Rescued Yorkie - diet advice

[Franceen]

Hello everyone, I am new to this forum. I have recently taken on a 4 and a half year old miniature (I think) Yorkie. She was given a poor start to life by apparently uncaring owners. She was fed the very cheapest dry dog food and cheap pizzas. She was never taken to a vet when ill and just had to get over the illness by herself. It is hard to understand people like this and it is shocking to me.

I was told by the lady who was fostering her, until her rehoming, that she has a delicate digestion and vomits easily and get diarrhoea easily. She has been giving her small punnets of dog food with chicken and turkey in jelly, and lamb and turkey in jelly. She tried the rabbit and turkey, but the little dog threw it up immediately. I assume she is sensitive to rabbit. She also tried her on a slice of breast from a roast chicken and she also threw up. She then bought some skinless chicken breast fillets and boiled them with rice and added carrots and other veg. Tootsy liked this and wasn't ill. Tonight I tried a small piece of baked fish and stir fry(as she begged for it!!) and she loved that especially the stir fried broccilli. I am waiting to see if this stays down! I may have a busy time ahead cleaning.

I have looked at the forum and seen lots of recommendation for lovely canned food which we can't get here and would be too expensive to ship over - so frustrating!! I may not be able to cook for her every night as I am disabled and sometimes in too much pain. I could freeze food but am I going to be that organised, I ask myself!? I would like some canned food to have on hand.

So, what I would like to know is: what can I cook for my new little baby that will put her in the best of health and what variety of veg should I add and do I add stock, or is salt bad (I use the Swiss organic veg stock from the health shop). Could anyone recommend a diet for a week that covers all her dietary needs?

What supplements should she have each day, if any. She loves raw carrots and I give her one or two a day. She also LOVES mangos!! Is it safe to give her some mango regularly and how much? She doesn't like apples. I will have to find out about good canned dog food over here, myself, as you, of course, will not know the various brands.

The foster mother has put flea drops ('Frontline' drops) on her and I do not like this idea. I see that someone recommended brewers yeast and garlic tablets on this forum - half a tablet a day crumbled over her food. Also, recommended was shampoo with eucalyptus oil in it. Has anyone found this successful. I really don't want to use these chemical drops.

Does anyone have a recipe for biscuits that I could bake for her, that are nutritious but very tasty - just as a treat. She does have a sweet tooth. I will keep a close watch on her weight. At present she weights 3.4kg and is 33cm from neck to tail and 34cm around the chest. What is her ideal weight

What daily brushing and cleaning routine should I follow with her and what products should I use. Can anyone recommend a particular brush and other grooming accessories please. She has a short curly coat, tan and grey on the body.

Last question (for today ) I promise! How long do you take your Yorkie for a walk each day. 1hr or longer or shorter?

I hope I haven't asked too many questions?!!


Love
Francine xx

[MyFairLacy]

Hi and welcome to YT and congrats on your new baby! Just wanted to let you know that there is no "miniature" yorkie - a yorkie is a toy breed that should be 7lbs and under, but you'll see them up to 20lbs. There is quite a variety in sizes here on YT Your baby seems to be close to my Lacy's size. Lacy is about 7.5lbs (3.4kg) and her chest size is 14.5in (37cm). So your yorkie is probably close to its ideal weight. To be at an ideal weight you should be able to easily feel the ribs underneath skin and a thin layer of muscle/fat, but you shouldn't be able to just see them when looking at the dog.

I have Lacy on a raw diet, but there are a lot of members on here that homecook for their yorkies so hopefully they can give you some good recipes to try. There is a search button at the top where you can search for Homecooking and hopefully you'll get some good threads to read. I do use a fish oil/vitamin E. supplement with her food as well as Juice Plus for dogs.

We don't really go on long walks normally - just short ones to go potty. She seems to get most of her exercise inside playing.

I bathe her once a week and brush her 2-3 times a day. I have her nails trimmed about once a month and trim up her hair a little about once a month too.

[Franceen]

Hi MyFairLacy

Ah, thanks so much for all that info. Thanks, too, for the welcome and the congrats. We adore our new baby!

I have just found the sticky you mentioned with recipes! I will try them although I see baby food is used in the biscuits and elsewhere I see that baby food usually has onions in it. I suppose you can trust the ingredient label if some don't mention onion in the ingredients list? I will make the peanut butter biscuits first and see how she likes them.

What is Juice Plus for Dogs?

What size clothing does Lacy wear, as you say she is the same size as Tootsy? I need to get her some clothing as she is starting to feel the cold now. I hope she will wear them! I would like her to wear shoes in mid winter, but I see that so many of the member's babies don't like wearing them. The ground is so cold in mid winter, surely their feet will get frostbite on a walk?
Has any particular clothing brand fitted her very well?

Thank you again, for helping me with all this information.

Love
Franceen xx

[Yorkiekids]

Welcome to YT. I can't answer all your food questions, but wet food is not really good for them, because it can cause tooth decay. I must say she is very lucky to have found someone as caring and loving as you.

[MyFairLacy]

Originally Posted by Franceen

Hi MyFairLacy

Ah, thanks so much for all that info. Thanks, too, for the welcome and the congrats. We adore our new baby!

