Yorkie Food
 

So I am new to Yorkies. I am picking up my little guy on the 26th. I have bought almost everything except his food. I was reading thru the dry dog food on pet smarts web site and there is one called Pro Plan Puppy Toy Breed Formula Dog Food. Has anyone ever used this? Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated. Thank you

I have our puppy on Blue Basics Grain Free Puppy Food. She is doing great on it. She started out on Royal Caine and I gradually switched her to a grain free because she was having some skin issues. Your breeder should give you some food that she has started him or just ask what he has been eating. Good luck and congratulation on your new little one! :)

You need to buy the same food that the breeder is feeding your puppy and leave him on that for a few months so if he gets sick you know its not from switching his food plus everything will be new to him let him have one thing that is the same. When you change food please do not buy a purina food because they are the makers of the waggin train chicken jerky that is killing and making lots of dogs sick and they refuse to pull it and fix the problems. They are a very untrustworthy company who honestly cares nothing about peoples pets.

Don't do that pro plan stuff. I would feed a high quality dog food that is suitable for the age of your dog. I give my boys blue buffalo. This company has the various kinds for the dogs. Mine are senior adult. They eat it with no problem. Be sure to read the bag and see the ingredients. Healthy dogs eat high quality dog food. Stay away from preservatives, red dyes and by-products (the butts and guts of animals) Check the web for dog food comparisons. Do some research before you feed them.

I would avoid Pro Plan. There is so much out there that is better... Do some research on here, everyone has their own opinion about food. I wish I could home cook, but we travel too much. We currently feed Acana and my two love it.

Although I am new too and do not have my puppy yet, I wanted to chime in. My breeder use to feed her puppies blue buffalo then she decided (with the litter I've picked from) cuz of the advise from her Vet to change over to Purina Pro plan. I was pissed at her because of all the opinions I've seen on here about not using pro plan. However, my little Piper is doing well on it, her stool and coat looks good. There seems to be no digestive issues so far. I checked with the Vet nutritionist at the Vet I plan on using and she says the new pro plan is just as good as the higher end foods. She told me to keep Piper on it for now and if I choose to change it later then I can. She told me the decision to change should be due to it given Piper issues and not based on others experiences or that one subsidiary of a company has poor results. This may be a poor comparison but I don't like stove top but I love jello pudding (both are produce by the same company). I know someone may respond and say that those products are not killing people. Well neither is the pro plan brand. But as someone posted earlier use the brand the breeder is using and change it later if the need arises. Good luck and post pics soon!!!

The Breeder I got my puppy from also feeds Purina Pro Plan Toy Breed Formula so that is what my Chloe is on now.....As I bring her in to my Vet for her check-ups the Vet says she is doing GREAT.....weight, coat, skin,eyes everthing is great. I asked my Vet what she thought about the food Chloe is on and what she said was " I wouldn't change her yet because is doing so well on this food" Now I must add my Vet doesn't promote this brand of Dog food in her office and doesn't know the breeder I got her from. Now would The Purina Pro Plan toy breed food been my first choice.....ABSOLUTELY NOT.....Yes there are alot better brands out there......but for now this brand works for my Chloe. I personally would feed whatever your breeder is feeding and change only if you had to. Best of luck on your new baby.

Pro Plan
 

Well when I got Trixie I tried buying the good stuff...the problem was she wanted her larger sisters food so now she is eating the Purina Pro Plan. I kept trying to mix the two ...thinking a little good with the Purina but she only wants the Purina Pro Plan. I do also give her the canned Merrick which is at least grain free and maybe a little better for her.

She also still loves sneaking the big food from her big sis!

Please look into the company you are supporting when you buy purina! It's not good! Look up waggin train chicken jerky they are the owners of that and they don't care so imagine what is happening with there dog food and that they don't care about that either! Please do not support and keep these monsters in business.

Some like variety !
 

