Chihuahua Diet & Exercise

Diet and exercise contribute to helping your chihuahua maintain optimal health. Both are important!

Diet

As previously explained, diet is an important aspect of chihuahua health. When you first buy your chi, it is important to establish early on (best when your chi is still a puppy) that there are food limitations. In other words, your chihuahua should not have access to an "all he can eat" buffet. Below is the nutrition and feeding instructions for Avoderm, the brand I recommend.



As you can see, the recommendation for a 3 lb - 10 lb chihuahua is 1/3 cup - 1 cup. Therefore, if your chi is 3lbs, then you should feed him 1/3 cup (or two 1/6 cup servings). Although this may seem a very little amount of food, it's all he needs--keep in mind how small these dogs are!

You also want to consider the type of food you feed your chihuahua. Check on the back label to see what the brand puts into the food. I always recommend all natural dog foods since they are healthier and easier on their digestive system. All natural foods also enhance their coat.
An additional aspect of diet that you want to consider is the quantity and type of treats you feed your chi. I recommend carrots since they are healthy (and promote dental health) and because chihuahuas love them!! Be careful that you don't feed your chihuahua treats high in fat since this could cause them to reach an unhealthy weight. High fat treats are also lack nutritional value.

Exercise

Chihuahuas are famous for being great apartment dogs since they only require 10 minutes of exercise a day. If your chihuahua runs around the apartment/house throughout the day, then there is no need to worry about an exercise plan. However, if your chihuahua sleeps most of the day, try to walk him around the neighborhood for at least 10 minutes. Be sure to buy a harness since collars can often harm their fragile necks!