Originally Posted by gemy  I think sometimes for healthy dogs etc, there is too much angst around food.
There are a huge number of threads on Yorkie Health and Diet on that forum.
And I can't really advise you, as I am one of those home cookers, I do use orijen kibble sparingly to tide us over when we travel and I can't take home made dog food across the border. Seriously one time, I have a whole big cooler full of about 25 pounds of home made dog food confiscated at the border.
Well I long ago change to free range, hormone free beef pork etc. And we don't as adults eat too much meat every week.
I am actually thinking of going to a Bison farmer, who is grass feeding and hormone additive free his cattle? gawd do you call Bisons cattle? IJDK But he is only 70 miles from home, and I can go in with another breeder to buy a quarter side of bison. He will cut it, and or grind with or without bone in and quantity we want. Pretty reasonable to at $2.99 per pound. But pretty big outlay all at once, and it will fill my freezer with no room to spare.
I know my BRT's absolutely love Bison Bones, and for Magic it is almost the only type of bone that he can't fracture given a long enough chew time on a great bone. THe big dogs get feed minimum 2lbs per day each so 4lbs a day, and Razzle at about 1/3 of a pound is just not even a noise level.
You know, what I think is; if your dog is thriving on the RC great lab work/blood results, shiny eyes, glossy coat, good teeth, good elimination why change?! As a newbie you must be asking; How do I know if what works is working?
Well that is difficult from a long term point of view. As concerned dog owners we can only do all regular vet visits and lab work, that will help to show us if what we are feeding, exercising, grooming etc with our pups is good for their health. And if it proves not to be, change it!
I do recommend at one year old or near to that age you get a full blood panel done. It begins to build a history for your pup. It is not that expensive. About $100 or so. And I do again at 2 yrs old, well I am breeder so I do more often. But for pet owners if all is fine at 1yr old, then I would say 3yr old, then 5 yrs old ... again if all benchmarks are fine. Once my dogs hit 7 or 8 yrs old then it is annual for them.
So I think relax about the dog food for now. Make sure your pup drinks lots of water; I use filtered water, gets lots of exercise a day; some combo of walks, training, tricks, swimming, agility, find the toy; in otherwords exercise combined with mental stimulation. This includes getting your Yorkie out and about, meeting dogs and people. Socialization helps also to structure and develop a healthy doggy brain. |