Sorry, long post but any suggestions?

[TOY]

Never in a million years would I ever dream any living creature in my house would not like treats! As cute as our puppy is, I almost feel like she has some kind of alien strangeness...LOL

I cannot get her to eat a treat. (That leaves me totally confused about how to reinforce her good behaviors!) She is so wonderful and loving and cute and spoiled and just plain old precious. I feel really strange asking about this since it is such a strange "problem" but I need someone's ideas.

She literally will not take anything out of my hand although she loves to lick "whatever" scent is on my hand. She will motion with her head toward the floor several times as in telling me that if I want her to eat it, I need to drop the treat! I feel like I'm the one being trained...LOL

Unfortunately, then she will sniff and maybe lick the treat but she doesn't eat it. I think if she was a child, she'd not like junk food...it's just un-American...LOL The only treat I have found that she will deign to eat are those mini carrot sticks. (I do know that our breeder made homemade treats and included a recipe and cookie cutter in her suitcase.)

Perhaps I should mention that any cooking I do is done "as the spirit moves" LOL It's just my husband and I (and now our Yorkie) and I cook when I'm in the mood. We are fortunate to have several good delivery sources and/or curbside restaurants and frankly, we can almost eat as cheaply as my cooking. If there is any solution other than my having to personally cook her treats, I would like to try that first!

I also cannot get her to eat her kibble. Forget this "she'll eat when she gets hungry" business...it doesn't work! As wonderful as she is, she is only eating real, cooked chicken...and the carrots as treats. I've mixed kibble, ground it, etc. but she just sniffs and struts off. She really has the cutest little prissy strut you could imagine!

Then there's the potty business. For the first 3-4 days home, she used the pee pads every time with no problem. We clapped and celebrated and just generally made fools of ourselves because she peed or pooped in the right place. Now.....well, can we just say I bragged to the breeder too soon...LOL

She is so wonderful but I stay so freaked out over her not eating well (although she scarfs down the chicken) that I give her some of that NutriCal a couple of times a day...not much but a little bit. I'm so afraid of the situations I've read on here. (Her gums have always been pretty and pink but she likes to sleep when she's not going at full speed ahead.)

She's 14 weeks and weighs 3 lbs. 7 oz. Good natured doesn't begin to do her personality justice and if her tail wasn't attached, she'd wag it off. We haven't even taken photos yet because we don't want to stop long enough to get the camera! She really is that entertaining...LOL

I've read here for months and know that with all the Yorkie owner experiences on here, someone can surely help or suggest a solution. (Did I mention she traveled the 6+ hours home with no problems at all?) I know...I'm quite prejudiced but she is magnificent even if I am worried (really worried) about her diet.

I guess in the spirit of full disclosure I should also admit that she sleeps so soundly that I keep bugging my husband about being afraid she's dead. I'm becoming the nervous, spazzo owner that I didn't want to be!

[chachi]

Mine are really picky about what treats they will eat also. They love yorkie yummies and I havent heard of a yorkie that didnt love them. Chattiesmom makes them. Mine will also eat vitakraft yogurt drops anmd chicken jerkyand cherios. They wont eat any other dog treats. For food you might try the Natural balance meat roll. They sell it at Petco and Pets supply plus

[roxies_mom]

Mine is picky with certain things too (I think it's a yorkie's perogative). She has to be in the mood for sure. I can offer her something she'll normally eat but if she's not in the mood she just leaves it lay. She loves her pupperoni treats that you can get at the pet stores and anyplace they sell pet supplies. I mean she loves them so much she knows the look and the sound of the bag. She's always liked her food which is Royal Canine for Yorkies, even my cats will chow on it. I'm going to try some of the other treats that have been suggested and see how it goes.

[TOY]

Thanks so much for your response.

I stocked up on Yorkie Yummies (all flavors!) and I've tried the yogurt drops, Cheerios, blueberry cobbler bites, real (human) fruit, and some expensive liver soft chewy treats. Oh, and cheese cracker type treats for dogs. Those are just off the top of my head. All of them eventually got thrown away or vacuumed away for lack of interest. (I did not use them all at once.)

She does like shredded cheddar cheese but I had to call the vet's office about constipation. I was so excited about the cheese, I think I overdid it. She also ate a couple of bites of cottage cheese once when I was trying to get her to eat anything. She wouldn't even go near the natural applesauce.

