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SirYesSir · 04-10-2009, 06:31 AM

Our 8 month old Sir (he's a boy) won't eat on his own. Ever since he was a smaller puppy, we would have to encourage him to eat by playing with him with a certain toy near the food (usually a cat toy with a bird/mouse suspended on a string from a stick). But he would nibble on his own sometimes.

Well, he stopped eating the kibble. Here is what we've tried

1) Mixing the kibble (Eukanuba) with a gravy, as suggested by the breeder, heated up so that the kibble abosorbed the gravy. This worked for a few days.

2) Put a plate of kibble with him in the bathroom with the door close for 10 minutes, 3 times a day. After the 10 minutes, we would pick up the plate, regardless of if he'd eaten (again, as suggested by the breeder and a bunch of people on YorkieTalk). This was *supposed* to show him that he had to eat at a certain time, and everyone said he would eventually be so hungry that he'd eat when the plate was down. He ended up starving himself for so long that he got hypoglycemic. Even after he recovered from that, he wouldn't eat.

3) We've made recipes we've found on Yorkie Talk--he hates chicken, so it has to be beef. We made a nice stew, and this worked for about 2 weeks before he stopped eating it on his own. So we started playing with the toy by the food (like we had before) and this worked for 3 weeks. He then just stopped eating that food, even when encouraged.

4) We now feed him raw hamburger. It is the only thing he will eat--but of course, he has to be played with with the toy. We have to run around the house with him, make obstacles, and then run past the plate of food in order for him to eat it. He won't even eat it cooked. We try to feed him cereal, veggies, and other supplementary foods but this is very hit and miss.

He gets plenty of exercise and stimulation--about 1 hour of outside walk time, and another hour of playing with toys with us.

At 8 months, he is 5.4 pounds. The breeder predicted that he would be 7-8, so I'm worried that this has stunted his growth.

Any suggestions?! We've done what everyone has told us to do and it just isn't working. We can't keep spending 30 minutes with him 3 times a day just to get him to eat (and this is separate from his normal play time!)

04-10-2009, 06:31 AM	#1
SirYesSir YorkieTalk Newbie! Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 9	8 month Yorkie won't eat on his own Our 8 month old Sir (he's a boy) won't eat on his own. Ever since he was a smaller puppy, we would have to encourage him to eat by playing with him with a certain toy near the food (usually a cat toy with a bird/mouse suspended on a string from a stick). But he would nibble on his own sometimes. Well, he stopped eating the kibble. Here is what we've tried 1) Mixing the kibble (Eukanuba) with a gravy, as suggested by the breeder, heated up so that the kibble abosorbed the gravy. This worked for a few days. 2) Put a plate of kibble with him in the bathroom with the door close for 10 minutes, 3 times a day. After the 10 minutes, we would pick up the plate, regardless of if he'd eaten (again, as suggested by the breeder and a bunch of people on YorkieTalk). This was supposed to show him that he had to eat at a certain time, and everyone said he would eventually be so hungry that he'd eat when the plate was down. He ended up starving himself for so long that he got hypoglycemic. Even after he recovered from that, he wouldn't eat. 3) We've made recipes we've found on Yorkie Talk--he hates chicken, so it has to be beef. We made a nice stew, and this worked for about 2 weeks before he stopped eating it on his own. So we started playing with the toy by the food (like we had before) and this worked for 3 weeks. He then just stopped eating that food, even when encouraged. 4) We now feed him raw hamburger. It is the only thing he will eat--but of course, he has to be played with with the toy. We have to run around the house with him, make obstacles, and then run past the plate of food in order for him to eat it. He won't even eat it cooked. We try to feed him cereal, veggies, and other supplementary foods but this is very hit and miss. He gets plenty of exercise and stimulation--about 1 hour of outside walk time, and another hour of playing with toys with us. At 8 months, he is 5.4 pounds. The breeder predicted that he would be 7-8, so I'm worried that this has stunted his growth. Any suggestions?! We've done what everyone has told us to do and it just isn't working. We can't keep spending 30 minutes with him 3 times a day just to get him to eat (and this is separate from his normal play time!)