Human food

[mommas love]

My boy will not eat dog food...he will be 1yr old on sept. 18 and he is over weight because he eats human food...i have tried everything i can think of...he will go days with out eating...i love this dog more than anything else on earth...i guess thats why he is over weight. ..i can't help but give it to him.......PLEASE HELP ME. ....

[capt_noonie]

First thing, very good job on your part for admitting he and you have a problem. It is not good for his health and will significantly shorten his life span if you do not change his diet. He has been spoiled his whole life. This change will not be easy, nor will it come about overnight.

My MIL was given a 4 yr old yorkie by her friend's daughter who could no longer care for her since she had one kid and a baby on the way. We hear this situation all the time. They were only feeding her human food. Table scraps/leftovers. Her teeth her horrid, breath is so bad. I told my MIL to slowly change her food over.

Immediately, stop feeding table scraps (if that is what you are doing). Get a chicken breast from the butcher and boil it in plain water until cooked. Keep the chicken broth. (Keep the rest in the fridge and keep the broth too! It will be already on hand for the next meal.) Shred the chicken in small bits and mix with kibble and chicken broth. At first do 75% chicken/25% kibble. Every day decrease the amount of chicken. Keep the chicken broth if you wish. My MIL's dog would not drink water so I told her to keep giving the chicken broth so she is getting some water at least.

You can also mix in carrot, green beans, cucumber, tomatoes, etc but do not give onion, garlic, grapes or raisins.

Also stop with the treats at this time and use the veggies as treats.

If he doesn't eat for at first don't fret. If he's not sick a dog should be ok to go without food for a day or two. Make sure he drinks water though!

[dottiesyrky]

Great idea!
My dog would not eat the Hills ID kibble that he was prescribed to prevent another bout of pancreatitis. But all I had to do was add a very small amount of home cooked chicken breast and he ate everything in his bowl The smell of the chicken seems to do the trick. He also would not easily drink water, but he will when I put a tiny bit of the chicken into the water.
These dogs can easily get used to human food and that diet will probably end up with an unhealthy dog.

[Yorkiemom1]

Originally Posted by capt_noonie

First thing, very good job on your part for admitting he and you have a problem. It is not good for his health and will significantly shorten his life span if you do not change his diet. He has been spoiled his whole life. This change will not be easy, nor will it come about overnight.

My MIL was given a 4 yr old yorkie by her friend's daughter who could no longer care for her since she had one kid and a baby on the way. We hear this situation all the time. They were only feeding her human food. Table scraps/leftovers. Her teeth her horrid, breath is so bad. I told my MIL to slowly change her food over.

Immediately, stop feeding table scraps (if that is what you are doing). Get a chicken breast from the butcher and boil it in plain water until cooked. Keep the chicken broth. (Keep the rest in the fridge and keep the broth too! It will be already on hand for the next meal.) Shred the chicken in small bits and mix with kibble and chicken broth. At first do 75% chicken/25% kibble. Every day decrease the amount of chicken. Keep the chicken broth if you wish. My MIL's dog would not drink water so I told her to keep giving the chicken broth so she is getting some water at least.

You can also mix in carrot, green beans, cucumber, tomatoes, etc but do not give onion, garlic, grapes or raisins.

Also stop with the treats at this time and use the veggies as treats.

If he doesn't eat for at first don't fret. If he's not sick a dog should be ok to go without food for a day or two. Make sure he drinks water though!

Great plan....you MAY have to go several days before you change the ratio of chicken to dog food, but hopefully, you can get baby weaned over to a good dog food.....

