New Yorkie mom - meet Benjamin Button
 

Just found my way here - I recently welcomed a darling 3 lb Yorkie into my heart and home, he was on the euth list at a local shelter because he has no teeth - when I heard of him I immediately got my rescue friend to pull him and told her I'd keep him. He has been here since Monday and the best little dog! Very sweet boy, perfect gentleman. This is my first Yorkie. I've done rescue for years, and have been around many Yorks, but none have so completely stollen my heart as little Benji. He has really earned a big spot in my heart for such a little dog!

A few questions, is it normal for the back of their ears to be bald? I've never noticed this before, but I can't say I've really paid that close of attention.

What is the best food for a dog this size (Benji is barely 3 lbs). My IG eats Canine Caviar, Acana, or Orijen, but Benji seems to have a hard time with the size of the kibble. I don't want to do canned food only - is there a good high quality kibble that's good for tiny mouths?

Last but not least - were can I find collars/harnesses small enough? Benji is so tiny I can't find things that fit him - even the tag I had made looks HUGE on him!

Welcome to yorkietalk, I am pretty new myself. This is a wonderful forum, ladies here are so helpful.
That is so wonderful you gave the little guy a chance, he is so lucky!

I have no idea about the ears since this is our 1st yorkie and our 1st dog too;) I feed Sheldon Now grain free small breed formula, it is on the pricier side but the kibble is tiny and soooo cute, very easy for them to chew. A 6 lbs bag costs $23.99

Good luck with your sweet guy!

Welcome and congratulations. How wonderful you rescued the little guy. My Nikki is a senior rescue and he had all his teeth pulled. He is on KD canned for his kidney disease but also eats the same kibble my other 3 eat. I use California Natural and Natural Balance and he can eat both. As far as harnesses and collars there are a lot of people on here that custom make yorkie stuff. Check in the yorkie products for sale. As far as the lack of hair on his ears I'm not sure what that could be but others on here might have some ideas. We love pictures on here!

Welcome to Yorkie Talk. You are wonderful for giving little Benjamin Button a loving home. :) Congratulations on the new addition to your life.

Some people with really tiny Yorkies use ferret harnesses.

Hairless ear flaps can be genetic, although not typical. It can also be a sign of malnutrition or a condition called "leather ear." Is the skin on the ear flap dark or blackish? That would be another sign of leather ear.

Can't help you with kibble. Some people use a cat harnesses or ferret harnesses on puppies but I'm not sure if they would work for a 3lb guy. Puppia makes a XS step in vest harness that is quite small that might work.
Amazon.com: Puppia Soft Dog Harness - (Soft Vest... Does he itch his ears? Sometimes scratching at the ears can cause hair loss. It certainly is not normal for a Yorkie to have hair loss on the ears.
He sounds like a little darling. I'm so glad you saved the little guy.

Welcome to YT. :) I would take him to a vet for an exam (including blood work) and see what they think about his ears. If it is fungal, a simple application 3 times/week of 50/50 water/vinegar will help.

Definitely take a look at the collars and harnesses for ferrets.

Thank you everyone for the great advice and warm welcome! I've wanted a Yorkie for years - but I'm a big believed in rescueing when you have no intention to show your dog - and I only wanted a pampered pet - so this sweet baby boy is a dream come true for me!

I'm one step ahead of you on the vet - he went the day after I got him for a exam and complete bloodwork, thyroid panel, UA, and fecal. Everything came back perfectly normal. Vet didn't think anything about the hair loss on the ears, said it was "a Yorkie thing". The tips and bases have hair, but not the rest of the pinnae.

I'll try to post pictures soon - he's way cute with his tongue that flops out the side without teeth to keep it in LOL. My vet and I are guessing him to be around 6-7 years, maybe younger - it's hard to say, no clouding of his eyes, but the missing teeth make us think he's probably a bit older - but we could be wrong!

Back to the ears - it could be "leather ear" as someone refered to it as. The skin on hear is very pigmented and seems thicker then normal for me.

I did look at ferret stuff - he's a little to big for those, but to small for cat stuff to fit. Ferret collars worked - but they're all breakaway that I found - so still can't find a solution for a good option for attatching a leash to! I'll check out the products page here!

I've looked at now! grain free but couldn't find a supplier of it locally. I also really like Merreck but again the kibble is to big for Benji.

Way to go! Looks like Benji adopted a great person. I'm so happy to read your thread. You've done such a great thing.

When we adopted Bailey, we ran up to the Petsmart. They carry harnesses, food, clothes and sometimes they have nice sales. Of course there should be some local Small business places as well.

Look forward to the photos.

Welcome to YT.

Welcome to YT!

We feed Merrick and EVO kibble and the EVO is pretty small. Have you tried it yet? Congratulations on rescuing your pup. Sounds like you make a perfect match!

