# Thoughts on small dog portions.



## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

To those with small dogs (under 15 lbs), would you say that your dog needs MORE than the guideline of 1-3%? 

When I first started raw I made a months worth of bagged meals for each dog. Sprocket weighing in at 7 lbs 11oz, got baggies of 4oz meals. I never knew it was recommended to remove the skin (not sure how I missed that seeing as I read so much!), so his meals were skin and fat on. 

Now Sprocket has never been fat, he has always been in shape and muscular. I've always beed proud of his in shape body and have gotten a ton of compliments on how well built he is. Never a belly on him and you could always feel his ribs a teeny bit when picking him up. 

A few weeks into raw I noticed that he had lost a considerable amount of weight. Popped him on the scale and saw that he had lost 10 oz. I always weigh my dogs in the morning after they have gone potty so it was pretty accurate. I have since upped his amount of food. He gets a little more than a third pound and maintains his weigh perfectly. He is not fat at all, but he doesn't feel like a skeleton anymore. 

I know that each dog has individual needs and each dog is different. I don't have another small raw fed dog to compare him to so I am wondering what other small dog owners have experienced. 

I'd love to hear from the small dog owners!


----------



## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

I think it has to do with the individual dog and their metabolism. We fostered two mini dachshunds last year and one was a little pudgie while the other was perfect. They came to us completely raised on raw foods, both eating the same amount per day. We ended up cutting back on the fat one just to get her to maintain a healthier weight. 

I also think on average most smaller dogs needs a higher amount just because they tend to have higher metabolisms.


----------



## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

DaneMama said:


> I think it has to do with the individual dog and their metabolism. We fostered two mini dachshunds last year and one was a little pudgie while the other was perfect. They came to us completely raised on raw foods, both eating the same amount per day. We ended up cutting back on the fat one just to get her to maintain a healthier weight.
> 
> I also think on average most smaller dogs needs a higher amount just because they tend to have higher metabolisms.


Thanks for the example. I know its individual as all dogs are individuals so thats why I'd like to hear from small dog owners on what they have experienced. I think it would be fun to have a concensus on what small dogs require. Of course its all per dog but seeing as smaller dogs tend to have a higher metabolism, maybe it is true that the majority of them need more. 

I think its interesting that my almost 8lb dog gets almost half what my 41 lb dog gets. 

Regarding metabolisms, is it the same with older dogs? When dogs on raw get older, do the owners cut back on their portions? I know Mikey is almost 9 and he gets less than 2% because he needed to lose weight at the time and it is now a juggling act to find his ideal weight.


----------



## Celt (Dec 27, 2010)

My 2 eat about 4 oz. a day which is about 2 % of their weight. Scotty is a little slim on it but generally won't eat more than that (even on kibble he never ate more than that), Blaise should probably get a little less cause he's a little heavy (probably about 1/2 lb) but if he gets less he's still hungry.


----------



## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

Celt said:


> My 2 eat about 4 oz. a day which is about 2 % of their weight. Scotty is a little slim on it but generally won't eat more than that (even on kibble he never ate more than that), Blaise should probably get a little less cause he's a little heavy (probably about 1/2 lb) *but if he gets less he's still hungry*.



Sprocket is still hungry too usually. Now when you say Scotty wont eat more than 4oz, what does he do when you give him more? Do he literally walk away from it? How interesting! Only time one of my dogs have walked away was when I gave Mikey a chicken carcass. He ate most of it but left about half of a back. Gunner ate that for him.


----------



## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

I do think age plays a role because older dogs tend to be less active.


----------



## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

Sprocket said:


> Regarding metabolisms, is it the same with older dogs? When dogs on raw get older, do the owners cut back on their portions? I know Mikey is almost 9 and he gets less than 2% because he needed to lose weight at the time and it is now a juggling act to find his ideal weight.


I juggle alot with Snorkels food too. After months, I think we are getting closer to a weight maintenance amount of food. I mean 1/8-1/4 oz a day literally means the difference in gaining and losing. It's such a tiny amount of food!

I didn't have her when she was young, but she's getting 2.8% of her weight to maintain, not lose. 

So she probably does have a higher metabolism than a larger dog. She's pretty active for an old girl. She takes several walks per day although they aren't long because she doesn't have much stamina.


