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DBlain · 05-18-2012, 07:31 PM

Lola eats only dry food, which I think it the best for a lot of reasons and the main one is their teeth, second reason it is easier, third reason is if you give a dog both they favor the wet food and don't eat enough of the dry food. But I still don't know how old your puppy is. I have had 4 other yorkies before Lola all but the last one ate only dry food, they all free fed until I had two at one time and one was getting fat and the other skinny so then I started feeding both at night. The one that ate the wet food was a pain in the butt and very finicky even to the point of what he ate his food off, if he was not so skinny and did not have such a sensitive tummy I would have only fed dry, but you do what you have to do. However starting them off with wet if you don't have to IMHO is setting yourself up for headaches. Lola went to the vet for heartworm and a checkup today, the vet was very impressed with her health, weight, coat, and especially her teeth, so I feel like we are doing the right thing. I know a lot of people say that if you free feed you can't regulate or predict when they need to go potty but with mine I never saw much correlation on when they ate compared to when they pooped, I don't think peeing has anything to do with eating.

I do not have any pee pads in my home because she is 100% house broken and has no clue what to do with a pee pad. She now has the run of the house when I am out for up to about 6 or 7 hours, before that she was crated for about 3 hours max at a time. I am very lucky with Lola, all my others had to be left in the laundry room when I went out. My last was paper trained, and I tried to do the same with Lola, but LOL she wanted nothing to do with the pads and from the day I got her she seemed to make it clear that she wanted to do her business outside and only outside. Each dog is different and you will slowly find what works best for you. But if you are able to get home every few hours, and going out to potty is easy, I would work on that and use the bell method. If you do not need to feed wet food, I would avoid it, and I would work at getting your dog used to your routine not the other way around. I am head over heals in love with Lola but I have made it my point that she has adapted into my life not vs versa.

05-18-2012, 07:31 PM	#31
DBlain Donating YT Addict Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Oakland County MI Posts: 6,190	Lola eats only dry food, which I think it the best for a lot of reasons and the main one is their teeth, second reason it is easier, third reason is if you give a dog both they favor the wet food and don't eat enough of the dry food. But I still don't know how old your puppy is. I have had 4 other yorkies before Lola all but the last one ate only dry food, they all free fed until I had two at one time and one was getting fat and the other skinny so then I started feeding both at night. The one that ate the wet food was a pain in the butt and very finicky even to the point of what he ate his food off, if he was not so skinny and did not have such a sensitive tummy I would have only fed dry, but you do what you have to do. However starting them off with wet if you don't have to IMHO is setting yourself up for headaches. Lola went to the vet for heartworm and a checkup today, the vet was very impressed with her health, weight, coat, and especially her teeth, so I feel like we are doing the right thing. I know a lot of people say that if you free feed you can't regulate or predict when they need to go potty but with mine I never saw much correlation on when they ate compared to when they pooped, I don't think peeing has anything to do with eating. I do not have any pee pads in my home because she is 100% house broken and has no clue what to do with a pee pad. She now has the run of the house when I am out for up to about 6 or 7 hours, before that she was crated for about 3 hours max at a time. I am very lucky with Lola, all my others had to be left in the laundry room when I went out. My last was paper trained, and I tried to do the same with Lola, but LOL she wanted nothing to do with the pads and from the day I got her she seemed to make it clear that she wanted to do her business outside and only outside. Each dog is different and you will slowly find what works best for you. But if you are able to get home every few hours, and going out to potty is easy, I would work on that and use the bell method. If you do not need to feed wet food, I would avoid it, and I would work at getting your dog used to your routine not the other way around. I am head over heals in love with Lola but I have made it my point that she has adapted into my life not vs versa. __________________ Lola my amazing little yorkie-pom Donna Last edited by DBlain; 05-18-2012 at 07:34 PM.