New to board and need help with obese yorkie!
 

Hi all,
My name is Tanya. I have two yorkies. An eight year old neutered male named Jack and a 12 week old male names Willy. They are the light of my world and I'm probably a little bit more obsessed with them then I should be. My problem right now is my eight year old. He is severely obsese. I'm embarassed to say how much he weighs. He lives to eat. He will dig out trash, sneek and eat the puppies food when he doesn't think anyone is looking, he even dislocated his shoulder last christmas trying to jump from the couch to the coffee table trying to get a food wrapper that was left there over night. He acts like he is starving to death all the time. I know that he isn't starving because he is huge. He almost seems obsessed with food. He had mouth rot as a young dog and doesn't have alot of teeth left. That is even with frequent tooth brushing when he was young. We are currently feeding him canned food. We have cut him back to two table spoons of food twice a day and he still won't loose an ounce. I have discussed this with my vet and he didn't seem at all concerned. He is currently more than double his 2yr. old adult weight. I'm at my witts end. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Food brands that would be okay for a dog with a weight problem and one who doesn't have many teeth suggestions would be great!! PLEASE HELP!! I DON'T WANT MY DOG TO DIE YOUNG BECAUSE I WAS STUPID ABOUT HIS HEALTH!

Thanks for your time,
Tanya

Welcome to YT! How's his exercise routine? Don't be embarassed, you might just have a throwback yorkie who might have carried genes from his G-G-G-G-G-G-Great Grandparents when yorkies were bred at a larger size (12 lbs average). Perhaps you should get a second opinion from another vet? Or try experimenting with different foods?

Welcome to YT. By coming here it shows you care and you're not being 'stupid about your dog's health'...if you didn't care you wouldn't ask, right?

First, I think I would see another vet and have some tests run to make sure there is no underlying health issue at hand.

Second, 2 tablespoons of food twice a day doesn't sound like very much...he probably is hungry! There are some very good foods available for overweight dogs. Does he get excersize like daily walks? That would help I'm sure.

Welcome to YT...have you tried some of the light foods?

Welcome to YorkieTalk.:) Four tablespoons a day is only about 1/4 which is way too little for a larger Yorkie. Can you feel your dog's ribs? Is he fat or is he just a bigger Yorkie? Have any tests been run?

I would have his thyroid levels tested as hypothyroidism is pretty common in dogs and can cause obesity very easily. It could also be some other type of hormone deficiency or even too much of a hormone.

There is a newly-approved weight loss medication for dogs available now. I don't know much about it, but it might be looking into http://dog-care.suite101.com/article..._drug_for_dogs

When I said 1/4, I meant 1/4 cup.;)

Two tablespoon twice a day sounds too little food and he probably is hungry. Dogs will usually stop eating when they are full especially the small breeds. It might help to feed him more of a proper nutritous food enough so that he doesn't scavenge from other places in your kitchen. How much does your little one weigh and what are his measurements? Do you exercise or walk him every day? Maybe get your vet to check it out too, the obesity might not be realy from food if he is just eating two tablespoon twice a day. Also, do you deworm your dog? I have seen dogs that have worms will end up with a big belly although I don't see that very often in Canada.

I had wonderful success using this diet plan.

Pumpkin Diet

(by M. Christine Zink, D.V.M., Ph.D., and Julie Daniels in their book "Jumping from A to Z")

This is a good diet to help your dog lose those extra, unhealthy pounds. Extra weight on a dog causes hip and shoulder problems later down the road. The less your dog weighs the better he feels! The same with humans!

Stick to it, even if you don’t think it is working. I put my dog on it and he lost 20 pounds in 3 months! I did increase his (and my) exercise and I think that helped out a lot in the speed of his weight loss.


For every ½ cup of food you cut out of your dog’s diet, replace it with twice as much canned pumpkin.

So, assuming you had been feeding one cup of food per feeding (twice a day), then you would give ½ cup of food and one cup of pumpkin at each feeding. This is the canned "Solid Pack Pumpkin" not the pumpkin pie filling mix.

You can also fill in your dog’s diet with other vegetables: carrots (cooked or raw), green beans, and peas. For treats you can use , carrot pieces, bits of rice cakes and an occasional bit of Roll-Over or other tasty morsel.

