What Kind Of Food
 

Hello everyone, I was wondering what kind of food you all feed your yorkie babies? Maggy May is 8 weeks and a few days old. When we first got her we just ran to the store and got purina puppy chow (I know, not a good brand of food) it's what we have to feed our white boxer boy cause he has allergies realy bad and we had tried SOOO MANY of the other dogs foods and he still ad realy bad reactions. I even done the BARF diet for him but tat wasn't working out well either. So, for the past 5 1/2 years, I've kept him on purina dog chow cause it's the ONLY thing he doesn't react to. Anyhow, when we got Maggy and Gibbs, I just grabbed a bag of purina puppy chow until I could read up on the breed and find a good food for them. With everything Maggy has been through though, our vet doesn't want me to switch her food right now, he doesn't want any digestive upset going on while she's still trying to get good and strong. So, for the moment, I'll leave her on the purina until our vet gives us the go ahead to change her food (and I'll do it slowly.) She's doing good on the purina but I also know it's to big for her. Any suggestions on a good food that would be the right size for her? Thanks in advance.

Ellie gets homecooked.

If I fed dog food it would be canned. I would probably use Evangers.

If I had to use kibble I would go with Innova, Wellness, Canidae... and I wouldn't be too happy about it.

I would also switch up kibble or canned food regularly (every 4-6 months). I had Ellie on a food with corn in it for too long and she acquired an allergy to it.

there are so many opinions on dog food. One good place to look, even if it's just to compare ingredients is www.dogfoodanalysis.com - most yorkie owners avoid 6 star foods because of high levels of protein in the food. The 4 & 5 star foods would be good choices

There is also a lot of info on home cooking for your yorkie here on yt, including recipes.

Yes, you definitely need something better than Purina

Mine get a combo of homecooked, supplements and various kibble. And, it's ever changing.

Now, that being said, this is what I have found is best for MINE. Not what is neccessarily best for YOURS. So far, I have not been able to find a so-called "high end food" that mine can stomach. (Although I'm not really sure one really exists.)

I would suggest also visiting the follwing site for links for more helpful info on your quest to find the non-existant perfect diet:
http://www.consumersearch.com/www/fa...d/reviews.html
It will link you to several sites that have examined the companies that produce them and give you a brief overview of what you should know when searching for a commerical food. The links also examine raw and homecooked diets as well. Please keep in mind that all of the information is based only on someone's opinion, so only take that for what it is worth.

The most important thing is that you research and find a food that works for YOUR dog and make sure that you supplement as needed to accomodate for anythign the food is lacking.

Thanks so much for the wonderful info ladies, I sure do appreciate it tons! I have researched dog foods years back when we got Isaiah (our boxer) and I'm so very picky about what he gets, well what ANY of our fur, shell, scale and skin kids get, lol. I wasn't a happy camper about having to resort to Purina for him, but honest to God, it's the ONLY thing he didn't react to. Doesn't make any sense either seeing how it's corn, corn, and more corn, GRRR! but, at least he isn't breaking out in huge hives now and he isn't pouring blood from his rectum and he's healthy. It also doesn't have the BHA, BHT or ethoxyquin in it so I can live with it. Now, as for lil Miss Maggy May, I can't wait to be able to start switching her to a better food!

You have a white boxer??? Can I please see pics???:) :) :) Pretty please... I love white boxers. They are the most adorable large dogs ever.

Do not feel bad...I have a hound that can only eat the Purina Gold. I wasn't happy about it either. Not even the mid-grade foods worked with her. But after trying to switch her to something 'better' and ending up with a malnourished dog that almost died, I learned to deal with it. She gets supplemented as needed and is healthy as can be.
My 2 Yorkies are the same way--they cannot eat the 'so called high end organic foods' so they kibble that they get in addition to their home cooked is Nutro, Science Diet Natures Blend, Eukanuba and *maybe* once a week a small amound of Purina Pro Plan. And it's always changing...I'm always looking for the 'next best thing.'

You'll find the right blend for yours. Just takes time.:)

:thumbup: :thumbup:

Hehehe, yep, we sure do have a white boxer boy. His name is Isaiah and he's one of the loves of our life. Of course him and our oldest son (18 years old) are the best of friends, he's in some of the pics with Isaiah. We got him when he was only 6 weeks old, agai, way to young to be away from Momma, but he was in a real bad situation and I couldn't leave him there and the guy was selling the pups off. You couldn't even tell Isaiah was white when we got him cause he was covered in feces. He's now all grown up and is a porker let me tell ya, lol. The brown boxer in the one pic is Elijah, he's one of our other furbabies and he's 3 years old. The one where it's just Isaiah when he was a baby, he was six weeks old there.

Hi Beabble -
We have a boxer -- her name is Boo. She turned eleven this past May and we are at the point in her life where we just teasure each day we have with her. She has developed Boxer Cardiomyopathy and takes two heart meds twice daily. If you don't know abouthtis please discuss it with your vet at your next visit. She has a very sensitive stomach and the ONLY food that she can eat without regularly throwing up is Canidae. So everyone in our house - except for pregnant and nursing moms and very young pups get Canidae. I'm going to include a few pics of Boo the Boxer.

Picture #1 - Boo with Chattie
Picture #2 - Our beautiful elderly girl
Picture #3 - Boo babysitting LoveSome Dovie
Picture #4 - Boo at work with me - I worked in an elementary school library.