I agree, check with your Breeder, and continue that type for about a month or so. :thumbup:

In my case, I transitioned to the Wellness S5 Small Bites for about a year. I then decided that I'd let them try a less expensive brand, and put out Beneful Original Formula, which they ate vigorously, BUT would NOT give up their Wellness. They just stood by the Wellness bowl which it was in, and waited for me to put more in it for them. What I "tried" to do was, have a full bowl of Beneful, and just reduce the amount of Wellness a little at a time.

DIDN'T WORK with my guys ! :eek:

So, I gave/give them both, and they eat Beneful in the mornings, and Wellness in the evening. I leave both available 24/7, and they are regular as clocks, with occasional snacks n treats between those two periods. I am by the way, referring to my adult Dogs.

Now, here comes Ichabod (my new puppy).
Got his brand from the Breeder, but he refused to eat it, and joined the adults in eating which ever type they were eating at the time. I know the puppy formula is supposed to be better for him, BUT, he's already just under 5 pounds, and vigorous as any puppy I've ever raised. He's already going on longer hunts along the Bayou, hasn't caught anything (frogs/snakes) yet, but he's holding his own on endurance, and stays shoulder to shoulder with My Male Sneakers (his Alpha Male teacher), except for a hard chase for some prey.

NOW, bless friends with the Holiday Spirit. :(
A friend of mine, who wanted to give my guys a Christmas Gift, brought a WHOLE case of Purina-Moist and Meaty "Burger" for them.
I was polite, thanked him for his thoughtfulness, and reluctantly put one of the packs out for my guys. It may have taken them no longer than 15 seconds, to consume it, and just love it, eating it between their regular meals. LOL :eek:

So, now I have three types out for them.
I know that many here don't vary on the type/brand of food they feed, but, my guys are as strong as Ox's, healthy, very energetic and how can one argue with that.

Ref:
Moist & Meaty® Chopped Burger - 36 6-oz. Pouches - Moist & Meaty® - Brands | Nestlé Purina Store

How you can support purina is beyond me. Also have you looked at the ingredients of most and meaty its got some very bad things that have cause numerous problems in dogs and we are not just talking corn or something we are talking Ethoxyquin and menadione.

My heavens !!
I had no idea that it had such a bad rep..

I'll rethink this !

Thanks :thumbup:

I can't really tell you much about Pro plan. But I can say I did a lot of research before choosing Innova New Puppy Formula for my baby and I have to say she is doing very well on it. Even changing her over I never got even a loose stool. Here coat looks so shiny and healthy also and the tear stain issues she had when I first got her went away when I switched her. Pets Smart and Pet Co both carry it. Hope that helped in someway. :)

Well, my late yorkie Hugo would get bouts of pancreatitis.. so I had to find him a good dog food that would not give him a flare up. I found a dry dogfood from Flint River Ranch... They make their own dogfood..its baked and is grain free. They all love it! My Hugo never had another flare up of pancreatatis after he started eating this. They do make treats and a puppy formula. I have been slowly switching my new puppy over to this dogfood. Their dogfood also has a probiotic in it as well. :animal36

:thumbup:
I so agree with you! It's just like the people that say they are against puppy mills but shop at stores that sell puppies!

Your money is your power, people!

Where do you buy the Blue Basics Grain Free Puppy Food? What exactly is the name on the bag? I want to change Amy over to it or another grain free food. She is almost 5 months old. She is eating Iams puppy food but not sure if it is the best for her.

