While large breed dogs are often considered senior at 5 years old small breed dogs may not reach this level of maturity until they are at least 7 years of age.
Does small breed dog food matter.
Small dogs have different nutritional needs than large dogs because they generally have a faster metabolism.
The key considerations.
Most dogs aren t that fussy about what they eat so surely one dog food choice is as good as the next.
We do not yet have the research that pinpoints the difference in nutritional requirements between different specific breeds of dogs.
No matter their size every dog breed needs a change to their diet once they ve moved into the senior stage of their lives.
A small breed dog s metabolism for example is much different from a large breed dog but it is unlikely that a yorkie s dietary needs vary all that much from a shih tzu s.
In addition many small dog breeds have a weakness for dental problems.
It s certainly easy to make that assumption but it really does matter.
If fed dry food they also need smaller kibbles that they can easily consume.
Young small breed puppies should be fed a calorie dense food three or four times a day.
If a small breed puppy doesn t take in sufficient numbers of calories on a frequent basis it can develop hypoglycemia resulting in weakness lethargy muscle tremors seizures and sometimes even death.
Small breed dogs typically live longer than large breed dogs.