I'm no help on the halters. I've always been lucky and find them small enough at Pet's Mart or my local pet store.

I checked out Petsmart and Petco but found nothing that fit well - and wasn't impressed with their selection of food and products - what can I say, I'm picky LOL. Especially with food - I don't generally feed things with alot of grain, by-products, preservatives, etc. I'm not worried about cost - I find spending more $$$ for a high quality food usually means less $$$ at the vets, as the dogs just stay healthier - of course that's not always true, but I'm a big believer in feeding the best food you can!

Benjamin Button is a Velcro York - I love it, he's seldom more then a foot away, right now he's curled up on my chest napping. A bit over a month ago I lost a very special old rescue dog to heart disease and epilepsy - and this little boy is really helping me to finally move on! Such a sweet boy - I think I may look into training him as a therapy dog and taking him into hospitals or nursing homes - he is so gentle and mild and just seems to have a gift for knowing when someone needs some extra Yorkie love - myself included!

Unfortunately, it's one I refuse to feed. Use to love Evo, I fed their cat food to my now 19 year old Ragdoll for a long time, but now that Procter and Gambles owns them, I refuse to buy it - I won't support that company in any way, shape, form if I have any other options at all!

Ah, I had forgotten they were bought out.

Sadly, I think the EVO & Eukanuba have some smaller kibbles that I've seen.

Have you considering home cooking for him? Many YT members cook for their pups. That may be an option.

I've considered home cooking - I've also done raw for my dogs in the past and considered a pre-made raw, but I do alot of rescue transport and travel a bit, and of course my dogs go with me - so while I may go that way for daily feeding, I still want to find a good kibble to fall back on when I travel, I just find raw and home cooked is to hard to keep from spoiling when I travel!

When Gracie was a puppy she refused to eat kibble. I tried so many brands. There was one that I really wanted her to eat but it was kind of big for her so I used an old pair of big dog nail clippers to break the kibble in pieces. It was the kind of clipper that is more like scissors. I guess I can get kind of obsessive with things that concern this dog but I was desperate to get her to eat! Anyway, it's an option. A little dog doesn't have to eat very much when it is a quality dog food.

Hi and welcome to YT. Benjamin Button sounds like he's found his furever home. :) Thank you for rescuing him.

As for food, I personally feed Stella and Chewys freeze dried foods. They come in patties and you break them up. It's a grain free food. I like it because it travels well as well as you have the option to add water to rehydrate or not. Mine prefer it just broken up without any water added. There are several different flavors. Currently, I only carry 4 of the different flavors, Beef, Lamb, Surf and Turf and Chicken.

As for harnesses, yes, there are many vendors on YT including myself. My site is below in my signature.

I've tried Stella and Chewies dehydrated before and am not a huge fan, my dogs have never done well on it for long, and tend to get diarrhea easily with it. Maybe that's just my experience. It's also got alot of ingredients I don't care for.

And I agree about the food - I really don't care how much I have to spend - At 3 lbs, no matter what I feed him it's not going to be to hard to afford LOL A good quality food he's not going to need to eat much of to meet his needs!!!!

He has surely found his furever home, he's not going anywhere! I've rescued and placed over 200 dogs in the last 10 years, very few have stayed, but this boy is a keeper!

Hi there heart warming to read your story. Lucky you and lucky B B. I have 2 yorkie pups and feed Royal Canin Yorkshire terrier junior. They do the adult one too. The kibble is very small and mine love it. I bought cat harnesses for the girls as the xs puppia was and still is too big. I can't believe a tiny yorkie ended up in a shelter.

Sadly, Yorkies are not uncommon in the shelters around here :( Although he's one of the smallest I've seen. The sad thing with Benji Buttons, is that someone has obviously loved this little Yorkie. He came into the shelter as a stray. He was on the euth list and not available for adoption to the general public because he had no teeth - And they thought that made him unadoptable :( Very sad - I couldn't have possibly hoped for a better dog, he's perfect in every way (well, we're still working on him not lifting his leg inside - But we'll get there! He hasn't even been here a week yet!). He was a bit messy, but not really matted, and someone obviously spent quite a bit of money to have his teeth removed. He's in good weight and condition over all. I can't imagine how this sweet baby ended up as a stray - But I must say I have to feel as if it was ment to be for my sake - But my heart breaks to think that somewhere someone is probably missing this little angel, and can't imagine why they never went to the shelter looking for him - I know if god forbid I ever lost my Benji I'd be frantic checking every shelter and posting notices and ads EVERYWHERE to find him again - I've also had him microchipped so that should help, but I pray I never have to worry about that - He doesn't ever leave my side anyway, but crap can happen to even the best dog owners! I even went as far as checking paper and Craigslist archives for the last couple of months, but it doesn't seem as though anybody there was missing a dog with his description. But for my sake - I'm glad, he has been just what my heart needed to help me recover over the very sad death of my sweet angel Portia who was claimed far to young - Years of neglect before coming to me left her heart and epilepsy so hard to control that despite 5 daily epilepsy drugs and 4 heart meds, and valium as needed we still struggled to keep control, until finally that last bad cluster was to much for both of us, and she let me know she was ready to go. She was with me just under a year - But I take comfort in knowing my dear Portia died knowing she was loved.

