Important Yorkie Care Questions Concerning Yorkie Owners
 

My yorkie puppy Chewy is about 12 weeks old and the breeder i got him from told me to put him on Nutrical 3x a day and Albon 1x a day. He's a very energetic yorkie, but he scratches himself sometimes during the day. The breeder also told me to feed him chicken with Welness food 3x a day. He eats the chicken and eats some of the wellness food throughout the day. Also, she told me to keep him in a cage and to let him out a like a few times a day. Well, i feel a cage is cruel so i keep out in my livin room and he sleeps when noone is around and at night, he sleeps in his cage. I am very stressed about my puppy and i want him to be very healthy. Is everything the breeder told me to do right or should i change the routine? I would appreciate the help because i dont want my puppy to get sick.

Hi and welcome to YT and congrats on you new baby.

Puppies should have food and water available to them at all times. It is not bad that you give your guy chicken and wellness throughout the day at all. As for nutrical, it is used in cases of low blood sugar, as if they do not eat. I wouldn't give it to him throughout the day just to give it to him. If he's eating well, he should not need to get the nutrical but it is good to have on hand in case. I do not know about Albon so hopefully someone with knowledge about that will come on and be able to answer that for you. At 3 mos old, free feeding is good. I believe at about 4 mos, our vet recommended cutting back to 3-4x a day, and then 3x and then 2x. I know of people who keep food down all the time, totally up to you.

As far as having your little one in a crate, this is mainly for potty training or for the safety of your little one. Hot Rod was only in a crate for as long as it took us to get an expen. Once we got his expen, he had his crate, potty pad, food and water in there with him. I also gave him a chew toy. I like the idea of him being able to have some room but still be contained while I was not home and if I got home late, he would be able to potty and have food and water. Crate training would be something you need to decide on. The expen worked for us and I have read of others gating off the kitchen or a bathroom.

Here is a picture of our expen. I also had a baby monitor so I could hear if something was wrong. It was great when he was in his crate for the week/week and half before getting the pen-I was able to hear him needing to potty. Best of luck to you and Chewy, can't wait to see pictures of your little guy. :)

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I am not sure, but I believe Albon is an antibiotic. Not sure why you would need to give that every day. I believe I would ask my vet about that. I myself wouldn't want to give an antibiotic unnecessarily. Good luck with your new little guy and welcome to YT:)

Yes, albon is an antibiotic for respitory or intestinal tract infections I believe. Gizmo got it when he had belly troubles. I don't know, IMO, if putting him on it just because is a good idea. However, I would talk to your vet.

With regards to the nutrical, we used it only when Gizmo wouldn't eat. If you use it more then that, it can actually do harm to a dog's blood sugar. If he doesn't eat then just swipe some nutrical across his gums and he should be okay.

With regards to crates, it's a personal choice. We tried to crate Gizmo at night, but it got to the point (after 4 weeks of little to no sleep each night) that we only used teh crate for when we're not at home. I know alot of dow owners use the crate when they need to do laundry or need to keep the dog in a confined space, but since Gizmo was easy to potty train and since he's usually always with me, we never did that.

Personally I don't know if simply taking the dog out of the crate every once in awhile is the best, however when my husband and I fostered a little girl Yorkie a few years ago, we would put her in the crate for nap time even if we were right by her simply because she loved her crate.

Hope everything works out!

She may have suggested the albon incase he got stressed and she worried about him getting coccidia? I know when a baby goes to a new home it is stressfula nd stress will trigger coccidia. Maybe this is why????

As far as leaving him n a crate all the time and just letting him out once inawhile I do not agree with that.

welcome and congrats. Have you started your puppy on flea treatment yet? A lot of times puppies havefleas and people dont even know, that may be why he is itchy. Use something safe for puppies like advantage- do not buy flea treatment from the store, get it from your vet. Good luck!

Your best Friend for advice is a good Vet. I am not sure about Albon either. I do feed my baby Yorkies, human baby food, meats like chicken and moist kibble every 4 hours. And they have dry kibble and water at all times. If they are eating well, I do not routinely give them Nutrical, but I think it is an excellent idea to keep it on hand.

LOL befor I even got a reply posted. My partner returned my phone call, so yes Albon is used if a puppy is being treated for Coccidia or other infections.

Thank you everybody still need more help :(
 

Omg thank u all for the replies this sites amazing i am currently now givin chewy nutrical 1x a day n the albon 1x a day. Do u think thats alright? N btw the expen looks amazing how much is that? The breeder told me he was perfectly healthy but she kept warning about hypoglocemia. She said he shouldnt be out of his cage for too long because of that. So can that happen?my puppy also whines at night shiuld i just leave him alone and should i put water in his cage at night? And yea im not sure about the albon im taking him to the vet wednesday because hes missing two vaccinations. Hopefully nothings wrong with him. The main concern i have with him is the hypoglocemia. Im scared he could pass out since i let him roam around out of his cage :(

That's good to hear that your little one is healthy. I am not sure why your breeder would say that be out of his crate cause hypoglycemia? Hypoglycemia is from low blood sugar due to not eating. If you are only crating at night, I think you can let him go without water til the morning. If you are getting up with him to potty, you can see if he wants water at that time.

