How do I feed my small dog?
For over 20 years, we’ve been feeding dogs of all shapes and sizes, and no matter their size; their fundamental nutritional needs are the same.
When it comes to feeding small dogs it’s pretty simple, you need to feed them portions to suit their size, and when offering raw meaty bones or treats, making sure that these are size-appropriate.
Small dogs have plenty of options when it comes to raw bones, check out our guide here to find the right bones for your pet.
When you’re introducing your small breed dog to Big Dog Pet Foods for the first time, we recommend a slow transition period over about two weeks to minimise digestive upsets and to help with the change. Using our Combo for Small Dogs is ideal because the portions are smaller, which helps to reduce food wastage during the transition process, it’s minced finer which will make it easier for little tummies to digest if they’re eating a raw diet for the first time, and it’s a mixed protein recipe to provide a broad range of naturally occurring vitamins and minerals to boost your pet’s wellbeing and vitality.
Once your small dog has transitioned Big Dog Pet Foods using our Combo for Small Dogs, you can introduce them to any of the other recipes in our range.
We asked pet parents of small dogs to share how they raw feed their dogs. Here’s how they do it.
Little Coco (4.5kg) has been fed Big Dig raw for many, many years. She’s now 11 years old a still runs around like a puppy! I put that down to her being raw fed.
She gets a variation of all the different Big Dog flavours. All except Kangaroo as it’s a little bit lean for her. We feed her half a patty morning and night.
We tend to stay away from bones as Coco has been know to swallow them whole so instead we love using deer antlers that have been split open.
- Di (Coco’s Mum)
Hi there, we 3 tiny puppers are (left to right) Millie, Otis and Pippin. We are all pure bread chi's and weigh between 2.5-3.5kg. Millie - I was raised on big dog since day dot and am now 3. Pip & Oti - we were 2 when we transitioned and are now 5. Our favourite flavours are goat, roo, wellbeing (3 lowest cal flavours) and combo and we like to eat our big dog from licki mats, slow feeders, kongs & the like. We co-eat big dog with ziwi peak lamb & mackerel biscuits. Mama finds the biscuits are perfect for puzzles, games, walks, training, scatter feeding etc. We get different amounts of big dog (between 30 - 60g per day each) and share 45g of biscuits and mama weighs it all out every morning. We also love eating single ingredient dehydrated treats (roo or beef rib bones, steer pizzlers, lung, muscles (the ones from the ocean), fish pieces, tendons), boiled eggs, cheese, other raw meat, raw lamb ribs, raw carrot...anything but our fruit & veggies really. We are happy and healthy little puppers who love our food (Oti maybe a little too much)
Rebecca (Millie, Otis and Pippin’s Mum)
We have a 4kg dachshund. We alternate between the chicken, lamb and beef big dog raw varieties as she can get bored sometimes!
Then, once every few weeks she gets a fresh bone from the butcher!
On top of this she gets usual treats, I try to do the ones that are single ingredient meats such as chicken jerky, furry kangaroo ears, etc. and sometimes doggy baked goods too!
- Hannah (Hazel’s Mum)
Frank is 5.5yrs young and is a purebred longhair chihuahua. He’s 2.9kgs and has been a long term consumer of Big Dog (despite being a tiny dog ). We started our raw feeding journey with Big Dog when Frank was 1.5yrs old. For his size, the small dog patties work the best as he has half of one per day. We do one quarter for breakfast and one quarter for dinner, so one patty lasts 2 days in the fridge. I like to mix things up every now and then but find that the regular sized patties constipate him - so we stick to the small dog patties and the freeze dried little bites for a convenient meal, I just rehydrate in homemade bone broth. A raw diet including Big Dog has helped him stay lean (super important for his joints as he has had two knee reconstructions for luxating patellas and cruciate ligament surgery), clean teeth, shiny fur and he still has the energy/stamina/speed of a puppy. The only regret I have is that I didn’t start raw feeding sooner!!!
Despite being tiny, I like to make sure he’s still fed like a real dog. He crunches away regularly on non-weight bearing bones which keeps his teeth clean and mind bush. Frank gets lamb /pork ribs, lamb brisket (pictured), beef brisket, chicken/duck feet, lamb cutlets (fat trimmed), chicken necks, chicken frames and quail frames. Variety is best!
- Dominique (Frank’s Mum)
Poncho is 3.5kg. I can’t feed bones other than poultry as they’re very big and it’s difficult to chop them up into sizes that’s suitable for their daily portions.
He eats 100g of raw a day, so he gets 10g of bone daily. That’s like 2-3 chicken toes or a tiny corner of a drumstick haha. So I appreciate how big dog is already minced and balanced and I dont have to worry about chopping bones into teeny tiny pieces.
He eats all the recipes except for sensitive skin and wellbeing. My favourites to feed are roo, salmon and turkey but he gobbles all flavours up without discrimination.
- Irena (Poncho’s mum)
If you still have questions regarding your small dog, please get in touch with us at customercare@bigdogpetfoods.com and we’ll be happy to help you out.
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