Congrats on Gizmo he sounds like a normal active small puppy, word of advice do not leave ANY type of chew item with him when you go out. Most of what is sold as edible is not good for small dogs and can lead to expensive and life threatening digestive problems. I know this from experience. I got Lola in late April when she was 4 months old, I would wheel a big metal crate around the yard while I gardened to keep her safe from wood chips, dirt and stones, but instead of keeping her safe I came close to bringing on pancreatitis. To keep her occupied I gave her a small greenie that looked like a tooth brush, these supposedly were recommend by vets. Well she loved it and it kept her busy for a while, I thought she would chew and chew it for hours but in less than an hour it was completely gone as she ate the whole thing. Well it started with loose stool and rapidly progressed to running brown water every hour. It took almost 5 days and two trips to the vet to get her somewhat regular again. Her butt was so sore that she would cry out in pain each time she had a BM, even after all this time she is acts worried and scared if she has a difficult BM. One of the gals from my meetup group had the exact same problem with her yorkie. Bully sticks are better for pups, I buy a larger one that takes a long time to work on, but there are many dogs here that don't do well with them so keep chew times under half an hour. Rawhide chews are also a no no for most dogs especially such small ones, if you read the label carefully you will often see warnings like not recommended for puppies or dogs under 5 lbs. Also stay clear of any jerky treat, just about everyone I have ever seen are made in China and China has had a lot of problems with dog products being contaminated. I would never buy anything edible for a dog that was made in China. Believe me I would love to leave Lola with a chew bone, raw hide, pig ear, greenie but from experience they often can start a digestive problem that is hard to get rid of. It is also very easy to be fooled when buying these chew foods, they are well packaged and look like they are healty for gum and teeth health. I am at the point that except for a bully stick Lola gets nothing else to chew on. So many of us experienced yorkie owners still make honest mistakes when it comes to chew food, because the companies that market them are very crafty on what they put on the package and fool us. Please don't feel embarrassed if you have questions on this topic because many of us that have had yorkies for years are still confused over what is OK and what is not, post any type of questions you may have, we are here to help you. |