How much do they weigh? That is what will decide the healthiest amount for them. What is healthy for a tiny, like mine, would be abuse to a bigger yorkie!
That said. I have a senior chihuahua who weighs around 5.5 lbs. He is taking a medication notorious for weight gain and has a high calorie food (acana), and he eats 1/8th of a cup each meal. Yep, you read that right. Very little!
My yorkie mix is a few ounces bigger than her brother and younger, so her metabolism is faster. She eats 1/4 cup of food a meal. That's about to drop to 2/3 of a scoop since she's getting to the age where her metabolism will slow a bit. (2 years or so, things even out!)
You will never see me free feed (except in rare cases, I did free feed Kaira her first week or so since she lacked appetite) or advocate for it. For one, my dogs would be barrels if I free fed them. The chi in particular would be massive. For two, with a pack in the house, there's no way to monitor food intake, give meds to just one dog, or keep them from fighting over the dish. And, being a service dog, Kaira would be away from food more often than not- and might not get enough to eat.
Weigh your options carefully. There is a dog food calculator on line that helps you calculate how much to feed based on calories per cup.
__________________ Kaira, Alli, and Douglas  |