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Feeding My New Puppy


tryamartimmy
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Hi. I'll be the proud 'mum' of a 12wk old chihuahua puppy at the end of this month. I've been advised by the breeder to give her puppy kibble, vegetables, rice, mince and boiled chicken. Sounds good.

I AM a little confused as to how to incorporate the vegetables/fruit into her diet though. Any suggestions you have would really be appreciated!

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Hi..Not sure if feeding Chi's is any different to other pups...

but I would be NOT using rice, using raw human grade chicken necks, not mince, and the raw veges/fruit can be a very small amount, pureed or juiced, I guess :thumbsup:

Make any changes gradually to avoid upset tummy...and enjoy reading advice from others here who know more about chi's and diet than me :rofl:

Edited by persephone
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Hi..Not sure if feeding Chi's is any different to other pups...

but I would be NOT using rice, using raw human grade chicken necks, not mince, and the raw veges/fruit can be a very small amount, pureed or juiced, I guess :thumbsup:

Make any changes gradually to avoid upset tummy...and enjoy reading advice from others here who know more about chi's and diet than me :rofl:

I heard that chicken necks are good for their teeth. I'll definitely be using them I think. I can freeze them, right?

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I actually grate the vegies and fruit into Bruno's meals. That way the juice goes in to the meal too. I usually use a mix of whatever is available (i.e. carrot, apple, pear, potato, cabbage, celery, pumpkin) all raw and grated straight into his mince. Try using only a very small amount of one fruit or vege first, if no upset tummy or bad reaction then try slowly introducing more, one at a time. Hope this helps, and I'm certainly no expert on diet or chi's, but this is just what works for me.

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I have my Chihuahua's plus two current pups on two different meals a day.

1. Is a mixture of grated vegies (carrot, potato, sweet potato, celery, pumpkin whatever you have availble) mixed with a good pet mince i buy from either lenards or a good butcher.

2. Is simple tucker time cut up very finely for them (finely because otherwise they carry the big bits everywhere to sit and chew on them and they arent fun when you step on them)

Mine also have kibble available to them all the time but you can incorporate that into the mince mixture as well.

They also receive chicken necks and wings in place of the tucket time every two-three days :)

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2. Is simple tucker time cut up very finely for them (finely because otherwise they carry the big bits everywhere to sit and chew on them and they arent fun when you step on them)

Thanks for that!

Is tucker time a brand? Where do you buy it?

Also, with the mince, can I use the stuff you buy at Coles? (We don't actually have a butcher where I live)

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Yes tuckertime is a brand!!!

You can get it at most pet stores or from you local vet maybe.

With the mince it needs to be of a good quality, also if you buy it from a supermarket (which i do sometimes) mix it up a bit, get some lamb, beef, chicken or even turkey (mine love turkey) and mix them. Then you can freeze it in portions.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi all.

I now have my new puppy and have prepared a few starter meals to try with her.

1) Mince (cooked) with pureed mushroom, celery and carrot

2) Chicken mince (cooked) with celery, cabbage, carrot and peas (all pureed)

I give her one or the other for her evening meal, sometimes with a little grated cheese. I had to make a couple of batches and separate them out into ice-cube trays and freeze as these seem to be a good sized portion for such a small dog.

For brekky, she gets her kibble (royal canin mini jr) mixed with some warm water to make a gravy. As I go out the door for work, she gets a half slice of roolami to chew, so she doesn't notice my going so much.

For lunch, she's getting a chicken neck.

Brekky and lunch seem to go down well, but dinner isn't something that seems to interest her. Has anyone got any suggestions as to what I can give that might interest her more?

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As she settles in to her new home, she might have some tummy upsets, so it's best to give her the same food as she had at the breeders. Then you can gradually- over 4 days or so- introduce new foods and the routine you want to have. Most puppies do well with routine- similar meals, similar times.

For dinner, it sounds like what you give is fine. Don't offer a 'smorgasboard' (e.g. offer something tastier if she doesn't eat what you give) unless you want a fussy eater. Just put it away and offer it again later. She'll soon get the idea :thumbsup: .

Lucky with a toy breed, you can feed good food for little $.

I give raw mince, too.

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Yep, what I'm feeding is very similar to what the breeder suggested. The kibble is the same and so are the chicken necks, but the breeder was feeding raw mince and rice and just introducing cooked meat. She told me that the pup was 'stealing' the adult dogs food (which was cooked) and so was ready.

Maybe I'll try the raw mince approach.

With the poos, I've actually been monitoring them closely to make sure she's ok and they're still hard, not sloppy. But there does seem to be less of them. What do you reckon that means?

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The less poos means the more the dog is using from the food - hence if you feed cheap dry food which has cereal as main ingredient, most of it comes out again as their body does not use it. Whereas if you feed a super premium (like you do with Royal Canin), protein is main ingredient which the dog digests hence less poo.

I was cooking Angus a mix of brown rice, frozen vegies and mince (human grade or the pet one from Lennards) adding a stock cube for flavour. I have read that brown rice is better than white. I am wondering about feeding cabbage and whether it has same effect on dogs as humans - wind.

A couple of other things I have picked up from this forum:

- not adding water to kibble ( I don't do this); and

- when adding new foods into the diet, introduce one at a time so you can see if there is any sensitivity - its easier to do it this way than having to work backwards!

Good luck with it.

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At what age can you start puppies on chicken necks and do you defrost them or can you feed them frozen ?

The earlier you get the pup used to bones, the better. I'd defrost them if you can. Might be a bit cold in this weather otherwise, though they can be fed frozen.

If pup is little and has trouble with a whole one, you can cut them into pieces with kitchen scissors.

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We do feed our dogs cabbage, mixed with other vegetables, ALWAYS cooked..... we have 5 Deerhounds in the house so smelly farts are a NO-NO

In any case dogs cannot digest raw veg..... which is why their farts will be smelly

ASIDE..... isn't it nice ? most talk between dog owners VERY soon gets round to Death, Sex or Farts......

Got to love them.......

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