Hey all,

Thanks for the replies. I appreciate it very much. To answer some of your questions. No, he is not just a large yorkie. He was a healthy weight at two years old the day we had him neutered. He weighed 5.2 lbs. at two years old. He is a little more dense framed than other yorkies I have seen but at two years old, the vet said he was a very healthy weight. As far as feeding him too little. With jack, all food servings are too little. We cut him back because he just kept getting fatter and fatter. I tried free feeding him dry and just doing the can food twice a day. I put out the dry food in a large bowl and he eat until he threw up. Literally. No, you can't feel his ribs. Actually, when you palpate his ribs all you feel squishy fat. I haven't felt ribs on him in years! He is so chunky, his front legs are starting to bow out and he has a dip in his back where his spine should be. I know you shouldn't see their spine but shouldn't you be able to palpate it under the skin? He's just a fat boy. I know that he will never be rail thin and I don't want that. But, he is starting to have joint problems due to the weight. I will have to try the pumpkin diet. He isn't getting enough food I'm sure, but that is what is so puzzling about him continuing to gain weight. Maybe it is some sort of thyroid problem. I will definately be making an appt. with a new vet today! Thanks for all the feed back. I will be posting some pics of him and my little baby on the picture board.
Hugs
Tanya

Yes, please make an appt. Something just doesn't sound right and if he is over 10 pounds he should be getting a lot more than 4 tablespoons a day. My Yorkie eats homecooked food. It is an moist as canned food so they have to eat a lot more to have enough calories. Ellie is almost 6 pounds and eats a little over 3/4 cup a day.

welcome to YT
How much walking does he get. I try taking him on serveral walks aday.

Good luck.
Keep us posted on what you find out.

you are starving him.. you really have to feed him more than you are now..
he will lose weight, but it will take time,, i have lexi on a diet also.. she
was getting bigger by the day... i still feed her everyday, but much
heathier and i add string beans to make her feel ful... please seek another
vet, there might be a problem..

Welcome to YT. You might want to use one of the diet brand foods. There's an analysis of dog foods that maybe someone can post for you.

I hope you follow the advice and get his thyroid checked...we had a lab withy a thyroid problem and she acted as if she was always starving, she would rip garbage bags open and just eat and eat, she was so large she had a sway back and very dry flaky skin and a dull coat....she was put on meds and lost about 20 lbs. and her coat cleared up.....Good luck....

:wavey: I wanted to welcome you to YT! Obsessed about your yorkies - oh, go away, no one like that around here :D -- lol.

NOt only are we obsessed with our yorkies, were also addicted to YT

I agree with the last poster, have his thyroid checked and a second opinion never hurt

Welcome to YT. I'm glad you came here for advice, people here are very supportive. You should not at all feel embarassed to ask anything, people are here to help where they can, it shows you care for your babies, you wouldnt be here if you didnt.

I haven't read this whole thread yet, but maybe this will be useful -- I was watching that show, "It's Me or the Dog", and a dog with this problem was on. The trainer said that the dog's regular food wasn't good quality and that the dog was constantly in the trash because his body was telling him to find the vitamins and such that he needed.

Good luck!

The food quality was the first thing that popped into my head too! I saw that episode of "It's me or the dog".

But like already stated...the Thyroid too.

We'll be keeping you in our thoughts. Please give us an update after your appointment.

Thanks for everything you all. Jack's vet appt. is on Wednesday at 10AM. I'm going to demand that they check his thyroid and ask the vet what I should be feeding him and how much. All of the info offered and given has been very informative and helpful. I didn't think about the quality of the food and maybe that he isn't getting what he needs from what he is eating. I'm using my entire paycheck this week for the vet. I'll keep ya'll posted about whats going on.

Thanks a bunch
Tanya

I'm glad Tanya that you are taking your baby to the vet. I don't give my girls much of dog treats instead I give them fruits or veggies, is healthy and better for them too:thumbup:

Have you tried excerting his energy by taking him to walks outdoors or running around at the park? I got the new Dog Fancy magazine and it has a great story on helping your dog if they are obese. It will give you great ideas as well as a chart to help you reach his goal.
Welcome to Y.T.!