must keep in mind is that changes must occur slowly. It is dangerous to your dog's health if you make a fast change. Therefore, when wanting to switch, do the following:
- Week 1: 3/4 old food, 1/4 new food - mixed together well
- Week 2: 1/2 old food, 1/2 new food - mixed together well
- Week 3: 1/4 old food, 3/4 new food - mixed together well
- Week 4: 7/8 old food, 1/8 new food - mixed together well
- Week 5: Your Chihuahua can now enjoy only the new food
How Much?
How much dog food does a Chihuahua need? A dog must eat enough to be healthy and not too much so they become overweight. The amount of dog food and the feeding times will vary depending on the age of your dog and activity level. Only leave out the dog food for 30 minutes at each designated feeding time. If your dog doesn’t eat it in that time, put it away.
- Puppies under 3 months or under 2 pounds should be free-fed
- From 3 months (and at least 2 pounds) to 6 months, 3-4 scheduled meals should be given
- From 6 months to 1 year 2-3 scheduled meals should be provided
- From 1 year on you may choose to offer 2 meals (morning and night) or 1 meal at dinner
Growing puppies need about 1 ounce (.02 kg) of dry, premium dog food per pound (.45 kg) of body weight every day. This is distributed throughout 3 to 4 meals, depending on the age of the puppy.
Adult dogs need less: Approximately 1/2 ounce (.01 kg) of dry dog food per pound (.45 kg) of body weight every day. Adult dogs (over 2 years old) can usually eat just one meal per day.
If using manufactured dog food, in addition to dry dog food, a small amount of canned dog food can be added. If you are using quality dry and canned food, a good ratio is 2/3 dry and 1/3 canned. Dog supplements are helpful, they can make the coat shiny and keep the body nutritionally balanced. Older dogs definitely need dog supplements to help with their joints and many other health issues.
What to Feed Your Chihuahua
Feeding begins with offering the best of food. It is important to know that the main element that separates a high quality or poor quality dog food is the amount of fillers. A dog's digestive tract is designed to process large quantities of proteins, not carbohydrates...and certainly not fillers.
Even the best high quality dog food has fillers. They are ingredients which have zero nutritional value and simply "bulk up" the dog food to make it appear as if there is more. For example, if you are looking at a cup of dog food, what you are really seeing is about 3/4 to 4/5 of actual food (depending on the brand) and the rest is not food. It is very cheap ingredients, thrown in to not only fill up your Chi's bowl but also to fill their stomach.
These fillers quickly pass right through the body (since they have no nutritional value and the body does not absorb them). This can lead to nutritional deficiency and also behavioral issues such as eating grass or eating feces.
As you know, a Chihuahua is a fragile dog; his digestive system is small and sensitive as well. The food that you choose to feed your Chi will almost immediately change their activity levels and will have long lasting health effects, for the rest of their lives. For this reason, we highly suggest home cooking food for your Chi. By doing so, you are in charge of the ingredients, you know that you are not giving your dog any fillers and you can offer your Chihuahua the best of nutrition.
If you choose to not home cook for your Chi, we would then recommend: Eukanuba or Purina (Purina has not had the greatest track record in the past, but has made many changes and is not one of the best manufactured dog foods, with less fillers than others).
Home cooking can also save you money. Many of the ingredients are those which you would normally purchase. For example, if you will be getting hamburger to make a meal for your family, you can set aside a certain amount for your Chi's dinner. You can make a large amount and then refrigerate or freeze servings. In this way, you can prepare your dog's dinners once per week and not need to be cooking every day (Unless you love the kitchen!)
Feeding your Chi in this way is not the same as allowing your dog to eat table scraps! It is important that each meal be prepared correctly and with the proper ingredients.
Some of the best ingredients that you will want to use are:
- Organs - such as liver, kidney and brain
- Lean meats - such as lean hamburger, white breast chicken meat and fish
- Vegetables - Chihuahuas usually love potatoes (either regular potatoes or sweet potatoes), baby carrots, spinach, broccoli, and zucchini. Corn is not recommended.
- Starch is very important. This does not need to only rice (white or brown). Chihuahuas usually love pasta and there are many ways that you can incorporate this into meals.
Rations will change slightly depending on which recipes you use, however you will want to keep it roughly: 40% meat, 30% veggies, 30% starch.
Read more detailed information about home cooking for your Chihuahua
For any Chi owner who chooses to serve manufactured dog food, we will give you the best advice possible.
Wet or Dry?
It is suggested to feed your Chihuahua mostly dry dog food with a bit of wet dog food mixed into the menu. Eating only wet dog food may affect the bowels. Because a dog can quickly come to love wet dog food, you will not want to feed them only wet even for a day or two; they will put up a big fuss if you try to switch them over.
If you are currently feeding your Chihuahua only wet dog food and your dog is having very runny bowel movements, you should plan a slow switch over to dry food. You can begin by providing a mixture of 50% dry and 50% wet. Be sure to mix well, so that the wet food covers the dry nuggets. As time goes on, you can add less and less of the wet, ending up with a balanced diet of 80% dry dog food and 20% wet dog food.
What is Poison to Your Dog
Many people already know that chocolate is poisonous to a dog; however there are a lot of other foods as well. It is never recommended to feed a Chihuahua table food; some may make him very ill.
Beside chocolate the following foods can make your dog very sick:
- Nuts
- Onions
- The seeds of any fruit
- Raisins
- Coffee or any substance containing high levels of caffeine
Aside from some human food, plants and grasses can be very toxic to a Chihuahua. To make sure of your dog’s safety, never allow him to chew on any type of grass. And of course, such items and fluids as anti-freeze, hair coloring, detergents, etc would be harmful to a Chihuahua or any dog.
Picky Eaters
Feeding your Chihuahua home cooked food at pre-set times during the day is the best way to ensure your dog is properly fed. As tempting as it is, never feed your Chihuahua food from your own dinner. The fat content, colorings and more can very very detrimental to your dog's health. This will also affect your Chihuahua's coat and teeth.
If choosing manufactured food, you will just need to experiment a bit. Do not buy large quantities of dog food until you have discovered the flavor or flavors that your dog likes.
A Chi may take food and hide, refuse to eat, and display many odd & frustrating behaviors while eating (or while you are attempting to feed them!). Details to handle all Chihuahua behavioral issues are in the PetChiDog book, as seen below.
