Need Answers...

[Ravens Keeper]

Hi everyone, I need some answers. Even though I have been reading the questions and answers here for the past three weeks I just recently joined.
I have a cute little girl named Raven. She is 12 weeks old todayand weighed 1.5 last week when she received her shots. I got Raven when she was 8 weeks old and she weighed 1.4 then. The first question I have is how many of you have finicky picky Yorkies when it comes to eating? One day she might like a certain food and will and eat just fine, then she will quit eating that until I find a new food she likes. Then when she doesn't like that anymore, she will eat what she was eating four days before. Right now she is eating Little Ceaser. Second question I have is...how often does it seem like you should have to take your yorkie outside to pee? It seems like I take her out then 15 to 20 minutes later she has peed again inside. Help.....

[bld2751]

Well welcome!!

I can't really help about the picky eater part, but when it comes to going to the bathroom, sometimes I feel like Hercules goes like that too!!

He's just over 4 months and we are training him to go outside. Sometimes I'll have to take him outside 5 minutes after he was just out there, and then sometimes he can go longer without needing to go out. When they are young their bladders are not fully grown yet. I've heard they won't be grown until around 6 months. So just be persistent and keep taking your baby out every 15 minutes if it's needed right now. It will pay off. Hercules goes to the door most of the time now when he has to go to the bathroom.

Good luck!

Brandi

[Wylie's Mom]

Hello and congrats on your baby!

For the first 2-4 months, these little pups will go quite often - esp. the 2-3 month time frame. Their bladders are tiny - the recognition of "urges", and what to do with them, is still on a learning curve. When Wylie was 2-3 mths., he would pee very often - now (at 6 mths.) he has larger pees, but less often. Try not worry - your Raven will evolve - she may take a bit longer too since she is pretty small. You may want to put paper by the door to deal with the frequency - this can be temporary until she gets bigger.

With eating - stick to ONE food. It is easier on her digestive system (which is so tiny right now) and less confusing. You don't want to "teach" her to be more finicky. She will eat - just be consistent and stick with one food. Since she is still tiny, if she doesn't eat well - give her a bit of Karo syrup in water to make sure her blood sugar doesn't bottom out. Also, let her "self-feed" right now (if you can) vs. "timed" feeding - you can always do timed feedings later.

Is she hydrating okay?
Good luck! Ann

[Ravens Keeper]

I will try to keep her on just one food. I get so worried about her. When I first got her she became very lethargic after 3 to 4 days, so I took her to the vet. Of course she was hypoglycemic which the vet said can happen in small dogs. I now give her Nutrical a.m. and p.m. The vet said sometimes the transition can stress them out are not eating right. So I just make sure she eats. She is very playful even when she don't eat well that day. Now we are leaving for vacation Sunday and my daughter in-law will be watching her while we will be gone. I hope she don't sress out. As far as hydrated .. do you mean is she drinking her water well? If so she seems to be.
Thanks for all th input

[OllieJay]

For the first couple of weeks with Oliver he was very very picky with food....i would leave him his food and he just would not eat it. He wouldnt even eat his treats (well some of them he would)...i put Karo in his water to be sure he was getting sugar. He never acted lathargic or anything though. I ended up getting so worried that he wasnt eating that i would sit with him and hand feed him his dinner. He would eat it out of my hand just fine. I did this for around a week. This solved the problem for me...now he eats just fine!!!
But as said by a previous user stick to one food...everyone has always told me this...

Hope this helps!!!

[orinskye]

gawd........ toby will eat anything..... leaves...... fingers..... he is a FOOD HOUND, the trouble with him is to get him to STOP EATING...lol

[browniesmom622]

raven brownie is the same way he was very picky even with people food hes still the same i found that for about 2 months i havent changed his food hes been eating nutro max puppy he loves it he dont eat wet food anymore he wont eat it
i tryied sticking with one food to and he would just starve himself too brownie never grew out of it you just have to find something she loves like i did with brownie it just took me 2 years lol

[lickthestar]

I'm having this problem with Archie right now!!! I'm going bananas...He will absolutely love something for like two days and then won't eat at all. He knows where his food is, etc., but he's really really picky. However, if I hand feed it, he's completely fine. I tried everything...new foods, but the same problem. I got him new doggie bowls thinking maybe he didn't like the bowls. WHAT DO I DO?!!! He seems to like beef, and lamb, and turkey on occassion. I have fed him so far: Purina (sucks), Innova, Neura, Nutro. With dry food, I fed him Nutro, Eukanuba, Innova. I tried mixing wet with dry, dry with a little bit of water, just wet food...Gosh I'm going nuts getting this dog to eat properly!!!!!!!!!

