Not wanting to eat...

[EffJays Richy]

Okay, well I'll start by saying that I'm a first time dog owner. So you can only imagine how many "What if's" have gone through my head since we picked up our 4 and a half month old Yorkie, Richy. We picked him up yesterday right after noon and came straight home, mind you it was a good 5 hour drive home. Ever since then I cannot get Richy to eat. The breeder said that he was a very good eater, and I believe because there is no way you can feel his ribs when you pet him. I've been awake with him trying to get him to eat, drink water and potty and I am unsuccessfull, nothing works! I have him blocked off in my kitchen and I can hear that he has taken a small sip of water here and there and eaten two or three bites of dog food. Is this normal? Is he just adjusting to his new home? He has his first vet's visit Wednesday, so until I will be solely relying on YT. Please, any responses and tips for first time Yorkie owners will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[MY OSCAR]

Originally Posted by effjays richy

okay, well i'll start by saying that i'm a first time dog owner. So you can only imagine how many "what if's" have gone through my head since we picked up our 4 and a half month old yorkie, richy. We picked him up yesterday right after noon and came straight home, mind you it was a good 5 hour drive home. Ever since then i cannot get richy to eat. The breeder said that he was a very good eater, and i believe because there is no way you can feel his ribs when you pet him. I've been awake with him trying to get him to eat, drink water and potty and i am unsuccessfull, nothing works! I have him blocked off in my kitchen and i can hear that he has taken a small sip of water here and there and eaten two or three bites of dog food. Is this normal? Is he just adjusting to his new home? He has his first vet's visit wednesday, so until i will be solely relying on yt. Please, any responses and tips for first time yorkie owners will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

hi , welcome to yorkie talk.
congrats on your new boy.
is he eating the same food he had at the breeder?
if he is then maybe he is still adjusting.
at 4 months old i assume he is still pretty small so he will not eat a whole lot at one time anytime.
just make sure he is drinking and if he will only eat a few bites at a time then just feed every couple hours till he is feeling comfortable .
i am sure he will be fine.

[Harrysmum]

Hello and welcome! And congratulations to you both!

It's quite scarey isn't it, bringing home your new baby? So tiny and vulnerable and new.

The thing is, you know exactly what's going on - your Littlie doesn't....he's been taken away from his mother, his litter mates - everything he knows. Everything's different for him - sounds, smells, company - everything.

It will take time - don't forget to keep Nutrical to hand - and please keep in touch to let us know how he's doing! Sally + Harry x

[EffJays Richy]

Yes, I am feeding him the same food from the breeder. I don't want to feel like I am starving Richy. I have read that Yorkies needs a routine schedule, but when he is hardly eating i feel like i have to leave his food out for him so whenever he feels like eating, would you recommend that? Or just taking him the kitchen where i have his food and water at certain times?

[gracielove]

Try putting small amounts of food in the dish. Just a few pieces at a time. Count them. That way you will know how much he has eaten in a certain time period. Sometimes a dog will eat better when it seems there is less food available. Measure out the amount of food he should eat for the day for his size and start putting out small amounts of it at a time. Hopefully he will eat a little at a time. He will be getting enough to have the energy level he needs and it will be spread out through out the day. A puppy that size does not eat a large amount and you do not want to over feed either. He
should be eating about 3 to 4 times a day. They cannot eat a lot at once and need the food to produce energy for the whole day.

[Harrysmum]

Originally Posted by EffJays Richy

Yes, I am feeding him the same food from the breeder. I don't want to feel like I am starving Richy. I have read that Yorkies needs a routine schedule, but when he is hardly eating i feel like i have to leave his food out for him so whenever he feels like eating, would you recommend that? Or just taking him the kitchen where i have his food and water at certain times?

Opinions are very divided on this! Some keep to schedule - some free-feed.

I personally would leave it down at this time, and worry about times and so on once he's settled in....it's such early days yet. I do realise how worried you're feeling, I felt exactly the same....Harry's 16lbs now!! Sally + Harry x

[Joyce Adams]

Hello and welcome, it is so new to him and he will eat, I went through this with mine...

[EffJays Richy]

Oh, wow!! My friend has her Yorkie weighing at 11 lbs and I thought that was a lot. Well thank you, hopefully he'll adjust quickly. Thank you

[Sheldonsmom]

Hi and Welcome, I am also a first time dog owner and pretty new to YT.
When we brought Sheldon home he didn't eat much the 1st day, he ate a few kibbles and that was it. We got home around 10 am and he didn't eat really well until the next day.

He might be still adjusting.

Do you have any nutri-cal handy? I would give him a pea sized amount.

Check his teeth and gums, Sheldon is almost 5 months old and he has loose teeth and swollen gums, he did not want to eat this morning and with the help of our YT friends I got him to eat. I mixed his food with warm water and let it sit and it got soft.

Good luck with your little guy!

[EffJays Richy]

Well, I was trying to go and buy Nutti-Cal, but PetsMart doesn't carry it apparenting. So I bought something similar which is Puppy-Vite. I mix a pea size amount with his food and he ate a little bit. I also mixed it with water and he just drank all the water and left the food. I don't know if he isn't hungry or still trying to adjust, but I'm worried. He's active, smells everything he comes across and even jumps on my 2 year old niece. Does anyone know if he will be okay if the only thing he eats is kibbles soup and Puppy-Vite?

[Sheldonsmom]

I think he should be fine just on dry kibble, when we got Sheldon he was 10 weeks and the rescue was feeding him dry kibble so we kept feeding him dry and also giving him nutrical twice a day. I don;t give Sheldon nutrical anymore because he is such a good eater.

I boiled water in the microwave and added to the kibble and waited at least 10 minutes and it was really soft. He ate it so quickly think I am going to have issues getting him back to dry lol

[ritapatt]

When Abby came home and refused to eat her small kibble but wanted the big dogs food we broke it up in a ziplock bag and a hammer. We did it again a few months later when she had a few off days because of teething.
Try to relax and take a few deep breaths- they can feel your stress but don't understand why.

[nanahas3]

Originally Posted by EffJays Richy

Yes, I am feeding him the same food from the breeder. I don't want to feel like I am starving Richy. I have read that Yorkies needs a routine schedule, but when he is hardly eating i feel like i have to leave his food out for him so whenever he feels like eating, would you recommend that? Or just taking him the kitchen where i have his food and water at certain times?

I free feed mine and they do great that way. It takes little ones time to adjust to new enviroments. Good luck and congrats .

[tinalove]

Karo syrup wants about the same I was told by my breeder. You are right Petsmart no longer carries Nutrical I looked for it when we got Khloe the other week. Khloe eats like a bird too. I measure her kibble with a measuring cup and leave it out for her to eat as she chooses. I gave Khloe a little Nutrical this morning because I was afraid. I went home during lunch and Khloe had eaten her food.

[marlenemaria]

Grats on your new addition to the family

I have two lil lils, one a little over 4 pounds, the other a little over 5 pounds.

I keep their bowl of food (dry kibble) out all day so they can snack on and at night before we have our dinner, I feed them their home cooked meal and even so, sometimes late at night they will have some of their kibble.

There are days they eat alot from their bowl of kibble and other days seems they barely touch it -sometimes as soon as I get home they will give me kisses then start running back and forth from bowl to bed and eat.

They are such cuties