NUTRITION, notice the capital letters. There is a reason for that. Teacups cannot and will not survive on cheap unhealthy dog food. Here is another reason for the price of the puppy. There are a number of high quality dog foods available for dogs. But we are not talking about a DOG are we?  No, we are talking about teacup puppies, so with that in mind. Let me add a little something about dog foods. Read on the package and whatever the first ingredient listed is, is what the makes up the protein in the food. Corn? Think about that one for a minute. Can YOU digest corn? No, of course you can’t, so what on earth makes you think a puppy can. Yes puppies are canines, not horses or cows and corn is nothing more than a filler, so don’t do it. Keep in mind these are my views alone, so some dog food company doesn’t sue me for costing them a fortune. Ok, saying that, what are you suppose to feed the little angel? Dry dog food left in a bowl, day in and day out? Not gonna work. Yes you need to leave him a high quality dry dog food available at all times. Will that be enough? Nope. Let me tell you why. Teacups can only eat about ½ teaspoon full at a time. So if you look at the nutritional value of the very best dry dog food available in ½ teaspoon meals, there just isn’t enough nutritional value to keep a baby like yours going. Keep your baby on a schedule just like your family. 3 meals a day while they are young. Feed only the highest quality dog food that you can find. Canned or pouches. Ask your vet about the best nutrition. Do not ever feed your puppy table scraps that is just asking for trouble. Puppies digestive systems will be a wreck after one meal. One thing that you must have available for your puppy is yogurt and light corn syrup. This is my secret recipe of course. I mix up 1 teaspoon meat and vegetable baby food (or canned dog food) 1 teaspoon pain yogurt and about 1/4 teaspoon corn syrup. Sounds yummy doesn’t it. I feed this 3 times a day and keep dry puppy food available at all times. Now you are thinking, holy moly what in the world is going on here. Well welcome to the world of teacups. For your baby to stay healthy and happy he must have proper nutrition. There are products like Nutri-cal, Stat, Nutri-vite and more, available from your vet or local quality pet supply store. Get some. These products are made for stress related times. Well I have found out that they are for teacups too. Not just in stress related times, but just about every day times for little bitty bodies. When you take your vitamins in the morning give your baby his too. Just put a little on his tongue about 1cc worth and save him from falling over later in the day. This will also boost his appetite, and that is a good thing. I guess you have figured out where I’m going with this.

Hypoglycemia, wow that is a bad one. Low blood sugar doesn’t sound quite as bad, but trust me it is. Toy breeds and especially teacup sized puppies can be very susceptible to low blood sugar. Proper nutrition!!!! Here we go again. Without getting to technical, the puppies body must have sugar to keep up it’s energy level. Every cell in the body depends on the sugar level. Fasting will cause hypoglycemia quicker than anything else. Keep your baby on a feeding schedule of at least 3 times a day. Also I have found out teacup puppies love cheerios, just like my grandson. I leave a little bowl out all the time for the puppy to nibble on. Cheerios have just enough sugar to make a great little snack for the baby, and keeps the blood sugar level up. With proper nutrition and a watchful eye your baby should never "crash". But if he does, this is what you must do. First the symptoms of Hypoglycemia . Weakness, behavior changes, confusion, wobbly gait, or even seizures. At the first sign anything is wrong, get the corn syrup I told you about or Nutri-cal. Put a little in his mouth, rub it right on his gums. It will absorb into the blood stream quickly and probably save his life. Yes save his life. If your puppy is left alone and has a hypoglycemia crash, the result could be death. Stress can also lead to a crash. If your puppy ever does crash. Give him Pedialyte for babies, and Nutri-cal or corn syrup for several days. If you notice something just not quite right but he is still up and going give him Pedialyte immediately and save him from crashing. Gatoraid will work in a pinch. Ok if you follow the feeding instructions, manage his safety and limit play time you should never have to worry about such a thing, but you always want to be prepared.

Before you decide to adopt a teacup baby, make absolutely sure you are willing to have everything available in his little baby bag. If this sounds like a lot go for a hardier breed and certainly not a teacup sized puppy. Do not ever take lightly your decision for having a teacup sized puppy, you will be sorry if you do. Something to think about. Premi babies! Yep just about the same thing. So if your ready for the responsibility, pick up that baby and be a good mommy or daddy.

Thanks for reading my suggestions - and that is what they are!  But at pets4unow.com we love our little teacup sized babies and are very particular about who they will go to their forever home with.