 Some pups get very involved in their eating program! Providing a high-quality food is one of the most important parts of puppy care. There
are many different brands on the market today...how do you pick a good one?
Because of all the recent problems
we've seen with processing, we have decided to feed our poodles a scientifically based diet, provided by a company called
Healthy Pet Net. Providing all natural, completely balanced Life's Abundance for our poodles
guarantees that they have the best, freshest food available with no additives, preservatives or hormones
Since
we have started feeding a more wholesome quality of food, we have noticed huge differences in our poodles, all of them good.
We find that they hold their weight better and they tend to be uniformly good weight - not more fat ones and skinny ones.
They are all a very consistent, not too fat, not too thin weight.
All in all, feeding Life's Abundance has
been a very good experience, and we highly recommend it to all of our poodle parents.
For about a year, we fed
our poodles a raw diet. We made the decision to feed this way based on the upheavals and scandals we saw in the pet food
industry. Though Healthy Pet Net uses only human grade foods and processing plants, in our zeal to provide only the best for
our poodles, we switched to raw.
However, feeding raw is just not for everyone. Ultimately, we stopped feeding
raw out of a concern for a balanced diet. Yes, we did use the supplements and yes, the poodles did well. But it was a tremendous
amount of work and we never felt 100% comfortable with the nutritional balance. Some folks also like to cook for their
poodles, some just share their meals with their poodles. In the end, what really matters is the health of your poodle.
What should you look for in a top quality pet food?
Look for a food that
does not use corn, or include animal by-products, chemical preservatives or dyes. We highly recommend Healthy Pet Net's
"Life's Abundance" as a good basic food, and it is available on line. If you'd like to order a free sample,
click on the picture.
How much and how often to feed? For toy poodle pups, we recommend 2-5% of their adult body weight, which
is generally between 3-6 oz, depending on the size of your poodle. If your pup seems hungry after he eats, offer a tablespoon
or so more. As long as your pup maintains a good weight, adjust the amount you offer to suit him. Supplement your pup's
diet with raw beef bones, chewies and other items that will help him with teething and also keep his teeth clean and free
of debris.
What do we mean by "maintaining a good weight"? In our experience as breeders, very
young, healthy pups rarely get too fat or too thin. They pretty much eat what they need and no more. However, as they
grow, other factors come into play. Young males may tend to be thinner than you would like if they are exposed to other females,
or are just allowed to be generally excitable. Some may develop a tendancy to be picky eaters. Older pups, 12 weeks &
up, who are eating a raw diet sometimes like to eat just because it tastes so good to them, creating a chubby puppy. Fat or
chubby poodle puppies are NOT a good thing - overweight pups can become more prone to develop joint problems.
To
tell if your poodle is in good weight, place her on a table, facing away from you. Now, put your hands around her at the rib
cage. Can you clearly feel ribs, as though you could count them? Now run your hand along her spine. Can you clearly feel or
count her vertabrae? If so, you poodle is too thin. Try supplementing her with this recipe for "Satin Balls".
Our poodles LOVE Satin Balls. They are not especially cheap to make, but they are excellent for treats, training and adding
weight.
 Here is one recipe for Satin Balls...
10 pounds hamburger meat [the cheapest kind] or ground venison
1 lg. box of Total cereal
[or comparable natural brand]
1 lg. box oatmeal
1 jar of wheat germ
1 1/4 cup veg oil
1 1/4 cup of unsulfured molasses
10 raw eggs
10 envelopes of unflavored gelatin
pinch
of salt
Mix all ingredients together, much like you would a meatball.
Divide into 10 quart freezer bags
and freeze.
Thaw as needed
We make these into meatball size servings - about 1" in diameter. Then
we freeze them in bags of 12. If we have a poodle who needs to put on weight, we give her 2-3 of these a day, plus her regular
food. These work really well as snacks and training treats. You would not believe how fast you can teach a poodle to "sit"
using these as rewards! When we use them as treats for dogs without weight problems, we divide a ball into quarters, since
we are going for taste, not nutrition.
In addition to good food,
be sure your pup has clean fresh water to drink. We do limit water during the house-training phase, but once the pup is house-trained,
we offer unlimited access to water. Also, you may find that if you are feeding your pup a raw diet, there will be less need
to drink excess water, since there is a lot of moisture in the raw meats.
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