Complete Information Regarding the Pomeranian Toy Dog
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Proper Pomeranian Feeding
Understanding Food Needs
Proper feeding is vital to your dog. A Pomeranian can become overweight if care is not taken concerning their diet. Overweight dogs can have health problems, just as humans can. A Pomeranian can get Diabetes, and have strain put on their joints and ligaments if their diet is not controlled.
Pomeranians burn calories at a faster rate than some other breeds, especially when they are puppies. But as they mature, needs change for dog food and/or more exercise.
How much do you feed a Pomeranian puppy? How often do you feed an adult Pom? All topics are discussed.
Proper feeding is vital to your dog. A Pomeranian can become overweight if care is not taken concerning their diet. Overweight dogs can have health problems, just as humans can. A Pomeranian can get Diabetes, and have strain put on their joints and ligaments if their diet is not controlled.
Pomeranians burn calories at a faster rate than some other breeds, especially when they are puppies. But as they mature, needs change for dog food and/or more exercise.
How much do you feed a Pomeranian puppy? How often do you feed an adult Pom? All topics are discussed.
Switching Foods - From Breeder to You
When you first bring home a puppy, it is very important that no matter which brand of dog food a breeder was using or if that breeder was home cooking (most do not because good breeders have 7-10 adult Poms + puppies and Puppy Mill type breeders have anywhere from 15-50) that you make a slow change over to the food that you wish to give to your Pomeranian.
Since Pom pups are so tiny, a fast change is not healthy. However, you are going to want to get your Pom onto the food that you choose. It is recommended to choose your method of manufactured food or homemade food and slowly yet steadily make a switch. You can be this the following way:
Feeding begins with offering the best of food. There is advice everywhere you look regarding the need to give your dog a high quality dog food. It is important to know that the difference between a high quality or poor quality dog food is the amount of fillers. A dog's digestive tract is designed to process large quantities of proteins, not carbohydrates...and certainly not fillers.
Even the best high quality dog food has fillers. What are fillers? They are ingredients which have no nutritional value and simply "bulk up" the dog food to make it appear as if there is more. For example, if you are looking at a cup of dog food, what you are really seeing is about 1/2 to 3/4 cups of actual food (depending on the brand) and the rest is garbage, quite simply. They are very cheap ingredients, thrown in to not only fill up your Pom's bowl but also to fill their stomach.
These fillers pass right through the body (since they have no nutritional value and the body does not absorb them) and come right back out.
This can lead to nutritional deficiency and also behavioral issues such as eating grass or eating feces.
As you know, a Pomeranian is a very small and fragile dog, his digestive system is small and sensitive as well. We strongly suggest home cooking food for your Pom. In this way, you are in charge of the ingredients, you know that you are not giving your dog any fillers and you can offer your Pomeranian top nutrition. If you choose to not home cook, our recommendation is: Eukanuba or Purina. Note: Purina, in the past, was not the best food - in recent years they have greatly improved and reduced their fillers.
Home cooking can also save you money. Many of the ingredients are those which you would normally purchase. For example, if you will be getting hamburg to make a meal for your family, you can set aside a certain amount for your Pom's dinner. You can make a large amount and then refrigerate or freeze servings. In this way, you can prepare your dog's dinners once per week and not need to be cooking every day (Unless you wish to!)
Feeding your Pom in this way is not the same as allowing your dog to eat table scraps! It is important that each meal be prepared correctly and with the proper ingredients.
Some of the best ingredients that you will want to use are:
Read more detailed information regarding home cooking for your Pom
When you first bring home a puppy, it is very important that no matter which brand of dog food a breeder was using or if that breeder was home cooking (most do not because good breeders have 7-10 adult Poms + puppies and Puppy Mill type breeders have anywhere from 15-50) that you make a slow change over to the food that you wish to give to your Pomeranian.
Since Pom pups are so tiny, a fast change is not healthy. However, you are going to want to get your Pom onto the food that you choose. It is recommended to choose your method of manufactured food or homemade food and slowly yet steadily make a switch. You can be this the following way:
- Week 1: Take out 1/4 of their "normal" food and replace it with 1/4 of the food you want your Pom to eat
- Week 2: Take out 1/3 of their "normal" food and replace it with 1/3 of the food you want your Pom to eat
- Week 3: Take out 1/2 of their "normal" food and replace it with 1/2 of the food you want your Pom to eat
- Week 4: Take out 3/4 of their "normal" food and replace it with 3/4 of the food you want your Pom to eat
- Week 5: You can now have your puppy on the food that you have chosen as to meet their nutritional needs
Feeding begins with offering the best of food. There is advice everywhere you look regarding the need to give your dog a high quality dog food. It is important to know that the difference between a high quality or poor quality dog food is the amount of fillers. A dog's digestive tract is designed to process large quantities of proteins, not carbohydrates...and certainly not fillers.
