Future Yorkie owner here on Tenerife,Spain
 

Hi there folks. Would just like to say hello. I have spent the last hour or so reading thru' some of the postings and already I can see the benefit a lot of you must have obtained on here. I cannot find a similar Forum, in English, on this side of the pond!!!
For those of you who don,t know, my home is on Tenerife off the coast of North Africa. Is part of Spain, bit like Hawaii to America.
Anyway, my wife (she,s Russian and I,m Scottish!!) and I are picking up our Yorkie puppy in 10 days time. He will only be 6/7 weks old and, whilst I think that is a bit young to leave his mom, I,ve no alternative.
Anyway, I intend feeding him (his name is Yuriy Ivanovich) natural, cooked at home food. Previously whilst living in Scotland I had Labradors so this little fella is going to take some getting used to! I have copied a lot of the recipes but, I realise that they are more for older dogs. I REALLY need advice on feeding Yuriy as the Spanish tend only to feed Yorkies prepared food (and usually not very good stuff at that) bought from supermarkets. The Vets carry Royal Canine and Hills etc but when I asked the vet for advice the usual shrug of the shoulder came out!
So, 6/7 weeks old and I want to feed 4 times a day to start off with. Suggestions please. I am almost house-bound so time is no great problem and I can cook. Apparently he has started eating cooked chicken and I presume he is getting fed by his mom also. The availability of choice of additives, biscuits and vitamin pills is going to be limited here so go easy. Language problems will of course arise so I may to have to use the 'net a bit.
So over to you my new found American/Canadian Yorkie owners. Any help is much appreciated. Sorry this is so long but at least you know what is facing my wife and myself. Oh btw. We,ve got a rather grumpy 6 year old neutered, male cat who thinks he is the bees knees and is in for a shock sharing his domain (he,s a house cat):thumbs up:D

Welcome! Congrats on your impending addition! Oh what fun ya'll are in for. :D My condolences to your cat. :rolleyes::p I've not much advice, but there are plenty here that have a wealth of knowledge on diet. You might look in the Health and Diet forum.

If ordering food, supplements, treats, etc via the internet is an option, you may want to consider that over cooking for him. It can be very tricky getting the correct balance of protein/fiber/nutrition for these little ones.

Thanks for replying. Yea the cat,s in for a shock
Have read thru' all the postings in the Health and Diet and surprisingly nothing too much about the very young ones. Hopefully i,ll get a couple of responses later in your day since I am 6 hours ahead Eastern.:D

First of all, welcome to YT! You seem to already know that 6-7 weeks is too young for them to leave their mother, but you seem to have no choice, so I will share my experinces with you. Weeks 6-12 is a very important stage for a puppy. This is the time when the mother teaches it socialization, and bascially how to be a dog. Since Momma cannot do this, you will have to, or you'll have a little hellion on your hands. Once it has had all neccesary shots, you need to begin socializing the pup with other dogs, if possible. Also, you need to teach it not to bite you (this is usually around 9-10 weeks, they hurt too!) Try saying "Ow" loudly, every time, and offer a toy or something instead that they can chew on. It takes time - and a lot of patience. I suggest crate traiing also. Good luck to you!!

Welcome to YT and Congratulations on your little pup. As others have suggested I would take a look in the health and diet section on YT, there is loads of information there. Cant wait to see pics of your new little one!

Welcome to YT! Congrats on the new addition!

I would just like to thank you all for your useful comments.:D