# Raw feeding for chihuahuas????



## SunnyTX (Apr 7, 2010)

My mother has two adult chihuahuas that she is wanting to start on raw. (I have finally convinced her). Since I have two very large dogs, I have no clue what to start her two on. Any suggestions???


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## bdb5853 (May 21, 2010)

Start out on cornish hens or bone-in chicken breasts. Obviously in the correct amounts for her dogs. My Chi eats 2-3 ounces a day and he is right at 5 pounds.


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

Still might be alittle big to start, try chicken wings whacked once with a hammer to help with the bone and then after they get use to crunching then stop using the hammer and move on to bigger pieces of chicken, 1 drumstick probably would be a meal for them for a day, just taking a guess on weight. Good Luck and post all your questions as we are here to help.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

Small whole fresh fish are also a good sized meal which you can find at Asian or other ethnic markets.


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## bdb5853 (May 21, 2010)

The bones in a chicken drumstick or thigh can be too hard sometimes for beginner dogs. I much prefer cornish hens as they are very young chickens and the bones are softer. A typical drumstick would be fine if the dogs are just fed once a day.

If you buy a 16 ounce hen and whack it up into 8 pieces with meat and bone, you've got 2 ounce sections ready to take out of the fridge and feed. 

Depending on age and activity level, a 5 pound dog should be at 2-3 ounces a day, maybe more if they have a super fast metabolism or are young or especially active.

Chicken wings are fine too but be careful not to overfeed. Cut the wing into 3 sections unless the dogs are gulpers.


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## cprcheetah (Jul 14, 2010)

We started Zoey out on Cornish Hens, and they work great for her boney meals, she still can't handle chicken legs or wings (except the tips) but does great with the Cornish hen pieces. As the previous poster said, you break them up into meal sized portions (for my chi it's 1oz). Some small dogs do not need bone every meal, it's a 'know thy dog' type situation, Zoey only needs bone every 3-4 meals or she gets constipated. Also with organs we feed those once a week as trying to get 1/10th of an oz for daily portions for her was just not happening lol. I have a blog with pictures of my pups eating, which may help give her some ideas on what/how to feed her chihuahuas
Here is my blog link: My Little Carnivores


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## schtuffy (May 17, 2010)

Cornish hens sounds good, I'm looking into trying that myself. I bought a package of thighs a couple weeks ago and I think they are a bit too fatty for starting out. They are also difficult to portion into such small quantities because of the bone in the middle...unless you are talking about boneless thighs, in which case nevermind :tongue:! Raw feeding small dogs require a bit more work, so good luck!


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## bdb5853 (May 21, 2010)

I find raw feeding tiny dogs is really pretty easy. If you're having steak for dinner, cut off a few ounces for the dog before you grill it - there ya go - dinner. 

One egg is a gorge meal for many toy dogs.

Use chicken wing tips to firm up stools. I buy a big pack of chicken wings (we like them) and cut off the wing tips for the dog. Stick 'em in the freezer. Whenever you need a little bone, just take one out. Easy. 

Cornish hens are super easy and great edible bone. Pork riblets are also good for tiny dogs and lamb breast has good edible bone as well. (I trim off the fat on the lamb breast, they are pretty fatty.)

My Chihuahua eats organs on the weekend, I don't portion them out during the week as the amount is too small. One ounce is about the size of a small ice cube so he gets beef kidney/liver for a meal and he's done with his organ allotment.

If you want, you can do whole prey for tiny dogs as well. Baby rats, mice, quail, baby rabbits - they all work. 

Toy dogs are pretty simple to feed raw.


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