----------



## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

xellil said:


> I juggle alot with Snorkels food too. After months, I think we are getting closer to a weight maintenance amount of food. I mean 1/8-1/4 oz a day literally means the difference in gaining and losing. It's such a tiny amount of food!
> 
> I didn't have her when she was young, but she's getting 2.8% of her weight to maintain, not lose.
> 
> So she probably does have a higher metabolism than a larger dog. She's pretty active for an old girl. She takes several walks per day although they aren't long because she doesn't have much stamina.


Even at that age she has a higher metabolism?


----------



## HayleyMarie (Jul 6, 2011)

Teagan is 16-17 lbs and I am feeding her 7 ounces so about 3% of her body weight. She is starting to get a tad pudgie so I will be cutting down her meals by and ounce or two as of now. And then we will go from there.

The nice this about raw is that you notice if they are getting too much or two little right away. It will be easy for me to transition feeding her less because I cut all her meat into 1-2 ounce chunks.


----------



## Celt (Dec 27, 2010)

Yup, Scotty will walk away from his dish as soon as he's "full", same with Blaise. Very rarely, they might go back and finish off what's left (most often if they left some of their 4oz meal and have gotten "extra" exercise).


----------



## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

Celt said:


> Yup, Scotty will walk away from his dish as soon as he's "full", same with Blaise. Very rarely, they might go back and finish off what's left (most often if they left some of their 4oz meal and have gotten "extra" exercise).


Wish I had their self control! haha


----------



## Amy18 (May 17, 2011)

Lex weighs 5.5lbs and gets about 4% of her body weight, some days a little less so on average 3.3 oz/day. It seems like a lot but she's very active. She also has a really tiny frame and i can't even imagine she could get fat even if she wanted to lol


----------



## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

Amy18 said:


> Lex weighs 5.5lbs and gets about 4% of her body weight, some days a little less so on average 3.3 oz/day. It seems like a lot but she's very active. She also has a really tiny frame and i can't even imagine she could get fat even if she wanted to lol


What kind of dog is she? Sounds a lot like Sprocket. He is very active as well.


----------



## Sheltielover25 (Jan 18, 2011)

I feed two 15 lb dogs. I feed each one around 8oz and I found when I fed them twice a day, they begged less but I couldn't feed them large proportions. When I fed once a day they begged so badly! I had a lot of large deer pieces at the time and I started letting them eat as they pleased. I weighed them every day and they would sometimes get up to 16 lbs, but also came back to either 14-15lbs. They ate so much it seemed like, but it also gave them a ton of energy and they ran around the yard chasing each other for three hours or so. I am since out of large pieces so I've been feeding two days worth at a time and then a little bit in between and on the days where they get two meals, they are good all day and don't beg. They still beg on their fasting day, but I figure three days without begging is better than none! I personally like leaving it up to the dog, but maybe you can't do that in all cases. One of mine is a huge pig though and he didn't put on any extra weight. The other two would self-regulate and usually refuse food the next day. I've had them since birth and the one who is a piglet was the one who had to fight the hardest to get milk as a pup. Wonder if that has any affect...


----------



## doxieluv (Aug 8, 2011)

When my dogs were kibble fed they were getting the daily recommended serving from the back of the bag but I had to reduce that for Colby because he started getting a bit pudgy which is terrible for their backs. However on raw he gets about 3-4.5%. He eats a whole chicken leg quarter about once a week and he's still hungry. He's still nice and trim though. Rayne is fed about 3-3.5%. Though I'm not sure if they have some sort of deficiency or something because they lose weight easily but it takes them much longer to gain it back.


----------



## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

Sprocket said:


> Even at that age she has a higher metabolism?


Well I'm not sure - but Rebel gets 1% of his weight at 103 pounds now and he's losing weight very slowly. So I think she does run off some calories.

By the way, alot of dogs act like they are starving all the time. Snorkels had to lost almost 10 pounds and she acts no different on diet rations or the apparent overdose of food I was giving her when she gained 1.5 pounds in 10 days.

She begs for food constantly - it's probably why alot of small dogs are fat fat fat. It's hard to ignore those eyes - they must be hungry if they are acting like that, right? 

I've never seen a dog act so starving to death all the time.


----------



## Mondo (Dec 20, 2011)

I've got one self regulator, who will stop eating, that is my Tibby Tuffy. Toby the Shih Tzu has atypical cushings and has never refused food, except for the time he broke a tooth. The boys used to free feed kibble, but after Toby got sick, I couldn't leave food out anymore.