But from another angle, I HAVE had pets in the past that lived an entire life of 10 and 12 years on boiled chicken with peas and carrots.....they looked so darn pitiful when I tried to give them dog food, and my mother would tell me she could not understand how in the world I could let that pitiful little darling, continue to go to her bowl, then walk away, head down, ears hanging to the side, clearly "starving" if it had dog food in it.....so after a day or so, usually SHE would cave in and revert to boiled chicken and rice, with peas and carrots in it. She said what she was feeding those little dogs was "just as good or better nutritionally, than a can of left over guts dog food". She may very well have been right..... You know, we never had issues with our dogs teeth back then......cancer was not rampant like it is now.....I have NO idea why....then I thought maybe it is something in....or maybe missing from.... the dog food they make today that destroys dog's teeth.....my suspicious mind goes right to "collaborative misdeeds" between dog food companies and vets.....you scratch my back and I will scratch yours....

Sorry, I am getting way off track!....the Devil made me do it!!!!

[capt_noonie]

Just like how some people smoke two packs a day and never get cancer, yet their significant other dies young of second hand smoke. MIL also has a min pin. He was around before BF and I met. We've been together for 13 years. He is still alive. He is going blind though, but all she's fed him was Kibbles N Bits or other similar crap. He's got to be pushing 16 or 17 years old. I don't get it. She even gives him leftover meat, hot dogs, etc.

Hopefully the OP will take this advice to heart this time. This is the THIRD time she has asked for advice on this very same issue.

[Harrysmum]

Originally Posted by Yorkiemom1

Great plan....you MAY have to go several days before you change the ratio of chicken to dog food, but hopefully, you can get baby weaned over to a good dog food.....

But from another angle, I HAVE had pets in the past that lived an entire life of 10 and 12 years on boiled chicken with peas and carrots.....they looked so darn pitiful when I tried to give them dog food, and my mother would tell me she could not understand how in the world I could let that pitiful little darling, continue to go to her bowl, then walk away, head down, ears hanging to the side, clearly "starving" if it had dog food in it.....so after a day or so, usually SHE would cave in and revert to boiled chicken and rice, with peas and carrots in it. She said what she was feeding those little dogs was "just as good or better nutritionally, than a can of left over guts dog food". She may very well have been right..... You know, we never had issues with our dogs teeth back then......cancer was not rampant like it is now.....I have NO idea why....then I thought maybe it is something in....or maybe missing from.... the dog food they make today that destroys dog's teeth.....my suspicious mind goes right to "collaborative misdeeds" between dog food companies and vets.....you scratch my back and I will scratch yours....

Sorry, I am getting way off track!....the Devil made me do it!!!!

Ohhh, how I agree with you - the Devil made me join in!!!

For 50+ years I've had dogs...big, small, mutts, pedigrees...

From teensy to big - every dog I've ever 'owned' has lived 14+ years. We didn't use to feed them 'designer' dog food - we used to give them cans of (apparently) crap, mixed with 'mixer'. If they were lucky, they got a bowl of boiled mince, maybe stewed up with some bones, occasionally. Years ago (and I mean 40+) our Poodle used to love hot chocolate in a saucer...it was his bed-time treat... And he lived 'til 14....

I've never, ever (before) had to have a dental done on any of my dogs...I'm really not too sure about ANY of it....

[Lizchloe]

Yorkies can be very very fussy about food, I know it is hard to go from people food to dog food, one thing that I tried and was sucessful was reducing the amount of people food and adding some bits of Beneful dried dog food and some dried chicken (sold at pet stores in pouches) eventually very little people food, and then, no people food, now she only eats beneful and the dried chicken for treats, but Oh, sometimes a little bit of toast in the morning. Yorkies are very smart little guys, sometimes they will just pick out what they want, but just keep trying.

[Yorkiemom1]

Originally Posted by Harrysmum

Ohhh, how I agree with you - the Devil made me join in!!!

For 50+ years I've had dogs...big, small, mutts, pedigrees...

From teensy to big - every dog I've ever 'owned' has lived 14+ years. We didn't use to feed them 'designer' dog food - we used to give them cans of (apparently) crap, mixed with 'mixer'. If they were lucky, they got a bowl of boiled mince, maybe stewed up with some bones, occasionally. Years ago (and I mean 40+) our Poodle used to love hot chocolate in a saucer...it was his bed-time treat... And he lived 'til 14....