[browniesmom622]

i spoon feed him thats the only way i was able to get him to eat as a baby

[ldenise]

This has me laughing. Buckeye prefers for me to hand feed him also. They got us wrapped around their paws don't they?
I can remember when we first got him and he wouldn't eat.(I was even feeding him from a spoon) and then we started giving him people food. big mistake! I finally put him on science diet small bites. I sat it there and said this is it... if you dont' eat this there will be no more. he understood. he likes it and eats it fine.
now... I believe that they will not let their selves starve.
Ahia will eat any thing any time and any where. she acts like she is starving. she might even be getting a lilttle over weight so i am going to watch her.

[ldenise]

I am sorry Ravens keeper, I should have welcomed you to this forum first of all. So .. welcome. This site has been addictive to me and the info is enormously helpful. Everyone wants to help out in any way they can. If they can't they are here to keep you uplifted. A wonderful group of people with all different points of view covered.
the potty issue.. Ahia is 9 Months old and sometimes still goes out every 20 minutes to 1/2 hr. When we first got her at 8 weeks she went every 10 minutes.

[browniesmom622]

yea brownie was like 1 and ahalf when he stoped eating soft food and thats when i stoped spoon feeding him it
now brownie is a neat freak its really funny there will be one piece of dog food under the table and he go crawling under there for it so when i want him and kayko to eat i go opps and knock the dry food on the fooor and brownie goes crazy to clean it up and thats how i get him to eat

brownie been eating lint and stuff just so kayko dont eat it its funnyhe never even did that when he was a baby !

[lickthestar]

This morning was a good day. Archie ate. I had to hand feed him again, but I took little chunks of Neura 95% lamb and held it in front of him. Before he could get to it, I put it in his new bowl so that he knows that he must eat out of the bowl. Well, he did just that. He does weird things with treats, too. When I give him a doggie biscuit, he'll push it away with his nose until I throw it. Then he chases after it and eats it.

About the bathroom issue---at first, he went everywhere but I think it was his way of testing out where he can and cannot go. If he goes in a place he shouldn't, I said "NO!" and picked him up and put him where he should go. But I also took him out and praised him a lot so he got the idea that he needs to go outside. Now, he goes outside, but in the bathroom if it's an emergency or the middle of the night. The hard part was trying to teach him that looking out the window and peeing is not the same as actually being outside and peeing!! I can't give an exact time schedule but you can see when they start to act a little funny if they need to go. Archie would get excited, and run around looking for a place to go. That's how I knew it was time.

[mybirdys2003]

Snoodles was 1#5oz when I got her at 14 weeks. The breeder had me feeding her dry dog food, soft food, mixing and heating food etc. etc. She had very loose stools. The vet said take her off everything but Science Diet little bites. She did wonderfully with it. She eats fine and even though she was so tiny, she ate the hard dog food. We don't feed her from the table and only give her Greenies, Liver Treats and small dog bones for treats. The vet said to limit those too, becausse they need the nutrition from their regular food to grow right and healthy. It is funny becauses when we do trick time, I just use her reg food for treats and she is as happy as a lark! I think it is the hand feeding they love. Pat

[Catrienne]

Originally Posted by orinskye

gawd........ toby will eat anything..... leaves...... fingers..... he is a FOOD HOUND, the trouble with him is to get him to STOP EATING...lol

I hear ya! My puppy is a little glutton!! He would eat twice his body weight if I let him! I am glad though, because even though he is small, he doesn't have any health problems and has quite the appetite.