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Having to hand feed and weight issue 1 Attachment(s) I posted back in January in the sick and emergency forum and luckily Teddy is back to being healthy again. The only problem is that he's been looking quite skinny lately and since our issues with food last time, I've been very careful and feeding him only kibbles with ocassional treat and some veggies. So I would really appreciate if you could advise some food that will help him put on some weight. Also he's always been a picky eater, so ever since Jan we've been hand feeding him and somehow it became "normal". He won't eat a bite unless we hand feed him (sometimes we even have to trick him into eating, like giving him treats, playing with him etc). I don't really mind doing so, but we will be going on holiday next week and while we plan to leave him with our friends, who take great care of him, I am just not really sure I can ask them to handfeed him all the time like this. What should we do so he can eat normally? I've attached a picture a recent picture of Teddy. Does he looks skinny? Or is it normal? |
I can't tell with hairy dogs by looking at them. Can you feel his ribs? Can you feel a layer of fat between the ribs and skin? Can you readily feel his spine through the skin on his back? To ween him off handfeeding, make sure you hand feed him the full meals for two weeks, then handfeed him 3/4 of a meal and leave the rest for him to eat on his own. Back off in increments until he is eating entirely on his own. Has he been checked by your vet? Some medical problems have symptoms of poor appetite... these should be checked... |
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Yes, he has been checked by a vet who run some tests on him and he's healthy. But now that you ask, I actually do feel his ribs and I do feel his spine if he's sitting on his back legs (not when he's running or cuddling). There's a layer of fat but not that prominent. I am getting worried. Is he too skinny? I am also confused as to how to determine his full meal, I usually feed him till he refuses. So I don't really have a specific ration. |
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Here's a chart that will help you determine just where he's at: Purina.Com | Dog | Caring | Understanding your Dog's Body Condition Many Yorkies tend to be thin, better for their bones not to be carrying a lot of extra weight... |
Teddy looks good to me in the picture :), but as KJC indicated, it is hard to tell with pictures. As long as his bones are protruding when he is standing up, I think he is in good shape. I had to hand feed Max his first year. We played games with food. He performed tricks and I would hand him kibble out of his bowl. I got him to eat more on his own by playing "Kibble in the Kong," putting a whole bunch of his kibble in his Kong. He is a big chewer, so I used the small black Extreme Kong. You may try something like that. |
Thank you for your suggestions. Maximo, I feel you. I am always playing games trying to feed him. I even have to let him smell his favorite treat and then as he's ready to swallow I push kibbles instead. I was also wondering, does the fact that food (kibbles) is always readily available to him affect his appetite? Because he never refuses treats, vegetables, fruits (all that extra that I feed him), and whenever we are having dinner, he's always asking for our food. It's just with kibbles that he refuses to eat. We work from 8 till 6pm and he's home alone all this time, so I always leave food for him. But I doubt he actually touches this. |
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Did the vet think he was too thin? I wasn't sure how to tell, and I asked my vet to give me a range for Joey's weight. There are some recipes that breeders use to put weight on a breeding male because an unneutered dog often loses weight if he's around females in season. However, it’s usually healthier to be on the thin side than the heavy side. I wouldn't add vegetables if I wanted a dog to gain weight, I added those when I wanted Joey to lose weight, veggies fill them up, but don't add many calories. You can make some beef liver or chicken treats, and they can be given after he eats his kibble. He's adorable, by the way. |
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Thank you for your advice. I do try to give him veggies and fruits after kibbles, but I think he senses the pattern and waits for them. He's like a vegetarian, really. |
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Yorkies are good at refusing their dog food to wait for table food, or treats. I would put any thing extra in with his food. Too many fruits and vegies could also make him feel full. To get him eating kibble again, sometimes I try this: feed a 50/50 mix of plain chicken and rice (same as fed for dogs with tummy issues) and gradually add kibble to the mix until he's eating mostly kibble. Probiotics with digestive enzymes may help, they help to break down the food after he eats it. You can also add a few sprinkles of Parmesan cheese to the food... it will entice him to eat and add some extra fat and calories. Have you ever fed him canned food? These have more nutrition than kibble and may help to add some weight on.. Feed him a mix of kibble and canned food twice a day when you're at home, and leave the plain kibble down when you're at work, just in case he gets hungry. |
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He is so cute and looks good to me! We have hand fed Georgie since he was having issues with his luxating patella in 2008. He has just now started to eat without being hand fed but doesn't eat out of his bowl anymore. He can be so finicky! I would suggest plain boiled chicken...I haven't met a furbaby yet that can refuse that:) Also yogurt with probiotics helps give the food flavor and is great for his digestive system:) As long as the vet says he isn't underweight I wouldn't worry about it. |
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Bones NOT protruding. My apologies. |
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I was so worried about my boys being too skinny their first couple of years. The weight comes later naturally, so I agree, don't try to pack on pounds. Now I have to work to keep Max's weight down. |
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I feed mine kibbles, soaked in boiling water and mixed with canned food. I mix about 3 days worth at a time. By then the kibble has softened up and is similar to the canned food, lol. Plus the extra water never hurts either. I warm it up prior to feeding them. Did the vet have a look at his teeth? Some dogs who refuse hard food have a good reason.... |
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We stopped giving him vegetables and it seems to work better. He ate more yesterday than normal. But he still had to be handfed! |
Does he come to you when he's hungry, or do you initiate his feed times? |
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When you play/feed him, try tossing a piece of the kibble towards him or slightly past him, so he has to go get it... make it fun to chase the kibble. The goal here is to get away from the 'your hand to his mouth' pattern, and teach him to eat the kibble he finds on his own. If you want him eating more kibble, also you may have to completely eliminate feeding him any kind of treats or anything you would normally feed him by hand. These pups are very smart and they learn quickly to wait for different food when they know it will be available to them. An intermediate step is to put anything extra you want to give him in his bowl, and mix some kibble in with it, or hide it in the kibble. One last suggestion: Does he like this kibble or would he do better with a different brand? I used to mix two different brands together for mine... just to eliminate boredom... |
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