[Terry loves Precious]

I have had a female Pomeranian for a week now and she was born on Nov.2nd 2020 and she was eating puppy chow dog food soak in warm water by the breeder. Ever since I have had her I have struggled to get her to eat. Yesterday and today I have gotten her to eat some of the puppy chow. What I need to know is one how many pieces of the food should she eat at one sitting and how many times per day should she be eating that amount. Please don't tell me she needs x amount of calories or ounces or cups just break it down to individual pieces of the puppy chow.

 

[LeoRose]

Without having a bag of Purina Puppy Chow here in front of me (my dogs are on a completely different Purina product), giving you the exact number of kibbles she should be eating is hard. Start with measuring out the total recommended amount on the bag a few times, count how many pieces that averages out to be, divide that by four (or even five) for the number of meals she should be getting, and you will have an idea how many pieces of kibble she should get for each meal.

Prepare her meal, set the bowl down, and walk away, leaving her to eat in peace. Give her fifteen to twenty minutes to eat, and simply take away any uneaten food.

 

[DaySleepers]

Oof, rough one. And a bigger issue in tiny toy breed puppies than most. When you say she's eaten some yesterday and today, does that mean she's eaten nothing or almost nothing between coming home with you and then? Or am I misreading and she's only eating a tiny amount each day/meal? How long is she going without any food, including treats or table scraps, if she's getting those? Because if she's genuinely going without food for many hours at her age, a vet visit may be in order to make sure there's no underlying issue and talk about how to avoid hypoglycemia with her.

 

[pandora]

No idea , I have never heard of anyone counting individual bits of dry kibble....but if you are worried then I suggest you either consult the breeder and ask them how much she ate or check with a vet...
Pups can go downhill very fast so if in doubt consult a professional

 

[Terry loves Precious]

Oof, rough one. And a bigger issue in tiny toy breed puppies than most. When you say she's eaten some yesterday and today, does that mean she's eaten nothing or almost nothing between coming home with you and then? Or am I misreading and she's only eating a tiny amount each day/meal? How long is she going without any food, including treats or table scraps, if she's getting those? Because if she's genuinely going without food for many hours at her age, a vet visit may be in order to make sure there's no underlying issue and talk about how to avoid hypoglycemia with her.

My bad I didn't do a good job of wording that post. She is eating some everyday it just seems like not enough to me. She will usually eat one up to 3 pieces of the puppy chow. We have offered it to her dry, moisten with warm water,after it has sat and gotten very soft from the water we have heated for 9 second in microwave to get it warm not hot. We have done the same with 3 other dry foods that are dog food not puppy food because it is what our 15 month old Shih Tzu eats. We have offered her heart to tail caned dog food,chicken flavor,filet mignon,and prime rib again all foods my Shihtzu eats. The vet sent two different canned foods home that are special made for recovery type situations. She will try something by either licking it then walk away or maybe a bite or 2 and walk away. After Thanksgiving we offered her some of the breast meat,we don't put any stuffing in our turkey nor do we season it with anything other than a little salt and margarine. We make sure she doesn't get any skin which would be were the majority of the salt would be. We have fixed plain white rice and mixed turkey and rice which she does eat the turkey pretty good and some of the rice I think mainly just to get to the turkey. We have boiled a plain chicken breast and offered that to her. Now the chicken and turkey she will eat almost every time offered but I don't think she can be healthy living on just turkey and chicken. She needs puppy food because it has nutrition in it the turkey and chicken don't have. We got home with her at 2 am on Saturday and took her to the vet the following Monday and vet said she was 2 pounds and looked healthy and I am to take her back at 3pm this Monday for her next set of vaccines. I am hoping I am just worried for no good reason. Before Precious (the pomeranian) BabyGirl (the Shihtzu) is the smallest dogs I have ever had. I know she can't eat as much as a bigger dog but it just seems like she needs more than what she is eating now. I am hoping for a good report tomorrow from the vet.

 

[DaySleepers]

I'm glad a vet's involved. Just to clarify - you mean after Christmas, right? Because with a Nov 2nd birthdate she'd only have been three weeks old at Thanksgiving, just want to keep things straight!

If she were mine, I'd pick a complete food and stick with it, probably one of the soft canned recovery foods. They're super calorie and nutrient dense, my ~18lb poodle was only getting a tablespoon at a time when he had to be on one for a bit. Also going through a ton of different foods in a week might actually stress her out more about eating and/or make her more likely to be picky. I'd offer the food super often, like every hour or two (so if she only takes a lick every so often it adds up), and try to measure it with an actual measuring spoon. Then take notes. That way you can tell your vet super specifically "we offered her one teaspoon 8 times yesterday, and she ate about half three of those times, so only about one and half teaspoons the whole day" or whatever happens. That'll give them a lot more precise information about what nutrition she's getting, and whether it's likely enough food for her or if she's still not getting enough.