As for the whining, your puppy will do this as he is probably not used to being in a crate. Hot Rod whined as well and it broke my heart...that's why we got the expen. He was able to have some leg room to stretch and have his food and water and I knew that he was safe because he was contained when I wasn't there. Since you do not have the expen, can you gate him off in a small area like a bathroom/closet or in the kitchen?

I think the reason she warned against him being out of the crate for too long was to avoid over-exertion resulting in hypoglycemia.

What I used to do with Harley as a puppy, is set up his crate and a hallway with a baby gate so that he had play room plus he was confined enough so that he didn't make "mistakes" on the floor. It's possible your breeder wanted you to keep him crated to help with the training process. In which case, it's up to you if you follow that. I indoor trained Harley so what I did was set up an X-pen like situation in the hallway and had his "toilet" in the corner farthest away from him crate and bed. he would play in the middle, sleep in the crate and went to the bathroom on his toilet. you can speed up the process by praising ALOT every time your puppy goes to the bathroom in the right place.

Personally I wouldn't leave the pup without food or water at night, but Harley had a big enough crate that I could do that. (I also let Harley sleep through the night for a full 8 hours, he was a good puppy that way, he just loved his sleep lol), so if you're letting your pup our more frequently then you can go without water and offer it when they go potty.

Goodluck with your new pup

i bought a soft side playpen for morgan when he comes home. he wont be home until mid july so i still have wait. what would be the best puppy food for him? I feed my papillion merrick so I could get him the puppy plate and slowly convert him over. The breeder i think feed science diet puppy.

Most vets give Albon for coccidia 1cc the 1st dose 1/2cc for 9 more days for a total of a 10 day treatment

unless your little one has coccidia i would not be giving him Albon daily they can become imune to it and this is a great medicine..I know a breeder that gives 1 dose before letting her puppies go as a stress precaution only

good luck and congrats on your new baby :)

yea i think i need to get the expen its great n yea she talked about the overexertion i dont want to happen but hes so happy when hes jus in my livin room with his beds and food and water n potty pad there. As for the albon, now im not sure if i should continue giving it to him until wednesday for his trip to the vet. As for the nutrical, do you think 1x a day is good? n like jeane said, what food do you think is the best for my pup?

Hi and Welcome to YT!

I would finish the Albon, just in case and have the vet check his stool, to be sure any infection has cleared.

Puppies less than 12 weeks of age have a tendency to become hypoglycemic, so the Nutrical was a good idea...better safe than sorry. But, now that he is 12 weeks old, as long as he eats regularly (3 times a day, with some treats inbetween meals) he should be fine.

As for crating, again she probably told you this schedule for safety precautions, as some folks get a puppy and let them run wild. Young puppies will get into playing, and will forget to eat, then end up getting hypoglycemic. You are his Mommie now, so you need to set a schedule for him, one that includes times for naps and snacks.

As he is still very young, he needs to be closely supervised when out and about in the home. There are too many hazards a young puppy can get into left on their own. When you can't watch him, he needs to be crated, X-penned, or confined to one puppy-safe room.

And remember too, he came from his home where he was with his Mom and siblings. Loneliness can be an issue with a puppy, and they like to be with you, and spend time with their new Moms. My first Yorkie did not do well alone at night, she whined and barked the entire time. After so many hours of this, I let her in my bed, and we both fell asleep that night, and that continued for the next 16 years. Some folks keep the crate in their bed at night, or near the bed. Decide what you want, but if you allow him in your bed, it will be very hard to change his mind if you change yours in the future.

Help i changed chewys meds nutrical and albon to 1x a day each and he jus did diarhea. Wt am i doing wrong?

I can't tell if you're doing anything wrong, bc we don't know what is causing him to have diarrhea. Could be stress, parasites, intestinal inflammation, or an upset tummy.

If it continues, I would have a vet look at him as puppies can dehydrate quickly from diarrhea. You could give him a 1/4 teaspoon of plain canned pumpkin with his meals may help to stop it, but I would still have the vet look him over.

The upset belly could be the reason the breeder had him on the Albon.

Does the nutrical have anything to do with his tummy?

I've never heard of a dog having an issue with Nutrical, so my guess is no.

Welcome to Yorkie Talk, you have come to the best place for information. Good Luck with your new baby Chewy.

XPen Question
 

If you are concerned about not being able to afford right now an XPen, perhaps you can look in your local greensheet or Craigslist and see if there is a used playpen you can purchase temporarily. They can go for very low $$. You would, of course, properly disinfect it just to be sure there were no buggies. I did this at first (my vet ok'd it); I purchased one for only $15.00. I first used a diluted bleach-water solution, let it set, then rinsed adn let it dry, then alcohol, then a vinegar solution. I probably even killed any germs on my hands > LOL. The one I got was portable and is great to take from room to room when not using the crate and not play time.

It can cause them to get the runs and its not good unless they have low sugar
to keep giving

I would ask the breeder if he was being treated for coccidia

Ok thank u for all the advice im defntly lookim up the playpen and cleaning it too. As for the nutrical how could i know if hes low on sugar. Should i stop giving it to him?