I'm beginning to think that it must not be a natural response to take a treat. However, if it's a learned response, I'm not having much luck teaching it.

Very limited experience, I admit, but I don't think it's the taste of the treats as much as she doesn't know what they are or what to do with them! She's not shy or skittish so it's not like I'm having to lure her to me with treats. She does like the attention and praise she gets from us but it just seems like training would be so much easier if I could get her to like edible rewards!

She's very smart. I'm beginning to wonder if her mother warned her about taking food from strangers...LOL. I did think today that I would "hide" some bites where she might find them. She's interested in eating bits of paper she finds dropped on the floor when she shouldn't eat it at all. (Thing is...after much debate, I purchased some of those expensive Nina Ottosson's interactive toys which involve hiding a treat. Now I'm wondering if I should have purchased them!)

She's very mannerly, too. She was not allowed to beg and will sit and watch us eat without the hint of a whimper so it's not as though she's wanting our food.

[roxies_mom]

Try some of the Buddig Meat in those little plastic pkgs. you get at the grocery stores. You can get it in Turkey, Beef or chicken. Roxie just loves meats like that (she goes crazy over Arby's). You can use that as a small snack or treats.

[TOY]

Thanks for the suggestion about the Pupperoni treats. I'll have to get some of those to try. Shoot, this can get expensive, can't it? At this point, I just want to find something so I can try out some of those training tips.

I really think she knows what we say though because I can tell her to lay down to take a nap and she will...always amazes me when she does it. (I just reread that sentence and need to clarify...the fact that she lays down when I say so does in no way mean she stays there long enough to take a nap...ha!)

You are so right about the moods, too. We are retired and are with her 24/7 except we left yesterday to go for a tax consult (getting close to April 15). We decided we'd do some shopping so in spite of my "alarm" at leaving her, my husband insisted. (We did have someone in to check on her though as we were gone about 4 hours.) When we got back and let her out of the playpen, we got the "cold shoulder" for about an hour. I told him she went from baby to a teenager in one afternoon!

[Ice Lady]

Out of my three, I had, for 12 years, a non-treat-eater. Sugar Princess refused to eat any treat accept for little bits of roast beef or steak till she was 12 years old. US Customs at Sweetgrass, MT started handing out treats to the little Fur Truckers that came through the booth. At that time, my-turn-up-her- nose, spit-it-out, treat refuser decided that she would accept a milk bone from the officer in the booth. It took another year before she would eat a doggie treat at any other time.

Our little fur babies are such unique individuals, there is no accounting for tastes. Sugar had to be finger fed for 5 years before she would eat on her own. She is a hard headed little Lhasa Apso. Each of my Yorkies have their own little personalities and preferences as well.

Nickie will only eat things that he is given. Baby Sweet Pea will eat anything in site. Nickie "tells" on Baby Sweet Pea when she gets into something that she shouldn't.

As long as your baby is eating, I wouldn't worry about the treats

Happy Easter

[LunasMomma]

Originally Posted by roxies_mom

Try some of the Buddig Meat in those little plastic pkgs. you get at the grocery stores. You can get it in Turkey, Beef or chicken. Roxie just loves meats like that (she goes crazy over Arby's). You can use that as a small snack or treats.

Please don't do that Those meats (and any deli meats) are SO high in sodium that regular feeding of them to a dog will cause kidney failure eventually. Their little kidneys just cannot handle that much salt Not to mention the fat content, pancreatitis is a real danger too.

To the OP----OMG your baby is SO adorable!!!! For treats you could try those little puff things that they sell for toddlers, they come in banana and sweet potato, and other flavors I'm sure. When mine were younger they were weird about treats too, but they loved those. Good luck!!!!!!!!!1

[roxies_mom]

Originally Posted by LunasMomma

Please don't do that Those meats (and any deli meats) are SO high in sodium that regular feeding of them to a dog will cause kidney failure eventually. Their little kidneys just cannot handle that much salt Not to mention the fat content, pancreatitis is a real danger too.

To the OP----OMG your baby is SO adorable!!!! For treats you could try those little puff things that they sell for toddlers, they come in banana and sweet potato, and other flavors I'm sure. When mine were younger they were weird about treats too, but they loved those. Good luck!!!!!!!!!1

Actually I don't do it regularly. It's only a small treat and I only meant for it to be in small quantities. Roxie mainly gets her pupperonies.

