Picky puppies
 

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!!!

Welcome to YT! How old are your pups? My baby weighs a little less than that at 12 weeks and losing weight imo is not an option lol. What food did the breeder have them on? If they are really picky I would stick to what the breeder had them on(if you're trying to change it). You could always sprinkle some cheese or soak the kibble in broth to see if that will help(but this could also lead to eaters who will only eat kibble with the add ins or the puppies will eat the add ins and leave the kibble). Sometimes these puppies are just stubborn! If the add ins dont work you can always take the unused portion back to the store you bought it from and get a refund :). I would love to see pics of your pups!

I feel your pain. I totally went through the same thing with my first Yorkie. In fact, he's STILL finicky at 2. Aside from spending hundreds of dollars experimenting with various types of kibble/canned food, I would suggest trying raw. It's the ONLY thing Yoshi enjoys eating & will eat on a consistent basis. Mine actually prefer a Prey Model Raw diet. But you have to make that at home & it's tricky to get a proper protein/organ/bone ratio for a puppy. You can try giving them a bite of raw chicken or ground beef to see how they'll react. From there, you can try a premade raw like Primal or Stella & Chewy's.

Not everyone is a "raw person". Some say that raw shouldn't be fed to puppies. All of my puppies have thrived on a raw diet. But that's just me. So if you're opposed to raw, you can try a freeze-dried raw. You just crumble the nugget & add a little water. Our favorite is Primal. We also eat Stella & Chewy's occasionally. Most finicky pups will eat freeze-dried raw. Other palatable brands that have worked for us are Vital Essentials Freeze-Dried Nuggets & Orijen Regional Red. ORR is a kibble. It's a large kibble, so I cut it in half with kitchen shears. I do the same with the Vital Essentials.

I'm not sure what types of food stores you have near you. Primal, Stella's, Vital Essentials & Orijen are all available from Chewy.com & they ship super fast. Those brands are typically available at the smaller, independent stores. Nature's Variety makes a frozen raw that is available at Petco.

You can also try home cooking if you have time. But it's really important to get a good supplement like BalanceIt.

I hope that helps a little. I've been there & I know how you feel like your life revolves around getting them to eat. It's so frustrating. Especially when you think you've found something they like, then they turn their nose up at it the next day. You can PM me if you want some other suggestions. I have a lot ;) GOOD LUCK!!

One more thing...if they REALLY won't eat ANYTHING, you might want to check in with your vet just to make sure they're okay physically. Good luck!

Thank you for all the tips!! It's reassuring to know it's not just me!! I am about to try a raw diet. I have an appt with a nutritionist that will help figure out what works for them and get a meal plan going. I had no idea this was going to be such a hard process!! It's worth it, we adore them. The vet says they're healthy if a little lean and to just keep trying. I did find out that while I thought they would be more toy size, they are actually teacup. Way smaller than I wanted but it's too late now...we love them!!

I think it's great you're seeing a nutritionist. And you're right...it is totally worth it. You can always PM me if you need anything. And no, it's not just YOU. A lot of people have picky Yorkies. There's a lot of support for our kind here on YT. ;) Good luck with your little angels.

Thank you so much!! I just have to keep them alive until Tues when I get help! But I am sure I will be in contact...Thelma and Louise are sure to be a handful!! It's a good thing they are cute and love us as big as a Mastiff!!

Eating
 

My little girl can not get enough food! Check out the Nutri Science website. This is what we feed Sophie. Especially read the reviews form others re their dog eating issues.
Most places will give samples to try. Good luck.

My two eat raw. They have been on it since Zoey was about 4 mos of age and she is 3 1/2 now. They eat it up in about 30 secs. At night I feed them raw veggies. You can buy the "try me" size bag. Many vets do not like raw but that is too bad as far as I am concerned. You must be very careful when handling raw food - was you hands and everything the food touches with soap and water. You shouldn't have any problems.

Btw here are the picky babies. Thelma and Louise!!!

How old are your babies, I got my boys early at 8 weeks and they did not have all their teeth so I made a mash with boiled chicken and feed every couple hours. My vet said as long as they ate about tbs every couple hours they should be okay. Around 9 weeks my boys was eating solid kibble with a bit a boiled chicken on top. Now at 5 months he eats just kibble.

Their papers say I got them at close to 12 wks. They had all of their teeth at their wellness check. But I've wondered since they seemed to still want to suck. I did a lot of research before I bought them and the breeder is reputable so I guess I just have really picky or immature puppies...

Though there's a little age difference here, I'm having the same problems with my (Chihuahua-Rescue) Navi. Her previous owners must have never fed her any dry, and that's all my other guys eat (besides treats). She seems to be totally "table scrap" orientated.

So, I'm feeding her "some" scraps, but only just enough to sustain her. It's been about two weeks now that she's been here, and I have seen her nibble at the (available 24/7) three types of Dry Dog Food I have out. It may be that She has eaten more than I think, given that She has access to the Dry Food, much of the time when I'm not looking. :rolleyes:

Slowly but surely She'll come around, yours probably will to :thumbup:

I really hope to get to a take it or leave it place. Right now they'd rather just leave it and starve. Both had separate hypoglycemic episodes in our first week together. So now I will do whatever it takes to get them to a safe weight. I pray I don't create habits that are hard to break but right now we're in survival mode. Since starting this post Louise decided she liked a little brown rice but Thelma is unimpressed. Tomorrow it will switch or not be likeable at all. Sooner or later we will master this though!!

But they don't even like table scraps...I would feed them anything but when they do actually eat it always a protein or now a little rice. It's almost comical...sometimes they like baked chicken but never boiled...they may eat scrambled eggs but don't touch hard boiled...ground sirloin worked exactly one time...DIVAS!!!

Thelma & Louise! Love it! They're adorable. And yeah, mine even got bored with homecooking. I'd get so annoyed when he'd sniff the food & then just walk away...what a snob! He had no idea all of the effort I put into that meal! And to just sniff & walk away like that would drive me crazy!! He'll eat ricotta, but not cottage cheese. Have you tried that yet? They say you're not supposed to offer too much variety or they'll get picky & hold out for the good stuff. But I completely understand how you don't want them to starve & go through another hypoglycemic episode. Personally, I don't believe in the tough love method for dogs under 3-4 pounds. Keep us posted. I'm interested to see how your little divas react to raw.