Is he able to eat kibble since he has no teeth? I am feeding Gracie a frozen grain free raw. She has done really well on it and as you said it does not cost a lot to feed a small dog. Once it is defrosted the frozen raw is very soft. There are several different brands of raw out there.

I've had many toothless pets still able to eat kibble. They do better then you'd think!

Problem with raw I already mentioned. May do that for his regular meals, but I'm a rescuer, and also travel for work and show one of my IGs. So at times I travel quite a bit and the dogs come with me. Often I just don't have a good way to keep things cold - so I need to find a good option for him that doesn't need to be refrigerated when I travel.

Hi, welcome to YT and I am so glad you rescued that little darling. Imagine how alone he was in that jail he was in - a tiny Yorkie. They react so personally to everything and I'll bet it was awful for him. Thank goodness you found out and this little one is now being loved, cared for and pampered by a loving mom. Oh, it hurts my heart to think of him having to eat hard food on just little gum tissue! How sad! I wonder what it feels like when that kibble hits tender or thin spots even on the toughest little gums? And dogs being dogs they just go on and don't even cry out. The little things just make do no matter what. Maybe you could soak his kibble to make it a little easier on him. I have not heard of bald ears on the back myself so maybe a second opinion could diagnose that condition for treatment . I'm so grateful you found out about him and saved his life. I have had 2 Yorkies that size and they are very special if care-intensive and you always have to be so careful of them jumping off couches and beds and such they worry you a lot. But they more than make up for their extra needs in total sweetness and love. BB is a very, very blessed boy to have a loving and caring home and you are very blessed to have him. Looking forward to hearing more stories about him. Here is a big hug from Tibbe and me.:hug:

Hello and welcome, so thankful that you have found each other, sounds like a perfect match..

He really is special! I'm use to Italian Greyhounds - so my floors are super cushioned and my furniture really low with stairs going up to most of it - but I do still worry and make sure I'm super careful! Don't want any of my babies getting hurt!

I didn't think of soaking it, that may be an option! I'll try it and see how he does! If not, maybe I'll just start looking at high quality canned foods - problem again is going to be traveling because I know even a small can he's not going to eat the whole can at a time!

For those who want Pics - check ou my thread in pictures. http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/my-...in-button.html

Tibbe loves his kibble soaked from time to time and I would do it daily if he had no teeth just in case he had thin spots over a gum bony prominence, etc., where it could abrade easily and I not know it. Because it could hurt them and you would likely never know as they will do anything and go through pain to eat. I had a dog abscess a tooth and never showed me anything by how he acted until the swelling began to distort his little face! You live & learn with dogs! I learned that usually they are stoics about much of their discomfort unless it is very sudden, sharp or unexpected. That same little dog with the terrible abscess who never cried out or pawed his face & ate normally would yelp if you pulled his fur a bit when brushing him. And yet when the vet saw that tooth, he winced himself, gave him pain medication right away & some to bring home with antibiotics until his surgery to remove it. He told me then that dogs often never show dental-related pain symptoms! I slunk home & learned all about brushing teeth & regular check-ups & cleanings.

Welcome and congratulations!! I'm glad that you and Benjamin found each other. I had a beagle named Benjamin (Benji). As far as the hair loss on the ear, if it is leather ear, try Lotrimin cream (people medicine-can get it at any supermarket or pharmacy). That's what I used when my yorkie Sammy had it. Good luck to you and Benjamin. Enjoy your precious pup!

Thanks everyone for the great tips! I've started looking at some home-made diet recipes and think I'll start that way, and go from there - I'll see if he likes Ziwi Peak, that may be a good option for when we travel - he's silly, he found a bully stick and is gumming it to death LOL

Aw you are so sweet to take in this little fellow. so glad he has a buddy to play with. Love the photos!

Congratulations on your new addition :)

Dick Van Patten Natural Balance has lots of formulas of dry food. I feed mine the Ultra Premium that is very small bites and then I mix it with Fromm's Chicken a la Veg, which has almost as small of kibble.

You can use this link to check out the different NB formulas as well as almost any other brand. They have a list of ingredients at the bottom of the page on each item that you click on.

http://www.petfooddirect.com/Brand/N...-Balance/page1