does any one have small dog on raw that could advise me on quantity?

[LokiMum]

Hi all, im in need of a little help - its a long story but the short of it is
4 weeks ago we got a small 9 month old Chihuahua who was a litte underweight at 2kg
the vet advised he should be about 2.5kg. But it soon became clear why he is the FUSSIEST dog I have ever come across!
He refused all dry kibble and eventually we got him to eat wainwright puppy trays (wet food)
But unfortunately due to the very high fibre content he was extremely constipated and refused to eat again!
After treatment and change of brand we were back to HIS normal untill he found an old dead bird in the garden,
 which was a struggle to get him to give it up (I couldn't catch him!!!)
As you can imagin 24hr later he's at the vets on a drip recovering from a very bad case of sicknesses & diarrhea! 
After his ordeal he lost his appetite completely. The vet gave us some slushy food which we had to syringe down his throat every 2 hrs .
we got him back to eating a little wet food with a little chopped up chicken in it - BUT  at 1.7 kg he was all skin and bones.
After reading every ones success stories of raw feeding I switched him to nutriment puppy
WOW WHAT A DIFFRENCE HE LOVES IT !!!! In just one week he is now a 2.1 kg bundle of joy.
My problem is he was on 125g a day (÷ in 2 meals) but i have just got the adult version and for him and according to the packet
 he should be on 50g a day thats only 25g a meal a teaspoonful !!! I did phone nutriment (lovely people) to query it
 and they said he could have up to 75g a meal 3x a day and that its trial and error as metabolism are different.
So any advice given would be appreciated or reassurance im doing the right thing.
I have decided to give him 75g 2 x a day and his treats are raw beef ribs and for training purposes (commands etc...) about 3 times a week
he has a little grated cheese (which he will do anything for!)
And incase you were wondering we DO NOT GIVE HIM HUMAN FOOD OR SCRAPS OF OUR PLATES! It was hard at first especially when he was so poorly but its paid off now - we have a healthy happy dog eating what nature intended for him.

[George]

I switched my Cavalier to Nutriment at about the same age as your Chihuahua - the best decision I ever made for him - and he too was underweight when we made the change.

I personally never take much (if any) notice of feeding guidelines because, as Nutriment have told you,  every dog is different and some dogs do need considerably more, or less, than guidelines would suggest.

I found that I needed to feed my little boy 3.5% of his ideal bodyweight in order for him to gain weight and achieve that ideal, and 3% thereafter to maintain it , and it would not have surprised me a great deal had he needed even more. If your little boy is gaining satisfactorily and is producing good, solid poos, then I honestly think you have nothing at all to worry about, just carry on as you are. I would only caution that you keep a very close eye on his condition and  start to reduce his rations as he approaches his ideal weight - it is all to easy to let them put on a little too much and it is always harder to lose excess weight than it is to gain it.

[LokiMum]

Thanks for your reply George - You read my thoughts!
I was wondering when i should reduce his rations before he becomes over weight 
he's on 6% of ideal body weight (puppy guidelines ish...) and is steadily putting on weight
he is only 400g off his minimum ideal weight - so i guess after about a week i can start reducing
before i end up with "jabba the pup" Lol 
Thanks again
Mummy & Loki

[Tinyplanets]

Hi Lokimum,
My terrier has nutriment and she is at the higher end of the recommended amounts. She weighs 6.6kg and has 165 grams daily. I am afraid I am not sure what percentage that is but will get back to you if I have a while to work it out.

She does have cold pressed dry food as treats as well and a few illicit treats from the men in my house I suspect!

She is a fairly active dog. She will be six this year if the dogstrust estimate was about right.  I did weigh her weekly initially as nutriment is quite high in fat but she holds her weight really well and I only check if she looks bigger. It is usually just her fur getting longer though.

[Dottie]

If my sums are correct, that comes to 2.5% of body weight. When I gave Nutriment I started at 2% of the body weight at that time but they were slightly overweight so I perhaps should have given 2% of target weight.  In any event, I ended up having to go below 2% because they started to gain weight very quickly.  I think that weighing a dog regularly when changing to raw food is very important, particularly if it is a sedentary type and doesn't get an awful lot of exercise.  Mind you, it's no bad idea to keep a check on their weight anyway, whatever food they are given.

[Eden Holistic Pet Foods]

as you say Dottie, feed for the weight your dog should be, not the weight it is now, though if there is a big difference between the two weights you may need to go in stages