OMG, I just LOVE Boo!! What a precious girlie she is. I love the boxer breed, actually it's my favorite, but now owning a yorkie mix, I think I now have two favorite breeds, lol. I can't believe how well Boo is with your baby, that's so heart warming. We've got three big dogs all together, the two boy boxers of course, and then Miss Dottie, she's a german shorthaired pointer. The white Boxer and Dottie are excellent with Maggy May, but I haven't introduce Elijah, our brown boxer to her yet, as he's a big old goofy love bug and is nothing but paw paws. I'll have to have my hubby or one of my sons sit with Elijah while I introduce the two of them. You're very lucky to have Boo for so long, most of the people I know who have boxers are lucky to have them 10 years, most pass with cancer. My one friends male boxer has very serious heart problems, he's only 4 years old and the vet and heart specialist said he won't be around much longer at all. He's such a sweet boy and it breaks my heart to know his fate. Cherish your girl and please give her a big ole mosh kiss for me and tell her I said she's a beautiful girlie. Thank you for posting her pics for me to see, she's so precious.

Thank you so very much for your kind words. I always get way too excited when someone posts that they have a boxer and I forget my manners.

Your Boxer boy is beautiful! I would love to see pics of Elijah. Your friend's dog probably has the Boxer Cardiomyopathy. The condition is so common among Boxers that it was named for the breed. We were early last summer to expect 4 to six months with Boo, but she is doing fantastic. We decided as a family to let her live her life -- we are careful with her and don't let her overdo it, but we refuse to make an invalid out of her. She still enjoys going to the barn and going along when we feed - when the weather is nice. Each day is a blessling.. Please be sure to ask your vet about the Boxer Cardiomyopathy - when caught early the prognosis is much better.

Awe, thanks so much for the compliment on Isaiah, he send lots of mooshies your way and a big ole kidney bean dance to ;-) I'll get some pics posted here of Elijah for you to see, he's a big boy now. I'll keep your girl in my prayers and hope she has all peaceful days ahead of her. I know what you mean about getting all excited about boxers, lol, I'm the same way, matter of fact, I thik my toosh starts swayin and startin to do a kidney bean dance or two when I see them, lol. I just looked at the report my friend had sent to me on her boxer boy, what he has is: "Moderately-severe sub-aortic stenosis with aortic valve insufficiency" He's puttin up a fight that's for sure. He had a heart attack last week though so things are starting to go down hill for him. He's had seizures for a while now because of it. She keeps him pretty calm for the most part, but you know boxers, at times they just can't help but get excited. I'll be sure and speak to our vet about the Boxer Cardiomyopathy. Thank you for the heads up. Give sweet Boo another kiss for me and tuck an extra one behind her ear, that way if she needs one in the middle of the night, she has it ;-) Here's a few pics of Elijah, the one of the baby boxer, well that's Elijah when he was born and the big boy sniffing him is his big brother:

Oh My!!! Its Comet!!!!

Mine started out on the Science diet for puppies and then I switched to Royal Canine Yorkshire terrier...Her coat is healthy and silky..her eyes are bright, FULL of energy and she loves the taste. It's formulated especailly for Yorkies (coat, teeth and gums and digestive system) and a plus is it has components that smell wonderful to them to help those picky little furbutts. :D

Thank you so much, I'll go look into this and check out the ingredients. I appreciate your replying, I really wanna find a good food for Maggy May so when the vet says I can start switching her to a new food, I have a good one already picked out.

I have heard good things from some people about Royal Canin but on the other hand for some people (including Ellie) it is the worst food ever. Quite a few dogs get severe itchies from it and some get digestive upset. Just don't buy too much if you want to try it.:) It is over prices too.

Thank you all so much for the Boxer pictures. Isaiah is adorable along with all the other ones. I think I need one but it would have no rules just like Ellie which may not be good.;)

You're most welcome Ellie May, so glad you liked all the boxer pics:D Actually our furkids (the boxers) have very good manners. I mean, aside from having gas and just about peeling the paint of the walls from it, lol, their worst habbit it getting overly excited when company comes over and peeing. They're very smart dogs, easily trained and SUCH a hoot! I laugh so much from these guys. Oh and did I mention they are VERY tolerant? Thanks for the input on the food ;-)

Oh my gosh, they look JUST alike! How cool it THAT! LOL!

I thought soo to... It so crazy!!:D

I had forgotten about royal canin yorkie food! My yorkie is on Burns for puppies and small dogs at the minute as the old english sheepdog is on that, but I might put yorkie back on canin when puppy gets older. Trouble is the shop near me stopped stocking canin but i am sure I can get it somewhere.:thumbup:

Charlie is on Royal Canine. I just got him a few days ago, and I've noticed how picky he is. He doesn't like treats at all...or maybe I haven't found a good one for him yet! But he likes his Royal Canine. Someone said something about itching with Royal Canine? I've noticed he itches alot, but since I just got him, I don't know his little quirks yet. I'd like some more info on that!

I went into a garden centre and they have royal canin yorkie buy one get one free. Will last her ages....:aimeeyork

Royal Canin is infamous for making Yorkies itchy. It did mine. I couldn't recommend it to anyone. You can do a search on here and read all the complaints.

I feed Ranger the Innova chicken puppy food, he LOVES it, and I LOVE it because it has cottage cheese in there for tummies, as well as chicken and turkey as the 1st three ingredients. The starches are barley and millet, both very digestible. It also has the good fatty acids and healthy oils for their coats and skin. I am planning on keeping him on that formula throughout adulthood, as the protein is not too high for adults. Just another thought for you, choosing a dog food is harder than choosing a husband!!!!!

Royal canin is working great for us.

Like all of you, I have been through this food thing, but my old vet Dr. Heilmeier in Foley Al. rasies yorkies for a number of years now and he swears by S/D he told me if I didn't want to feed S/D that was fine just try to stay in the 22% to 24% protein, range. his dogs are healthy and running all over his office, even though we left Baldwin County Al. I would drive the 140 miles if anything serious happens to wicket. I have learn from my past mistake,to stay with a vet that knows and deals with the yorkie breed.

Where is Royal Canin sold?