question...
 

Hi Everyone,

This is my first question in YT. I thought that I would ask the "experts" ;)

I started feeding my yorkie (almost 4 months old), Kody, treats for the first time this past weekend - very small amounts (1 - 2 Eukanuba puppy biscuits broken into very small pieces). I had tried Cheerios in the past but he had no interest.

Since we have started feeding them to him, his bathroom (pooping) schedule has been very off. I was thinking at first that it is because we had traveled over Thanksgiving and he was readjusting to being home so I didn't take him off of the treats until today. Besides, I was so relieved to have him eat a treat and do things like sit and brush him - it was very exciting to see his progress using treats since nothing had worked to date.

The biggest problem is that for the last two nights he has gone to the bathroom in his crate and not woken me up to take him out - he just sleeps on top of it! I am guessing because he can't hold it (upset tummy). He has also been constipated during the day and has tried to go and couldn't many times (which isn't normal).

For normal food, I feed him Eukanuba Puppy Lamb and Rice... so the only change was the addition of treats.

Is there anything else I can help him to do to get back on schedule other that let time run it's course?

Thanks in advance for your advice!

Does the poor little guy have diarhhea or is he just going poop at odd times? I think you did a good thing taking him off the treats, he may have a sensitive belly to those and need something not so rich. Also with him being so young, the traveling may have messed up his potty schedule a little!

Welcome to you and Kody, I am positive you will get a ton of responses to your question ;) with a ton of advice!

one more thing...
 

He has not had diarrhea at all - just constipation and not being normal... He was going three times a day - 9 am, 4 pm and 11 pm like clockwork - it was nice.

One other thing - he has just started sleeping through the night as of about 2 weeks ago (YAY) and definitely was alerting me previously when he had to go out to pee... but now with the other, he just isn't "notifying" me...

I am a 1st time dog owner - so I am definitely learning!

I would think it would have to be the treats....I would try another brand!! Magic has a sensitive tummy and it took us a while until we were able to find treats that she did well on...we only feed lamb and rice treats now!!

I'm sure it was the treats. Loki has a super sensitive tummy and we use Charlee Bears (The cheese ones) They are small to begin with and only have a few ingredients.

Also, I know he has been regular until now, but you might want to consider changing his food - slowly. In my opinion (not meaning to offend) but Eukanuba isn't the greatest food. Lamb is the first ingredient yes, but it's followed by a bunch of junk. The "rice" is not even rice but a rice by-product left over from making the good part of the rice into something else. Corn is a top ingredient which is just filler and makes your dog poop more often. It bothers me that Eukanuba is advertised as one of the best brands out there when really it's like saying Cheetos are health food because of the "cheese".

Here's some awesome brands:
Canidae
Chicken Soup
Innova
California Natural
Natural Balance (ONLY the Ultra Premium)
Wellness

That's not even close to a complete list of the great foods out there, but those are fairly easy to find. We recently settled on Canidae (Loki is picky and allergic) and he did well on Natural Balance before that.

I'm suggesting all of this because his poop on the good food is tiny. There's just not as much junk to poop out (plus, they eat less of the good food.) He poops about twice a day now, but they are small and practically disintegrate before I get out there to pick it up every 2-3 days.

Welcome to YT. I agreed I think his tummy is sensitive to the treats. Personally I don't like eukanooba, Gucci never like it. You can try a different food or at least a different treat. The list of foods Erin posted are very good. I feed Gucci Canidae, and so far she is eating it and she is very picky. Good luck.

Is the Canidae okay for puppies? I might try to order a small bag and see how he likes it...

According to their site is for al llife stages. Look here. How old is your yorkie?

Although we boycott Eukanuba, I wouldn't change diets with a potty problem going on. I remember people saying canned pumpkin will treat diarrhea and constipation. It is very available right now! We use Science Diet Nature's Best Puppy. They just love it!

I agree. Wait until he improves before you change. When I switched Loki to Canidae I did it over 2 weeks. He is very sensitive. I'm quite happy with it!

Let us know how he is doing. I hope he feels better.