Picky puppies

[HollyC]

They both love cottage cheese!! I tried that first and will do ricotta tomorrow. Thank you!!!! I mean scarfed it down, they haven't done that with anything so far! Happy happy!!!

[jathompson]

Originally Posted by HollyC

I have two new yorkie puppies. We are in love with our new babies but I am going crazy trying to get them to eat ANYTHING. They will not eat any dog food wet or dry. I have prepared every variation of protein I can think of. Sometimes they'll go for it, mostly not. Things they like once they won't eat again. The only thing keeping them alive is me syringe feeding them chicken baby food with maple syrup. They love that. We lost an ounce during week one but gained 2 in the next week and half. At 1.6 each we need more calories!! I have never been more stressed or worried in my life. HELP!!!

I understand 100% how you are feeling right now. I am at a breaking point. I don't know what to do anymore???? It's like I don't mind buying all this food for my baby to try, but then again I scare myself knowing that he could possibly get an upset stomach... Then again I want him to eat. What to do, what to do?? When I first got my king, I as well experienced a hypoglycemic episode, it was horrible. After that people here recommended I try so many things (it was very helpful, but some things stopped working). When i got him he was 8 weeks so he wasnt really chewing the hard kibble, so I would smash it up. I started by cutting small pieces of apple into his food and that worked for a bit, but then he just stop having it. Then I tried adding the small pieces of apple into the smashed up food but making sure it wet and soaked. That worked for a little then he stopped having it again. Next I took out the apples and left only the smashed soaked kibble...and this is where I started hand feedig as others recommended, that totally worked, he actually started eating good portions. But again, after some time he refused it. I've been trying different foods in between, although I know I shouldn't, but I really feel like of I don't try different things and if I were to just leave the same food out... He would probably not touch it AT ALL. My king has his times where he eats good and other times where he doesn't, but for the most part he doesn't have good meals. I would recommend you hand feed by either taking pinches with your fingers and feeding it too them or placing some on your hand and letting him eat out of your hand. My king (at times) loves for me to hand feed by taking pinches of food. Just becareful because now my king doesn't even look at his food, even if he's hungry, unless I hand feed like this. This has become a problem too BCareful. Hmm.. This might sound weird but sometimes Ill eat and make sure the smell of my delicious food stays on my fingers... Then when i hand feed him He picks up the smell and eats his food ok. Or I will rub my fingers agains a sweet treat and let him pick up that smell ..that works ok to.

I was at petsmart yesterday and bought a "Pet Botanics-Chicken Recepie meat roll" and its a puppy formula too, I added it to his wet food last night and he ate his food VERY WELL. Unfortunatey I've been trying to do the same thing today and that hasn't worked I'm sooo lost. Ill probably try some raw next??? Hope something works for you!

[HollyC]

Ugh yours sounds just like mine! They wouldn't touch cottage cheese this morning even though they couldn't get enough last night. I really hope the raw diet works. I'm not sure what I'll do if it doesn't. I'm a little nervous about the whole program because the nutritionist is definitely anti medical establishment. Everything from foods to vaccines to antibiotics is toxic. A lot of what they say makes sense but a lot is hard to wrap my brain around. At this point I'll try anything. I figure if I can just get these pups to eat, I can decide just how holistic I want to go later. Right now it's really all about getting calories in them!! I'll keep you posted!!!

[LolaKaty]

My baby weighed that at that age also and now she is seven months and hitting 3 pounds and who knows maybe she will reach 4. She also had hypoglycemic issues when young and I needed to feed her 4-5 times a day. Go to Pet Supplies Plus and buy Primal freeze dried (mine love the lamb) and mix with little pieces of chicken and a dash of cheese or try Natures Variety Little Bites in the frozen department. She was picky but now loves to eat! PM me if you need any more info as I live in the Hollywood area.
P.S.-Try some cheerios for treats as they have sugar and love the taste

[HollyC]

Thank you so much!! I can't tell you how much better it feels to know I'm not alone. I may have worst case scenario puppies but at least I know it's not because I'm a bad Mommy! This forum has been a godsend. I was really close to taking them back to the breeder for her to take care of them until they got bigger. That would have broken all of our hearts and I'm sure really confused the babies. Thank you again!

[LolaKaty]

Also please look into pet insurance for your babies as the vets in our area all have specialists and they cost a fortune so before yours get sick and have a pre-existing condition you should get it as soon as possible.

[HollyC]

I'll look in to it. I've never had insurance with any of my prior dogs but I've never had yorkies. So far they are checking out it perfect health besides eating issues but it's probably the smart thing to do.

[LolaKaty]

I never had insurance either but today the technology is so advanced and with all the specialists available I thought it was the smart thing to do. Especially after reading on yorkietalk about all the problems that can occur with our babies I researched and chose Petplan (there are many to choose from though). Hope I never have to use it!!!!

[Rhetts_mama]

Holly,

How old are your babies? If they like the texture of cottage cheese, you might want to try a wet food like Wellness puppy (it's extremely soft) or I've read there is a mousse textured food by Royale Canin.

When Scarlett was super tiny, I had to hand feed her everything (including the wet food). Yuck. Thankfully, she outgrew that and now weighs in at a whopping 15 pounds (she's not a teapot, she's the whole darn tea service

Good luck.

[theporkieyorkie]

Thelma and Louise~~Love the names!!

[gracielove]

You describe Gracie during her first year. She would not touch dog food of any kind. She would eat food I prepared for her as long it was fresh prepared...no left overs!

It seemed as though I had to "prime" her to get her eating. I would hand feed her to get her started and then she would eat on her own. I started studying pet foods and I have to say I can't blame her for not wanting to eat a lot of the common foods out there. I finally got her on a really good brand of commercial raw food that she loves. She has done very well on it. I wish I had known about it during her first 10 months.

It is very difficult dealing with the problem when they are small because you want to prevent hypoglycemia. Hope you find something that will work for your pups.