I've never, ever (before) had to have a dental done on any of my dogs...I'm really not too sure about ANY of it....

SOMEBODY's got some 'splainin to do!!!! THAT is how we used to feed dogs years ago....and NONE of my dogs had horrific teeth, and all lived to be double digit ages!!! Most of the larger ones ate Purina kibble, especially GRAVY TRAIN!!! Can you imagine!!!! All the small breeds were privy to boiled chicken + rice + veggies! They got a dropper of ViDaylin vitamins once a week....and all those little ones lived double digit lives, except one little female that eventually bled to death after a vet gave her a "shot that will stop her from coming into heat"....my poor momma thought this was a wonderful advancement in birth control for female dogs, and when little Christy suffered her eventual demise, she was horrified, angry, and then totally devastated that she gave the OK for something that killed that little dog.......she never got over that.

[Celia Ann]

Chiquis has always had a great appetite and didn't seem to be picky. I started cooking chicken thighs with vegetables and she has thrived. We would give her treats from the table when we were eating, as well as dry food. If I ran out of her cooked food and had a leftover piece of meat, I'd give it to her. for a meal or two. When we went away for three days we got little packets of Pedigree and she did fine.
Lately, she has rejected dry dog food. Mixing raw egg with it, she licked off the egg and left the kibble. This morning, having run out of her cooked food, i cooked a little bit of the kibble with a scrambled egg, and she ate it. She is very smart!
What I am wondering about is that two weeks ago we took her on a trip and bought some little packets of Little Ceasar's. It was beef and she ate it fine. When we got back home, though, she had diahrrea for about 4 days and regurgitated her chicken mix twice. She never lost her appetite, though. The vet gave her some injections, said she had no temperature and would be fine. She is, but I am wondering what the diahrrea came from, even after she was back to her traditional diet. Was it the bought dog food, or did she eat something bad?
People say not to give people food but dogs are carnivores and I give her meat. How can grain-based dry food be better? I should add that she loves little pieces of broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, tortilla, anything but dry dog food.
Have I created a "monster", haha, albeit an adorable one?

[capt_noonie]

Most of us free grain FREE kibble actually, not grain based. Seems like grain based kibble is the cheaper stuff. Also Pedigree and Little Cesars are foods that I would avoid for my own. You might be better off continuing to home cook for her.

But to answer your question. Her diarrhea most likely came from switching her food too many times and/or too quickly which caused a stomach upset.

[Celia Ann]

Thanks! She just seemed to be able to eat anything she liked in the past, but now she can't, I guess. She is thriving, though, except for this one trip to the vet.

[NHDebbie]

I used to have a JACK RUSSEL TERRIER. Loved him with all my heart. VERY picky about eating dog food and at times, wouldn't eat for a day or two. Started sharing what I thought was decent enough food to him (Moose steak, etc) and he LOVED it!! Got overweight! I did change his food to "Fresh Pet" and he couldn't eat enough of it. But it was too late. He developed signs of diabetes that progressed to needing insulin which he fought me tooth and nail over. Hated needles!! This was a direct result of eating people food. He soon became blind and then I lost him at 13 years of age. It devastated us! My Yorkie eats Fresh Pet now and absolutely NO human food! Fresh Pet is worth a try. Right now it's sold only in limited stores but Petco has it for sure.

[BabyChance]

Boiled chicken breast (Bell and Evans) in broth mixed with Kibble (Castor and Pollux Organix)...our last Yorkie lived to 14 1/2 on this diet...the little guy we have now-Chip...likes a little piece of sliced rare beef or freeze dried Bison once in awhile...loves veggies- especially raw cauliflower...he is 6 pounds, just over a year old, very active and eats about 2 tablespoons 2 or 3 times a day...if its hot weather, he will refuse it-