Puppy Feeding Clarification Help

[beendaved]

Puppy is pomeranian-mix female, 4 months, ~2.6 lbs or approximately 1.18kg. Her vet recommended food is: https://www.royalcanin.co.uk/products/dog/size-health-nutrition/x-small/x-small-junior/

It has 412 calories/Cup

Based on their feeding guide it states she needs around 33g of food/day or 1/3 cup per day.

Based on http://www.petpom.com/pomeranian-proper-feeding it suggests for around 3lbs its 1/2 cup/day so that makes sense with the feeding guide.

Using the calculation of 70 * (1.18kg)^0.75 = 158.5 calories/day which is a bit more than 1/3.

That also takes into account treats right? So 1 of her dog biscuit treats is 24 calories meaning if she were to get 2 of those in a day I would have to withdraw some of her 'main' food correct?

Also, for water it seems the general rule of thumb for a puppy is 1 ounce or 30ml/lbs/day - so around 78ml per day which seems like micro to me, but also mentions 1/2 cup every 2 hours.

Anyways - the question is... is that right? I know it's a common thing especially for small dog breeds to be surprised by how 'little' food it seems like they eat... but yea quite surprised visually by how small of a portion it looks.

Sorry if this all seems annoying or that I am incompetent, I'm still new to this but still want to make sure my puppy is set up for success.

Thanks for taking the time to look!

 

[jedi4christ]

@beendaved The calculator I use suggests a range of calories between 300-600 calories/day. You'll notice it is a range … so you can adjust within that range depending on what your puppy seems to need. You want her to be enthusiastic about food, but you don't want her ravenous. She is growing, so there is no problem erring on the high side for now. You can certainly reserve some of the kibble for training. You are correct, one of the challenges for training a tiny dog is tiny calories. Getting something lo-cal she can lick (a mixture of a little peanut butter and canned pumpkin?) and using a squeeze tube (like you can get for camping) to dole out a drop or two can help.

 

[beendaved]

@jedi4christ She doesn't seem to like peanut butter at all! Frozen or out of the fridge. She will lick it but then ignore right after.

 

[jedi4christ]

@beendaved Try cream cheese. Or liver paste.

 

[beendaved]

@jedi4christ Cream cheese definitely works. I'll make sure to give it to her sparingly since it does have a decent amount of calories for such a tiny dog!

 

[omsai]

@beendaved I have a Yorkie who was only two pounds when he came home, and I buy mini training treats and cut them up even smaller. A training treat just needs to be a taste, not a snack, so you don't even need cookies. For really high value treats a shred of boiled chicken breast works. Don't forget about veggies too! Lots of dogs love carrot, and mine loves zucchini and peas too.

Edited to add: Many mini training treats seem to run between 2-3 calories each so you can still fit in a few training sessions a day with them, especially if you cut them up.

 

[beendaved]

@omsai Did honestly not know there were treats that go that low in calories - the ones I picked up yesterday after this were about .3 calories per treat. Thanks!!

 

[omsai]

@beendaved Oh nice! What brand?

 

[beendaved]

@omsai Crumps' naturals is what its called! She loves it so far!

Btw, do you have tips for Winter bloody cold weather (-24 celcius) and potty training?

 

[omsai]

@beendaved

-24 celcius

Oh my goodness! With a small dog and it being that cold I may break my stance on going inside and at least have sod in a garage or bathroom to still leash up and "go out to." That's a good question though, I live someplace cold and dreary but nothing like that. Good luck!

 

[beendaved]

@omsai Oh right a sod! And yea I have been quite concerned since it has just gotten that much colder today.

Right now she's using pee pads I recently bought with a pad holder that has a 'grate' grid over top of it - she pees and sometimes poops on it when we are too slow at getting her out and it's relatively easy to clean.

Is the sod that much better that you would suggest switching the pee pad out now? Or should I just use up the pee pads then switch to the sod? Although, by then it will be spring.

 

[omsai]

@beendaved If it were me I would go as grass like as possible even if it was artificial and get rid of the pads. I started on them too, but I think they are very confusing considering how similar they feel to carpet or other soft things and I wouldn't want him to develop a preference to going on something that feels like that.

 

[godgracemercy]

@beendaved I have a Maltipoo who is also on the smaller side - same food, too. The vet said to not worry about limiting intake at all until a year. With the little guys, the bigger worry is that they become hypoglycemic.

As a practical matter, I found training treats that are tiny and only 2 calories each which make training teeny dogs much more practical - they are Bounty Bites Jerky Trainers. My guy likes the bacon cheese flavor

 

[beendaved]

@godgracemercy That's good to know! And yes thanks for the training treats suggestion! Picked up very low calorie ones yesterday!