More info. on my neighbor's little dogs

"cshenk" wrote in message
...
"MaryL" wrote

I will be taking care of my neighbor's little dogs again (teacup poodles)

It's not a problem at all for me to take care of the dogs. I'm posting
this because I know there are also some d*g owners here. Her little
white poodle has gained far too much weight. I noticed when I was taking
care of them that he could hardly get through the pet door, and her
mother says it is now impossible for him.

Wince, hard to deal with. Now lets see, these are teacup fellows. I'm
going to hazard a guess that 1/4 cup a day total is about right. That
will look like a tiny bit, especially if you feed twice a day (1/8 cup per
feeding). Start with that and if they look especially frantic come dinner
time for food, up all but the overweight one by about 2 TB. (You've fed
them enough now to see if they look especially frantic).

Don't leave any food down and if the others don't finish it all right away
(within 2-3 minutes in my experience but 'before they walk away' if a slow
eater), you've slightly over fed. If a bit over, reduce next time by a
bit. Watch though, they may be so excited the first time, and expecting to
be able to go back to it, they leave early the first day you do this so
that first evening may not make a good 'frantic hungry' test if you had to
take some up unfinished.

What you are looking for is undivided attention to food when fed, then
back to the excited play teacups are known for when they finish.

The bags tend to be pretty far off on how much. That's because it's a
balance of weight and activity. You only see them frantic when you are
there. They may be couch potatoes the rest of the time? Like I
suggested before (yes, that was me) toys help there alot. The owner may
have taken them all up so as to remove trip hazards or something. You may
have to get a few more. Soft small ones that squeak are good for teacups.
The 6 inch or so snake looking ones (remove any googly eyes etc they could
swallow by accident).



Thanks. These are good suggestions. I'm going to wait 2 or 3 days to see
if she is home soon, but I will put these into practice if she has surgery
and it appears that she will be gone for several weeks (like last time). At
present, there is one "self-feeding" container that the two dogs share, so
there isn't any way to see "who eats what." I will get two small bowls and
use those if she is going to be away long enough for me to try this. I know
what you mean about the bags being pretty far off with instructions. I use
canned food only for my cats, but they do not receive nearly as much as the
cans list. I would have fat cats if I fed that much, so it makes sense that
dog food instructions would make the same error.

MaryL