What Should Toy Poodles Eat?

A good diet is absolutely essential to the health of your toy poodle. Like any dog, they require high-quality food that meets basic nutritional requirements. However, when choosing dog food for a toy poodle, it is important to be aware of breed specific issues. Many breeders recommend that owners feed their toy poodle only fresh food, but a normal dog food can be sufficient if the correct formulation is chosen.

  1. Include Lots of Protien

    • The best dog foods are high in protein. Dog's are carnivores, meaning that their main source of food in the wild would be meat. Look for a dog food where the first two listed ingredients are meat. Make sure that the type of meat is specified. When the label reads "chicken," or "beef," you can be confident that your poodle is going to get he protein it needs. If the label reads "meat" or "chicken parts," the manufacturer is trying to trick you into thinking that their dog food is high-quality.

    Avoid Grains

    • Avoid dog foods that include any sort of grain, especially corn. Dogs were not meant to consume grains. Eating corn, wheat or any other kind of grain can be tough on their teeth and digestive tract. Some dog food companies claim that dogs need healthy whole grains. This is absolutely not true. Grains are not an appropriate source of nutrition for your toy poodle.

    Avoid By-Products

    • Some dog food companies try to trick consumers by including animal by-products to make it appear that their product includes meat. Animal by-products are made from hooves, beaks and other animal parts that are not fit for consumption. They are fillers that reduce the cost of producing the dog food.

    Incorporate Wet Dog Food

    • Toy poodles are sometimes finicky about their food. If always fed dry food, they may get bored with their diet and stop eating. To avoid this, include a little wet dog food in their diet. High-quality wet dog food is extremely nutritious and dog's love its taste. Simply add a few tablespoons to your poodle's dry food.

    Food for Grazing

    • Toy poodles are a small breed, which means that they actually require more energy per pound than larger dogs. As such, they should be provided with a high-quality dog food that they can graze on throughout the day. Toy poodles have small stomachs and may not be able to finish a whole bowl of food in one sitting. Instead, they prefer to have small meals throughout the day. Since this can make them prone to obesity, a high-quality dog food is absolutely essential for weight maintenance.