How Much Food Should Chihuahuas Eat?

Chihuahuas are tiny! Our beautiful dogs have set records for being so small, but that doesn’t mean these tiny dogs can’t pack a big appetite. When your pet is looking up at you with those luminous eyes, plainly under the impression they are wasting away, it makes you wonder just how much food chihuahuas should eat.

The answer is a bit more complicated than one single number. It will depend on your pet’s age, ideal weight, and activity level as well. Another factor is the calorie content of their food. This can actually be different from brand to brand, so you may end up feeding less of one and more of another. We can help you break this down into a few easy steps, so you can figure out how much should really be going into your chihuahua’s bowl.

How Old Is Your Chihuahua?

A puppy requires more calories than an adult dog. Senior dogs may need less food if their calories decline, or more food if they have a chronic illness that causes them to lose weight. You may need to work with your vet on how much to feed if you have a dog with a specific illness, but for healthy dogs the general recommendation is:

Our table shows calories per pound of body weight of your chihuahua. That means if you have a two-pound puppy, they should be getting about 100 calories per day. If you’re feeding Orijen Puppy Food, which has 475 calories in a cup, that means your pup will need a bit less than ¼ cup of food per day.

This might seem like a tiny amount, but that’s also a tiny dog! On the flip side, a lactating female chihuahua might need triple that amount to keep up with her own nutritional needs as well as the needs of her puppies.

How Active is Your Chihuahua?

Activity does play a role in how much your dog needs to eat—but probably won’t affect your chihuahua. The calorie recommendations for Adult dogs takes into account the one to two hours of physical activity recommended by veterinarians.

You likely won’t have to feed your dog more food unless they are sports dogs, or spend many hours a day walking and hiking with you. If you laughed when you heard one to two hours of physical activity, you may end up feeding less.

How Much Should Your Chihuahua Weigh?

You’ll notice that when we discuss how much a dog should eat, we discuss it in calories per pound. That’s because different foods have different amounts of calories in them. There could be dozens more or less calories from one brand to another. This is why feeding by volume isn’t a great way to figure out how much your pup needs to eat. By simply switching brands you can end up starving your dog or piling on the pounds.

When you measure how much your dog should eat, you need to measure by their ideal weight. If they weigh 3 pounds and should weigh 5, you’ll want to feed them as if they weigh 5 pounds. Otherwise, you’ll simply be maintaining their too thin weight.

On the flip side, if they’re 12 pounds and should be 10, you’ll want to feed them as if they weigh only 10 pounds.

This works as long as there isn’t an extreme amount of weight that needs to be gained or lost. If your chihuahua needs to lose or gain several pounds, it’s best to come up with a specific plan with your veterinarian.

Even 2 pounds can be significant with a chihuahua. If you’re not sure whether you need to cut back in steps, always consult a veterinarian first.

How Do I Know How Much My Dog Should Weigh?

Unless your dog is very chubby or very skinny, it can be difficult to tell whether your dog is the right weight or not. The best way to find out your dog’s ideal weight is to have your veterinarian perform a body scale on them.

A body scale is a measurement between 1-9. A 1 would be an emaciated dog you can see the whole skeleton on. A 9 would be a very fat dog. In the picture here, Tank was very lean during his gangly puppy stage. He might be a 3/10 for a body score. If his bones were protruding at the hip or spine, he would score lower.

While a vet can nail it down for sure, you can check a few ways at home. Here’s a few checkpoints.

• Is your dog bony?
  Can you see the point of their hip, count their ribs, or see their spine? This is a sign the dog is too thin.
• Do they have an hourglass figure?

Looking from above, does your dog have a noticeably thinner waistline compared to the top and hip? A nice, curved waistline is ideal. If the dog does not have a noticeable tuck in viewed from above, they may be too fat.

• Can you see a tuck up from the side?
  You can view this same tuck up from the side. Your dog’s waistline should be thinner than their rib cage. Fatter dogs don’t have this tuck up. If your dog is more round than tucked, it’s probably time for a diet.
• Can you feel their ribs?
  The ideal weight would allow you to feel their ribs through a layer of fat. If you don’t need to press at all to feel them, your dog may be too thin. If you have to hunt for their ribs or can’t feel them at all, they may be too fat.

Adjusting their food intake can be as small as adding or taking away a teaspoon of food. With such a small dog, even a small amount of food matters when it comes to maintaining their weight.

See the Vet for Suspicious Weight Gain or Loss

If you know you are feeding your dog the correct amount and they have an extreme amount of weight loss or gain, this is something you should take your dog to the vet for. Weight fluctuations can be a symptom of a variety of ailments.

Cancer, thyroid problems, kidney disease, diabetes, and many other diseases can all have weight fluctuations as a sign that something isn’t right.

Managing Treats

Finally, remember that treats also have calories in them. If you know you’ll be having a big training day and using lots of treats to teach your pet with, you may need to reduce how much they get during their regular meal.

They likely won’t notice you putting a teaspoon or two of food back to make up for all the treats they got that day, so don’t feel too guilty if you need to. Managing treats is an important part of keeping your pet healthy, and it’s done for love.

Putting It All Together

Once you know your dog’s ideal weight, and where they are on a body scale, you can adjust your dog’s food intake from there. Look at your dog’s bag of food for how many calories per cup the food has. If you feed Taste of the Wild High Prairie to an adult chihuahua who should weigh 10 pounds, at 422 calories a cup you’ll want to be feeding the dog 1 1/3 cups for maintenance.

If your dog seems to gain weight, you might remove a few teaspoons of food to see if they gradually lose weight or start maintaining or add food if they seem to lose weight. Even a small amount of food can make a big difference over time.

Chihuahuas can range from as little as 2 pounds to as many as 10-12 pounds, to say nothing of mixes who might weigh even more. There’s no one right amount for all dogs. The best way to find the right food is to figure out the weight they need to be and feed the right amount of calories for that weight.

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