We made the mistake of hand feeding Bonzo when he arrived (10 wks old)as he didn't eat. Our wonderful breeder who's bred yorkies for over 30 years said it was probably to do with him suddenly being an 'only' dog after being used to having so many other dogs around.
Fast forward - He's now 6 months old and guess what? We're still having to hand feed him. We've graduated from biscuits actually in our hand, to him taking them from his dish (which was a cause of much celebration), but with us holding the dish and playing a game. If anyone had told me 6 months ago that I'd be kneeling on the floor throwing a ball/toy for my yorkie, and in between times he'd take a few biscuits, I'd have said they were mad. He's not underweight due to our herculean efforts for him to eat, but I've got a bad back and am finding it increasingly difficult to continue with this method of feeding. We've tried mixing different things eg. corned beef, tripe in with his biscuits to entice him, but he just sniffs the bowl and walks away.
I spoke to the breeder recently and she said just to leave him to eat, that he wouldn't starve himself. He didn't eat, just curled up in his box, and then stopped drinking as well. By 8pm we were back to the hand feeding.
I'm embarrassed to be in this situation because I'm a doggie person who strongly advocates good discipline and good practice. But we're stuck!
Can anyone help pleeeeassse!!
