Patty has recently got a puppy and asked this question:

“I have a 9 week old maltese/poodle mix who is very smart and is holding her bladder all night as long as she’s in her crate. My problem is getting her to eat! she is sweet and loves to be held and cuddled. My husband and I work all day so we have a kennel outside with a crate inside for her to nap in and I leave her a dish full of food and water. However when we get home her food has hardly been touched. After snuggling her for awhile after I get home, if I put some food in my hand she will nibble alittle. But thats it! we have tried different brands-even cat food. she is very healthy and active and drinks alot of water. When I make supper she smells the people food and I know she would eat that in a heart beat, but I told my husband no we weren’t going to start that! Do you have any tricks or suggestions? I worry that she will get sick eventually. Do small dogs (2or3 lbs) only eat a tablespoon at a time?”

The size of a dog will affect the amount of food they need to eat to maintain them in good shape.  Some dogs are greedy and eat much more than they need, others eat the bare minimum.  Hopefully, you will have already spoken to your vet about this, if not, you should (just so he can assess her and make sure she does not have any underlying health issues).

Leaving food out all day is probably not the best thing to do.  If she thinks she can pick at the food whenever she wants, this will encourage her to only have small amounts at a time.  It is best to have set mealtimes that “expire” if she has not finished the food.  A small dog will probably need to have 3 or 4 meals  in a day.

Work out the general daily amount for your dog’s weight (either by reading the guidelines on the pack or asking your vet to set a feeding schedule) and divide that amount by the number of meals you want it to be split into.  Give her one portion in a morning after her early morning walk.  Leave it out for 20 minutes and whatever she has not eaten in that time should be discarded or set aside.  Do this for each meal (making sure they are at set times each day) so that she gets used to the routine.  If you are unable to come home through the working day or get a friend to pop round to feed her, then you might want to invest in one of those automatic feeders that open and close at set times.  Because she is so small, I would be inclined to weigh her regularly while doing this, and if she is not maintaining her weight, then you need to decide whether to initially give in to her eating “human” food for at least a short while until she has gotten used to a feeding pattern (and definitely get the vet involved).  Remember also, that I am talking about spreading out her meals, not water.  You should always make sure she has plenty of water.

I would not advocate her eating “leftovers” or even the same food you have prepared for yourselves due to the amount of salt and sugar that most human meals contain.  Try giving her some cooked chicken or lamb (make sure there are no bones etc..) at first.  Get her used to eating it from her bowl, otherwise she will expect to be hand fed all the time. What you can then do is introduce the dog food by mixing it with the meat until she is happy with just dog food.  You can also make your own holistic home made dog food in batches and try that for a while, although you may also need to add supplements to her diet to make sure she is getting all her nutritional requirements fulfilled.