----------



## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

Mondo said:


> I've got one self regulator, who will stop eating, that is my Tibby Tuffy. Toby the Shih Tzu has atypical cushings and has never refused food, except for the time he broke a tooth. The boys used to free feed kibble, but after Toby got sick, I couldn't leave food out anymore.


Most of my life we free fed. We had a giant feeder on the porch and would put in 50 pound bags and the dogs would just eat what they needed. 

I'm not understanding not being able to do that. If I left Snorkels to her own devices, I feel sure she would eat until she died. She got into Rebel's dog food back when we were feeding dry and ate so much she ended up in the ER for two days. When I caught her, she was competely inside the back just eating as fast as she could and STILL begged for some cheese my husband had in his hand as we were on the way out the door to the ER!

I know sometimes it feels like I'm starving her. But I think it's like people - we are used to seeing such huge portions we get in restaurants etc. that the big portions start to seem normal. And little dogs, likewise.


----------



## Donna Little (May 31, 2011)

I have 10 small dogs and they all get different percentages to some degree. The tiny Min Pin weighed 3.7 lbs at her vet visit last month and she eats around 4 oz per day. Of course she pings off the walls all day so.... :twitch:
My Chihuahua Toby who weighs about twice that gets 3.8 oz and is maintaining his weight perfectly. My Chi Angel is almost exactly the same weight as Toby but she gets 4 oz and has a great shape. Both of my other Min Pins are nearly exactly the same size but one gets 5.8 oz per day and the other gets 5 oz. So you just have to figure out what your guy needs as you go along. 
He is very cute in your new profile pic BTW!


----------



## tem_sat (Jun 20, 2010)

Bean is 12lbs and gets just under 4 ounces per day. That amount would be approximately 2%.


----------



## Amy18 (May 17, 2011)

Sprocket said:


> What kind of dog is she? Sounds a lot like Sprocket. He is very active as well.


She's a 1 yr old yorkie


----------



## nickiklaus (Dec 10, 2011)

My 5.7kgs Silky terrier is getting 3.2% of her body weight 180g ( 6.3ounces) she started raw at 6kgs (13lbs) (i think a bit overweight) at first i fed 2% and she got SO skinny within a few days ! so i upped it to 2.5% still very skinny and bony.. so now its 3.2% and she is at a perfect weight, i think and maintaining her 5.7 kgs weight well


----------



## SpooOwner (Oct 1, 2010)

I've had my foster maltipoo for about two weeks and am still figuring out how much to feed him. He's hovering at about 15.1-15.2 lbs and eats a lot of treats (training + a kong when I leave + a rec chew) plus about 5.3 ounces (one third of a pound; 2.2% of his current weight) for dinner. I think he's close to ideal - maybe a little overweight - but it's hard to tell because he's also developing a lot of muscle (his stamina has really improved), so I don't want to mess around too much with his food since he's in the ball park.


----------



## flippedstars (May 22, 2010)

Did you weigh him while he was still on a kibbled food 'before'? If so, small dogs carry about 1/2-1 lb of 'kibble bloat' depending on their size. I have seen it over and over again to a point now where if someone has a dog pushing show weight I tell people throw them on raw for a few days before and it gets rid of that extra weight incase they have to get weighed...My most recent pup came to me at 4.2 lbs on kibble and within 2 days was 3.6 lbs. She looked the same but her body wasn't carrying around extra water and extra kibbles. I bet that could be a good part of what you saw w/ Sproket?


----------



## Caty M (Aug 13, 2010)

Tess weighs 10.9lb and gets around 1.2lb per day, less on bad weather days and more when she gets extra exercise. She has a super metabolism, though if fed only red meats that day I do feed less also. She loses weight on chicken/turkey mostly, even if I do go over 1.5lb/day.

Bishop weighs around 19lb and gets about 0.5lb/day. Both are medium active- an hour offleash play/walk/run and another hour of play in the backyard.


----------



## lucky (Jan 8, 2011)

Lucky is 12lb and gets about 120g of food per day, she was on 140g but was getting pudgy 

She is very active, runs around everywhere, never still


----------



## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

Caty M said:


> Tess weighs 10.9lb and gets around 1.2lb per day, less on bad weather days and more when she gets extra exercise.


Wow. Just wow. That is definitely a dog with a high metabolism. Rebel at 103 pounds gets at max 1.3 pounds per day.


----------



## Caty M (Aug 13, 2010)

xellil said:


> Wow. Just wow. That is definitely a dog with a high metabolism. Rebel at 103 pounds gets at max 1.3 pounds per day.












