My new Yorkie overweight?

[Neveen]

Originally Posted by LittleMansMomma

I need some advice. Little Man is overweight by 1 pound. He is 8 weeks old and he weighs 3.75lbs. When my vet told me that I was shocked. I did everything that she told me to do the day I took him to vet the first time. This is what she told me to do; use the milk supplement until he was 6 weeks old, then mix it with purina puppy chow until he was 7 weeks, then start adding water with his puppy chow, until he gets his teeth. So, now I'm mixing just a little bit of water in the puppy chow so its not so mushy.

Now, when I took him to get his shots last Friday, she then tells me to stop using the purina puppy chow and put him on the Science Diet for puppies. I've heard a lot of bad things about the Science Diet food. I'm kinda skittish to do that just yet. I've read the thread on cooking the food for yorkies, I do believe Little Man will benefit from it and I plan on cooking his meals now.

He is active and fiesty, but he does love to sleep a lot. We can't take walks right now outside because its been cold and very windy outside lately. So, we play inside. We play the chasing game. I'll chase him and then he chases me. He lets me know when I don't pay enough of attention to him. He'll come and tug on my pants leg. I guess my question is what should I do help him lose that pound?

Wish I could help ya, but this is my first Yorkie too, but I'm sure someone else here can help ya.

[PrincessDiana]

Originally Posted by LittleMansMomma

I need some advice. Little Man is overweight by 1 pound. He is 8 weeks old and he weighs 3.75lbs. When my vet told me that I was shocked. I did everything that she told me to do the day I took him to vet the first time. This is what she told me to do; use the milk supplement until he was 6 weeks old, then mix it with purina puppy chow until he was 7 weeks, then start adding water with his puppy chow, until he gets his teeth. So, now I'm mixing just a little bit of water in the puppy chow so its not so mushy.

Now, when I took him to get his shots last Friday, she then tells me to stop using the purina puppy chow and put him on the Science Diet for puppies. I've heard a lot of bad things about the Science Diet food. I'm kinda skittish to do that just yet. I've read the thread on cooking the food for yorkies, I do believe Little Man will benefit from it and I plan on cooking his meals now.

He is active and fiesty, but he does love to sleep a lot. We can't take walks right now outside because its been cold and very windy outside lately. So, we play inside. We play the chasing game. I'll chase him and then he chases me. He lets me know when I don't pay enough of attention to him. He'll come and tug on my pants leg. I guess my question is what should I do help him lose that pound?

He does seem to be a little big for his age, but I can't imagine a puppy being overweight at 8 weeks! They're so young and still need so much nourishment... Frankin is 18 weeks and I still free-feed and let him eat as much as he wants (we are starting to limit it more, though.. he's starting to get a little chunky ). 8 weeks seems awful young to worry about putting him on a diet.

I'm not an expert though, so maybe someone else can offer more insight?

As for Science Diet, it's not really the best of foods but it's probably better than Purina. I would get him off that as soon as possible. Home cooking is a wonderful way to feed your dogs and I'm sure you will find lots of info on that here. Lots of YTers do it. That'll probably help lower his calorie intake, but I like I said, I wouldn't focus on putting him on a diet.