Even the best high quality dog food has fillers. What are fillers? They are ingredients which have no nutritional value and simply "bulk up" the dog food to make it appear as if there is more. For example, if you are looking at a cup of dog food, what you are really seeing is about 1/2 to 3/4 cups of actual food (depending on the brand) and the rest is garbage, quite simply. They are very cheap ingredients, thrown in to not only fill up your Pom's bowl but also to fill their stomach.
These fillers pass right through the body (since they have no nutritional value and the body does not absorb them) and come right back out.
This can lead to nutritional deficiency and also behavioral issues such as eating grass or eating feces.
As you know, a Pomeranian is a very small and fragile dog, his digestive system is small and sensitive as well. We strongly suggest home cooking food for your Pom. In this way, you are in charge of the ingredients, you know that you are not giving your dog any fillers and you can offer your Pomeranian top nutrition. If you choose to not home cook, our recommendation is: Eukanuba or Purina. Note: Purina, in the past, was not the best food - in recent years they have greatly improved and reduced their fillers.
Home cooking can also save you money. Many of the ingredients are those which you would normally purchase. For example, if you will be getting hamburg to make a meal for your family, you can set aside a certain amount for your Pom's dinner. You can make a large amount and then refrigerate or freeze servings. In this way, you can prepare your dog's dinners once per week and not need to be cooking every day (Unless you wish to!)
Feeding your Pom in this way is not the same as allowing your dog to eat table scraps! It is important that each meal be prepared correctly and with the proper ingredients.
Some of the best ingredients that you will want to use are:
- Organs - such as liver, kidney and brain
- Lean meats - such as lean hamburg, white breast chicken meat and fish
- Vegetables - Poms usually love potatoes (either regular potatoes or sweet potatoes), baby carrots, spinach, broccoli, and zucchini. Corn is not recommended.
- Starch is very important as well. Poms love fresh rice, either white or brown.. Pomeranians also love pasta and there are many ways that you can incorporate this into meals.
Read more detailed information regarding home cooking for your Pom
If you wish to feed your Pomeranian manufactured dog food, we will give you the best advice possible, considering that we do not approve of any manufactured dog food.
Quality
It is very important to never buy the cheap dog food that you find in the super market. The higher quality food will have less filler and therefore provide the better amount of calories, vitamins and protein. The less expensive the dog food, the more possibly overweight and unhealthy your Pomeranian will be. Depending on the brand, It could also bring down your dog's immune system, causing your Pom to become ill more often. Without a healthy body inside and out, your Pomeranian will not be very strong at fighting off illness.
Dry or Wet?
It is suggested to feed your Pomeranian mostly dry dog food with a bit of wet dog food mixed into the menu. Eating only wet dog food may affect the bowels.
High Protein?
Everyone began worrying when studies announced that a high protein diets for dogs was dangerous. However, those studies were done on rats. These studies are not related to dogs at all. Your Pomeranian's diet should consist of about 40% or more protein. Meat should be the main ingredient of meals.
Senior dogs (after the age of 7) should be put on a diet a bit lower in protein.
Special Times for Special Dog Food Diets
There will be times when your Pomeranian will need their diet adjusted. When feeding store-bought dog food, you will need to make changes for:
Pregnant dogs: Should be given puppy food to give their bodies the needed extra vitamins and nutirients to help her puppies grow!
Inactive Dogs: If your dog is inactive due to an injury, health issue, etc, you will want to make sure that the manufactured dog food:
- Is a reduced fat dog food
- Has vitamin rich fish oils
Portion control is a must. While some say that a dog will eat endlessly until a human stops them, some Poms will be very picky eaters and you want to make sure that while your dog does not eat too much, he is also eating enough. The amount of dog food and the feeding times will vary depending on the age of your dog and activity level. A good rule of thumb is that you should only leave out the dog food for 15-20 minutes. If your dog doesn’t eat it in that time, pick it up and put it away.