Just as a followup on Lovetodream88's comment:

Ethoxyquin:
Ethoxyquin... Dangerous Dog Food Preservative
&
Menadione:
The Controversy Over Menadione in Dog Food

Ethoxyquin: I thought fish meal was good for omega 3 and 6 fatty acids DHA. I always look for the omega 3 and 6 in pet foods... My Sheltie eats Berkley&Jensen Lamb and Potato Holistic Food and she is beautiful. Her food was fish meal in the ingredients but it doesn't have menadione (vitamin K) this food says for all life stages and I was going to put Chloe my yorkie on this food when she was older. I only have Chloe on Pro Plan Toy Breed Puppy Food because thats what her Breeder fed her and my vet said she was doing great on it. I was also thinking because she is so little she needed all the extra vitiams from a puppy food. I'm so confused! And you know whats kind of funny to make me more confused is that today in the mail I received a booklet The New Puppy Handbook from AKC and they promote Purnia Pro Plan, Eukanuba and Iams in this booklet. They also say reconsider that homemade diet they are likely to be less nutritionally sound than premium commercial food. Feed these diets only in consultation with a veterinarian. How old does a yorkie have to be before they can go on an all stage food or adult food? I thought maybe 9 months because they are a small breed.

I get mine at PetSmart. It is a lilac colored bag and says Bacics sensitive solutions formula; turkey & potato recipe; puppy. This also comes in the next step up for adult dogs.

The AKC also puts out treats made in china............

i'm feeding minnie and our boxer Roscoe Instinct Raw Boost Grain-Free Kibble its by Nature's Variety. They both seem to love it and have hard stools. They are doing really good on it. i buy it at petco. They have been on that for about 6 months or so.

there is better food out there, solid gold, merrick, acana, wellness, keep her on her regular food until she is more adjusted and then change over a weeks time, they can have sensitive stomachs

Hi sami is 7 months and i used to feed him james wellbeloved until it started to make him sick now i feed royal canin yorkshire terrier puppy food, he loves it and he seems so much better on it :)

It's not necessarily fish itself that is the problem. Just watch out for fish preserved with Ethoxyquin. There are plenty of fish based foods out there NOT preserved with it... Best thing to do is e-mail and ask the company. But some try to get around it with funny wording so just be careful.

Most Purina is junk... Beneful probably being one of the worst. Their prescription foods are okay when needed, but in general, I don't support a company like Purina. They have a few decent formulas, but it's their ethics that bother me more. Same thing with Iams and their animal cruelty.

But the bottom line is, food is a really hot topic, with LOTS of opinions. There's really very few trustworthy companies out there, and I think it's a matter of finding what YOU are comfortable with and what your dog does well on.

Fromm is one my fav companies by far. I am currently feeding a food made by Petcurean called Go! (it's their grain-free senior food... even though he's not a senior, I like the protein/fat ratios better on it).

Thanks Deb 1. Going to see if the Petsmart has it here.

You have to take control of your dogs health. You call the shots as far as what to feed, shots to give. I read the labels and if there is any preservatives or questionable stuff in there I do not feed it. I was concerned about menadione because I used to feed Natures Receipe. I looked this stuff up and menadione is questionable. So my Yorkies are on Blue Buffalo. Do not feed that cheap stuff that cause health problems. Research and do what is the best for your dog. You take control. I refused the med the vet wanted to put my dogs on for fleas and went with revolution. I researched and made my decision. Triflexis has not been good for some dogs. Do not take a chance because some uninformed person recommends something, do research and have a happy healthy dog.

Yorkies are picky eaters, I'd e mail the companies suggested here and ask if you could get a sample from them to try. Mine is on a mix of Chicken Soup for the Puppy Lovers Soul and some Merrik wet food on top (puppy plate and working dog stew are her favorites). For snacks she gets Holistic Health Extension Little Bites, and
Your puppy will decide what it likes best, puppies are all different :). That's why I suggested the samples, so you don't spend a ton on a big bag of food and find out it really doesn't like it. Offer the best food you can so it grows up happy and healthy!

Thanks Lovetodream88, Britster and everyone for all your help and information it really does help. I know we all agree that we want the best for our fur babies. I read up and looked for yorkies for many months before deciding to get one. But I'm so happy I found YT I'm learning new things everyday from everyone.

:thumbup: very true

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