Paying attention to small dog nutrition is probably the most important thing you can do give your pup the best chance for a long, very healthy life. Well that, and exercise. And love. Never forget about love. If it were up to us, we’d be feeding only organic frozen raw diets to our dogs. And for a while, that’s what Phoebe and Scout ate. It wasn’t until they both became sick (we write about it in our post When Your Small Dog Has Tummy Troubles) that we had to leave behind raw food and find alternatives. Now, we use a home delivery service that provides gently cooked meals, combined with freeze-dried raw. We add whole fruits, veggies and dairy as toppers, and we supplement with healthy treats. You’ll find our current favorites here.
(Note: This page contains affiliate links for your shopping convenience and to help support our work. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Our full disclosure, disclaimer, and copyright notices are found here. )
Feeding
Our two Havanese have taken food pickiness to an Olympic-level sport. This Instinct minimally-processed dehydrated raw is one of the few dry foods they will eat, and they have this every morning with shredded cheese, carrots, or other chopped veggies sprinkled on top. We kid you not. They like their garnish. And the added low-calorie whole foods simply enhance the small dog nutrition.
It’s counterintuitive, but we trick our picky eaters into eating with the same schemes that work to put the brakes on pups who wolf down their food. Since we started using different slow feeder bowls so they work a bit harder for their morning meal, the girls have stopped walking away from their food!
No small dog home should be without these probiotics. These little capsules, which you can open and sprinkle on top of food (strategically placed UNDER the cheese), are our first line of defense whenever GI issues arise.
Treats
While the pups are picky about their meals, they’d run over us and back up again if it meant a quicker route to these grass-fed beef jerky treats. We save these for training, as they certainly get our girls’ attention.
These are the non-crumbly treats we keep in our pockets and around the house for impromptu rewards. They enjoy these too, and we love the low-calorie, baked-in-a-certified-organic-facility goodness.
So the dogs absolutely LOVE these, and their breath is so much better. Like a lot better. As in kissable better. What I most appreciate is that these adorable chews with heart centers are customized for your small dog’s size. Too many products are designed as though a large dog is going to be eating it, and I’m sure more than one small dog has suffered stomach issues as a result. These? They’re perfectly-sized for small dogs.
(Note: This page contains affiliate links for your shopping convenience and to help support our work. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Our full disclosure, disclaimer, and copyright notices are found here. )