[TOY]

You guys are so great with your suggestions. I knew that you'd have some ideas and selfishly I hope she does start liking treats because I like to buy something special for her.

I bought so many things in anticipation of her. Soooooo when I gave her the cheese and she got constipated (day after the vet visit by the way), I tried the canned organic pumpkin I had gotten since I had read so many posters say that was good. (I had to get organic because the other had spices.)

She wouldn't taste the pumpkin! I had just told the vet the day before that everything was okay except the eating was concerning me and then had to call the very next day for help. They advised me to put a little vegetable oil on her food (which of course was chicken) and it worked. Just mentioning that in case anyone ever has that problem.

Thanks for the ideas. I am going to look for some of those baby things. That reminds me that I had bought some toddler squash and other things that just have the veggie and water as their ingredients. I had forgotten all about them. Maybe she'll like veggies since she loves carrots.

I refuse to taste and eat this stuff just to get her to eat but I guess I will eventually do whatever it takes. That's how I got her to eat the cheese...LOL...I ate some first. I think that's why she was such a good eater at the breeder's...she ate before someone else could get it but that doesn't help me with the kibble... Nope, not going there...LOL...you know though, I think I'll go eat some "raw" cheerios and see what she does!

[chachi]

Wow Ive never heard of a yorkie tiring of the yorkie yummies. Have you tried small pieces of cheese and fruit?

[TOY]

Oh my word, I don't believe it!

My little princess think she needs a royal taster!

I poured some Cheerios in a container and ate a few. Then she couldn't get into that bowl fast enough!

Now...anyone know of a kibble safe enough for human consumption...LOL
I think I've at least discovered the "secret" to getting her to try something. Just don't know to what extent my "gag" reflex is willing to go.

However, that approach didn't work with the apple...hmmm...a complicated female...who'd have thought?

[TOY]

Thank you for the helpful suggestions. There has been a new development today!

I received my order today for bully sticks from a member here and our Yorkie loved them! Finally, a treat she loves...wow!

[AmyChristine]

Oh I am glad that she loves the bully sticks! Mine think that they are the best thing ever

Your little girl reminds me of my Rocky, His first mommy was starting him in the ring, she had a terrible time finding anything to use as bate and training, and then one day she found him in the chip bag He loved cheetos with a passion, obviously she couldn't give him cheetos esspecailly before a show (what a mess he would be and not very good for him either) but he liked the cheese flavor, and carbs She said that her friend would sometimes sneek him a few the night before a show because he loved them so much, and she would be so mad and have to rewash his face. After hearing about his love for Cheetos I started to bake him some healthy cheesey apple treats. They all have their own tastes and personality, and that is what makes them so special.

[FlDebra]

TOY -- I thoroughly enjoyed reading your post. Your love for your little girl is so obvious, it's a joy to read. I so hope I find owners just like you to adopt my puppies. I know you posted with problems and I will make a couple of suggestions. But first I wanted to rave a little about the way you talk about your puppy.

For treats -- those little baby carrots are great. The tiniest ones are tender enough for them to munch so they don't choke. Mine like them cooked, probably because that is how I started them. Have you tried the Yogurt drops? Lots of people use kibble for treats when starting out. Cheerios are also a big favorite. I also used the Gerber toddler treats already mentioned. Tiny bits of cheese (but not too much -- it will stop them up) and small bites of bananas have been favorites of my pups too. Don't worry, most puppies are leery about new things. As they get a little older they will start being more adventuresome with their eating. Within a few months you may find her wanting to snack on pine cones and other unwanted things.

Food -- My first Yorkie was fed nothing but homemade chicken and rice before I got her. While I still do that for all of mine occasionally, I felt a quality dog food would be better for every day. So, I just kept trying diferent ones. I went to a local pet store and got samples as well as sending off for some. Eventually, they all will eat. Mine liked Chicken Soup for Puppy Lovers Soul and Canidae best. I stayed with the Canidae after they were a few months old. Oh, one more thing, for the one started on homecooked chicken and rice. I gradually mixed the dog food with the chicken and rice, increasing the dog food and reducing the amount of chicken & rice, until little by little there was no chicken and rice left. At first, she would eat all around the dog food and leave it in the dish. But gradually she started eating a little here and there and it wasn't long that she was getting her whole meal from the dog food.