Yep.. and she doesn't gain an ounce. We let the dogs gorge over Christmas on duck and she ate around four pounds.. the next day, back to normal.


----------



## lucky (Jan 8, 2011)

Lucky gorged at christmas too, she had a whole poussin. With lucky I have found that she puts weight on easily, she also loses it easily so I try and keep her meals to about 120g (except on christmas day lol)


----------



## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

flippedstars said:


> Did you weigh him while he was still on a kibbled food 'before'? If so, small dogs carry about 1/2-1 lb of 'kibble bloat' depending on their size. I have seen it over and over again to a point now where if someone has a dog pushing show weight I tell people throw them on raw for a few days before and it gets rid of that extra weight incase they have to get weighed...My most recent pup came to me at 4.2 lbs on kibble and within 2 days was 3.6 lbs. She looked the same but her body wasn't carrying around extra water and extra kibbles. I bet that could be a good part of what you saw w/ Sproket?


I'm not sure if I can write this so it's understandable but I will try. 

Sprocket is 2 years 5 months old right now and he is still intact (dont worry, never breeding him EVER and plan to have him neutered in spring) He has always been in "perfect" form. Very active, never an ounce of extra weight on him, always excellent muscle structure and has always weighed 7lb/11oz - 7lb/5oz. I'm sure you know since you own so many teeny dogs, that the smallest amount of weight makes a big difference. 

His body has always felt perfect. You could feel all his ribs but not like you were feeling JUST bones. He felt great!. Switching him to raw, he lost IMO, a lot of weight and his body felt emaciated. It make have been bloat, may not have but I didn't like it!. Since I increased his food he is back to feeling better and looking better. When he eats you can't even tell he has anything in his tummy but he sure does get a good share of food. 

He is obviously just one of the ones that needs a little extra. I have always been proud of Sprockets weight. All I see are fat little football chis and I'm very pleased when I get a compliment about how beautiful he is and how "athletic" he looks. Mikey's weight was pure torture to me before switching. I was so embarrassed about having a fat dog, even if he wasn't that fat. He was down to so little kibble and STILL looked and felt fat even with running 2 miles a day and going everywhere with me. Thanks to PMR, I can be proud of the way all my dogs look 

Possibly the weight fluctuation was a "detox" result. I am just so happy all I have to do it feed him more because he is more than happy to eat!.


----------



## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

Caty M said:


> Yep.. and she doesn't gain an ounce. We let the dogs gorge over Christmas on duck and she ate around four pounds.. the next day, back to normal.


I'm not going to show your post to Snorkels. It would make her cry.


----------



## Caty M (Aug 13, 2010)

They kind of sound a lot alike LOL.. Tess LIVES for food.. after the duck she started begging from me and my dinner LOL, I gave her a piece and she ate it, but groaned the entire time in discomfort.


----------



## flippedstars (May 22, 2010)

Most of mine need a little extra too - right now I have a puppy that is 7 months old that needs 8 oz a day to maintain her weight at 4.5 lbs. Slightly ridiculous LOL!


----------



## AveryandAudrey (Sep 20, 2010)

Audrey Lyn (chihuahua) is 6 pounds and I honestly dont go by the 1-3%. Audrey is a thin muscular girl and even at 3% she loses weight. She is also a bouncy active girl that burns her food quick. So I just feed what keeps her looking good. I was feeding 85/15% beef but she was too thin and so I got one with more fat. And my family hunts so my dogs get venison which is a lean meat so I give some egg, yogurt, pork and the higher fat beef, higher fat turkey and it works out good. Audrey gets some chicken now and then but not often due to my shar-pei being allergic to chicken and I'm a vegetarian so not much chicken is bought. My husband eats meat but not alot of chicken.
So basically I just feed according to what I think she needs and not by a number because I want her healthy and fit. I feel that those numbers are a basic guideline to help people who are beginning their dogs on the raw diet.


----------



## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

if my pug eats more than 6 oz a day...he porks up...since he's got a very broad chest....(he's probaby barrell chested because he could barely breathe the first two years of his life..).....we let him gain a little weight so he wouldn't fall over....but we're talking about the difference of a 1/2 ounce.

he would cry if he heard about small dogs eating 4 pounds in one sitting...

malia is old now and stays slim eating 8 ounces a day...whilst she has a little pouch, if you look down at her, she has a defined broad chest from some breed...you can feel her ribs and she has a waist.....any more than that and she's not so slim.....


----------