While the exact quantity may have to be adjusted according to specific needs, there are certain guidelines for Pomeranians and feeding:
Growing puppies need more food than adults. Each pup is different, however on average:
- A 1 lb. puppy needs approximately 1/2 cup of food
- A 3 lb. puppy needs approximately 1 cup of food per day
- A 5 lb. puppy needs approximately 1- 1/4 cups per day
- A 6 lb. puppy needs approximately 2 cups per day
Amounts will go up as the puppy is going through growth spurts...and then go down as the body has matured and reached its top growth point.
This is distributed throughout 3 to 4 meals up to the age of 6 months. A Pomeranian puppy's stomach is very small so meals must be very small as well. Remember - each dog is unique in:
- Metabolism
- Activity
- Size
* Once a Pomeranian is 6 months old, you can work your way down from 4 meals to 3 meals or from 3 meals to 2 meals.
* By 2 years old, your little, tiny Pomeranian is considered an adult dog and will need to eat less. Adult dogs can usually eat just one meal per day. Some owners do choose to feed 2 meals: this does not mean double the food! This means the food, divided into 2 smaller meals. Do keep in mind that if you feed your Pom a breakfast in the morning, he or she will need to eliminate soon afterward. This is one of the reasons that feeding 1 larger dinner time meal is usually done.
* In addition to the dry dog food, a small amount of canned wet dog food can be added. A full & complete dog food supplement (vitamins & minerals) is recommended whether you home cook or buy manufactured dog food.
* By 2 years old, your little, tiny Pomeranian is considered an adult dog and will need to eat less. Adult dogs can usually eat just one meal per day. Some owners do choose to feed 2 meals: this does not mean double the food! This means the food, divided into 2 smaller meals. Do keep in mind that if you feed your Pom a breakfast in the morning, he or she will need to eliminate soon afterward. This is one of the reasons that feeding 1 larger dinner time meal is usually done.
* In addition to the dry dog food, a small amount of canned wet dog food can be added. A full & complete dog food supplement (vitamins & minerals) is recommended whether you home cook or buy manufactured dog food.
* Snacks can be given at any age. Dog treats and chews should be reserved for rewarding good behavior. In this way, training will be easier. If a dog is given snacks and chews all the time, they will lose important meaning when you are attempting to train your Pom.
Again, we do highly recommend home cooking. Read more
Odd Eating Habits
Sometimes a Pomeranian will take their food and bring it elsewhere to it eat it. To learn how to train your dog to stop doing this, read Odd Eating Habits
To Beg or Not to Beg?
Your Pomeranian knows the answer to this one. Your dog will beg. After you prepare her dog food and put it in her special dog food dish, she will then look at you as if she is going to just die if you don't give her a piece of your hamburger. Although extremely tempting and although you will have to use all the will-power in your body and go against all natural human instinct to make your dog happy: Do not feed your dog food from your table.
Human bodies have adjusted to the additives, color preservatives, high levels of sodium and other ingredients in human food. Even so, millions of people die from heart disease, diabetes and other illness that can be linked to bad eating habits. Imagine what this food can do to your Pomeranian.
Taking Out the Guesswork:
To read about Pomeranian-Specific Information on:
Sometimes a Pomeranian will take their food and bring it elsewhere to it eat it. To learn how to train your dog to stop doing this, read Odd Eating Habits
To Beg or Not to Beg?
Your Pomeranian knows the answer to this one. Your dog will beg. After you prepare her dog food and put it in her special dog food dish, she will then look at you as if she is going to just die if you don't give her a piece of your hamburger. Although extremely tempting and although you will have to use all the will-power in your body and go against all natural human instinct to make your dog happy: Do not feed your dog food from your table.
Human bodies have adjusted to the additives, color preservatives, high levels of sodium and other ingredients in human food. Even so, millions of people die from heart disease, diabetes and other illness that can be linked to bad eating habits. Imagine what this food can do to your Pomeranian.
Taking Out the Guesswork:
To read about Pomeranian-Specific Information on:
- 20 Behavior Issues & How to Resolve Them
- 30 Health Issues You Must Know About in Detail
- Training
- Female Issues
- Socializing
- Barking
- Photos of Every Colored Pom in the World and so much more... we have put together a 357 page PetPom E-BOOK for you. A must-have for every Pom owner. Find out ore here
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