I have just found the sticky you mentioned with recipes! I will try them although I see baby food is used in the biscuits and elsewhere I see that baby food usually has onions in it. I suppose you can trust the ingredient label if some don't mention onion in the ingredients list? I will make the peanut butter biscuits first and see how she likes them.

What is Juice Plus for Dogs?

What size clothing does Lacy wear, as you say she is the same size as Tootsy? I need to get her some clothing as she is starting to feel the cold now. I hope she will wear them! I would like her to wear shoes in mid winter, but I see that so many of the member's babies don't like wearing them. The ground is so cold in mid winter, surely their feet will get frostbite on a walk?
Has any particular clothing brand fitted her very well?

Thank you again, for helping me with all this information.

Love
Franceen xx

I wouldn't think that all baby food has onions in it. If you want to use baby food, I'd just look at the ingredients list. If it has onions in it, it has to be in the ingredients list (or at least I know it does in the US anyway). Onions are bad for dogs because they can cause anemia.

Here is an article on Juice Plus for dogs http://www.petveggies.com/jp4dogs.htm

For clothing size, it depends on the designer as all brands run differently.
She is a size small in Hip Doggie, Little Lily, Oscar Newman, I See Spot, Lulu Pink (at walmart), and Monkey Daze (usually)
She is a size medium in Lulu Pink (pre-walmart), Gooby, and Ruff Ruff Couture
There are also great clothing makers here on YT! There is Go.Fetch owned by Tiger's Mom (Des) and Lacy wears a Special T3 in dresses and I guess a T4 in PJs. chloeandj (Jodi) owns Chloe Bella - I order a Medium for Lacy there but she'll make the dresses to exact measurements. Shanatink (Shana) owns Tinkerbell's closet - I order an XS from there but had to get her to make the chest size a little bigger for Lacy.

[grayxie]

Food:
For now I would suggest keep on with the home cooking, your choice of protein with vegetables and some brown rice. if she is not having adverse reactions why bother changing it. If later on you would like to move her onto kibble, chose a high quality premium one that is easily digestible with no by-products. Heavily salted food like processed and preserved human kind should really be avoided, no grapes, raisins, or onions. Mangoes are ok, like a little tid bit once in a while but too much can cause diarrhea. One way to avoid cooking every night is to make a big pot of the special "stew" and keep in the fridge or freeze some until you need it.

Treats:
A teaspoon of either Cottage cheese, or plain yogurt depending if she likes it or not. Also for something sweet (if available), sweet potato treats for dogs, fruit crisps for dogs, and of course fruit. You can search online for biscuit recipes, also most pet stores carry natural biscuits now.

Supplements:
I'm really in the dark about this topic, but many YT members use Missing Link and fish oil. I only use glucosamine chondriotin supplement, more as a preventative because Chip is quite active.

Pest preventative:
I use advantix, because of the high presence of ticks in my area. There are holistic methods for controlling fleas, but my problem lies with ticks. I also use Interceptor heartworm preventative.

Grooming:
Clean her teeth with a finger brush, or a piece of gauze wrapped around your finger with pet toothpaste. Some YT'rs use Petzlife oral spray or gel, its a bit pricey though. Since her coat is short, a brushing once or twice a day should be fine. Chip usually gets a full bath once a week, and nails filed about every 1-2 weeks since his nails grow fast.

Exercise:
Chip usually gets 3 walks around the block a day, which are usually around 20-30 min long. It really depends how much time you have, and how long your dog will walk with you. I would recommend a harness since she is on the small size, a collar could possibly cause collapsed trachea. Indoor playtime, its bond building and fun. Also training is a good bond builder.

Clothing:
I actually make Chip's coats for him since he is a weird size. If you have a WalMart or Target in your area check them out. Shoes - some dogs like them some don't, if you do take her out in winter make sure you wipe off her feet, especially if the grounds have been salted.

I hope this helps, and welcome to YT!

[Franceen]

Originally Posted by Yorkiekids

Welcome to YT. I can't answer all your food questions, but wet food is not really good for them, because it can cause tooth decay. I must say she is very lucky to have found someone as caring and loving as you.

Hi Yorkiekids

Thanks for your welcome and for the reply. I didn't realise that canned or home cooked food can cause tooth decay! Perhaps brushing her teeth after her main meal would be the answer?

Love

Franceen xx

[Franceen]

Thanks SO much for all the information you have given me My FairLacy and grayxie. It is just what I wanted to know and a great help. I really appreciate it.

Love
Franceen xx

[MyFairLacy]

Originally Posted by Franceen

Hi Yorkiekids

Thanks for your welcome and for the reply. I didn't realise that canned or home cooked food can cause tooth decay! Perhaps brushing her teeth after her main meal would be the answer?

Love

Franceen xx

Actually that's not true. Dry food is just as bad for their teeth as the carbs build up and cause the tarter. You wouldn't expect to eat cookies all the time and keep your teeth clean..same thing with dry food. I believe homecooked foods and canned foods are much better than dry food because they have more moisture in them and dry food is way overprocessed. But yes, brushing teeth is essential no matter what you feed them to keep teeth clean