How much to feed?????

[sims822257]

I have a 4 month old yorkie and he is such a picky eatter. I feel like since i have brought him home all i think about is what can i do today to get him to eat all his food. I am currently feeding him boiled chicken and rice but every now and than he does not like that so i try something else. I have tried Royal Canine, Nutro Lamb and Rice, all the wet puppy foods but he will not eat much of them. He is a small guy so i am wanting to make sure i am feeding him plenty of food. The breeder said i should be feeding him 4 times a day which i have not since he barely eats 3 times a day. I now feed him 3 times but he barely eats anything at lunch time and never finishes his breakfast or dinner. My question i guess is how much do you think i should be giving him and how often at his age now? Also is it okay if he gets chicken and rice and just not even fuss with the dog food? I am just worried about him since he is such a picky eatter! Thanks for your help.

[sam&deesmom]

I am having the same problem with my baby. He is 7 months and the first few weeks he ate like a, well, like a dog and now he turns up his nose. I split an cooked egg up and he ate that with his wet food SD and really loved that. I may be feeding him too much at once. I don't know. Hope this helps.

[lksdolls]

Originally Posted by sims822257

I have a 4 month old yorkie and he is such a picky eatter. I feel like since i have brought him home all i think about is what can i do today to get him to eat all his food. I am currently feeding him boiled chicken and rice but every now and than he does not like that so i try something else. I have tried Royal Canine, Nutro Lamb and Rice, all the wet puppy foods but he will not eat much of them. He is a small guy so i am wanting to make sure i am feeding him plenty of food. The breeder said i should be feeding him 4 times a day which i have not since he barely eats 3 times a day. I now feed him 3 times but he barely eats anything at lunch time and never finishes his breakfast or dinner. My question i guess is how much do you think i should be giving him and how often at his age now? Also is it okay if he gets chicken and rice and just not even fuss with the dog food? I am just worried about him since he is such a picky eatter! Thanks for your help.

It seems like we have puppies most of the time so I keep food and water in their dishes all the time. Tucker who at 11 pounds didn't get that way from over-eating, they like to snack at their food. They eat when they're hungry and tend to not over eat or eat too fast when the food is available all the time. You didn't say how long you've had him and only that he's a little guy. If he's small and at only 4 months, he's probably a small eater to begin with. If you haven't had him very long, he may still be adjusting being away from his litter mates. I wouldn't put too much food out for him at a time and keep an eye on how much he's eating, but I would make sure there was always food in his dish for a while. I wouldn't worry to much about it just yet, he's probably more of a small portion eater rather than picky. I used to try and trick our dogs into eating by mixing canned with dry, and I mean really mixing it up. They would pick out the canned and leave the dry. Now they only get canned food when they aren't feeling up to par, or I give it to my new moms as a treat.

[sims822257]

In response to how long I have had Murphy - we have had him now for 6 weeks. I have tried hard puppy food and he just will not eat it. Like i said we are currently feeding him boiled chicken and rice and he seems to just pick at it. From every thing every one else has said I thought he would be diving into that since it is chicken but he just picks at it. He is not acting lethargic but i just want to make sure he is getting enough to eat and also likes what he is eatting. This morning i put him in his X-Pen while i got ready for work and he ate about 1/4 of the food so i left it there while i was home and when it was time to leave i took it up. I am wondering if this will teach him to eat it while it is there or it will be gone? I am still also feeding him lunch so he gets 3 meals a day of this. How long should he be eatting this much, do you guys feed your yorkies this much or just twice a day? Thanks for the response.

[Jaxon's mom]

When I first got Jaxon, I ground up his dry food in a blender so it was smaller pieces - easier for them to eat. As for wet food, I had to hand feed him at first using a syringe. I would put in wet food with a bit of baby food. Eventually I started putting it in a dish and sprinkled a little sugar on top. Now he eats strictly the wet food twice a day, but has dry food and water available all the time. Also I was giving him NutriStat - about the size of a pea on my finger 3 times a day. At least then I knew he was getting what he needed. Hope this helps.

[lksdolls]

Originally Posted by sims822257

In response to how long I have had Murphy - we have had him now for 6 weeks. I have tried hard puppy food and he just will not eat it. Like i said we are currently feeding him boiled chicken and rice and he seems to just pick at it. From every thing every one else has said I thought he would be diving into that since it is chicken but he just picks at it. He is not acting lethargic but i just want to make sure he is getting enough to eat and also likes what he is eatting. This morning i put him in his X-Pen while i got ready for work and he ate about 1/4 of the food so i left it there while i was home and when it was time to leave i took it up. I am wondering if this will teach him to eat it while it is there or it will be gone? I am still also feeding him lunch so he gets 3 meals a day of this. How long should he be eatting this much, do you guys feed your yorkies this much or just twice a day? Thanks for the response.

My guess is that he's just not a big eater. If he only ate a fourth of it, maybe you're expecting him to eat too much. Like I said, I keep dry food in their dish all the time. Sometimes they pick at it, other times they eat like crazy, but I have yet to have mine over-eat, because they eat when THEY are hungry, not when I think they should eat. They know when they are full. Maybe you're giving him too much at each eating time. Try some meat baby food and slowly mix in some dry food with it. I'd give him what you have been but not as much, let him eat until he's done, then take it away and replace it with dry food and leave it there for him all the time. I'll bet you find him sneaking a couple of pieces now and then. Just because we're supposed to eat 3 meals a day, doesn't mean yorkies little tummies can handle that, they may need to eat less but much more often.