New to site. Please give me advice.

[yorkieusa]

Reese is gorgeous. I'll tell you from experience with Muffin that the only way I could keep her weight down was through exercise. There is no way around it. Perhaps you should try a treadmill. I saw Passionfruition had Sully on the treadmill and when the weather was bad my Muffin also spent some time on one, but she didn't like it. She did love to walk, though, so we were lucky.

That's almost the first thing I ever did with my puppies when i brought them home. After about a week, the harness went on and we went for our first wild walk. First walks are always nightmares.

There is no way around exercise to losing weight, whether you are talking about people or animals. So, I'm no help, I'm afraid.

[momofreese]

Thanks for all of the responses. And I sure do know how important exercise is, but I agree with Reese. I can't stand it either.. They say that if you see a chubby dog, you will see the chubby "mom" with it, and that is the case with us.

I am going to buy some stringbeans and try to take her out for walks more. I must say I just got back from being out with her and she shook the entire time. It wasn't even that cold out. haha.. she is now taking another nap.

See you all later.. Thank you.

[yorkieusa]

Try feeding her baby carrots (raw). Maybe she'd enjoy some raw apples (no seeds please), and things like that. Mine loves stuff like that.

[momofreese]

I have tried carrots and apple.. due to her stomach being so sensitive, she usually will throw up from those too. I am going to try it again though. Reese's problem is that she is so hungry that she just inhales anything we give her. The wellness kibble is so big, in comparisn to other foods, and hard (even when soaked), yet she still managers to swallow it without chewing. I am going to cut up raw vegetables again and mix it with her food. I think I am going to take the suggestion of the canned no salt green beans and see how she does.

Thank you for your suggestions too.. I will try those again too. If you know of any lite food that is healthy and works with more exercise.. please let me know.

I did see sully on the treadmill and we couldn't believe it. He looked so cute. That would be exactly what Reese needs. Unfortunately I really do think she would get hurt, because she dislikes walking let alone running on a treadmill. Sully was going faster than I could. Out of curiosity what speed was he doing? I wish I could try it.. I might put her on at a very low speed and see what happens. Maybe in a few weeks, Reese will give Sully a run for his money.

[yorkieusa]

I don't know how fast Sully was going. My Muffin was going very slow - just fast enough to keep her going! She had a docile personality and trusted me, so she'd let me do things with her. I was right beside her, too. I am an over-protective mommie. I was with her and I am with Kacee. You might check this site. They have every dog food known to man:

http://www.petfooddirect.com

[momofreese]

thanks for the site.

[Marie]

Originally Posted by momofreese

Thanks Marie,

Gucci is adorable too. Where did you get her red sweater? I love it. We were going to name Reese Gucci and at the last minute decided on Reese.

You are very welcome. The Red sweater was made by Waistfull a YT member. Gucci is the baby of the house, we all love her lots.

[YorkyKids]

Oh man Reese is very good looking! I am going to be brutely honest here. Start immediately with what I call tough love!! Here are some things I thought of while reading your mail.
1) I presume you have had a varity of tests done.....i.e. kidneys, liver, heart, thyoid (I saw that post) etc. And all check out fine.
2) If she has leggs perthe disease she REALLY needs the surgery. She needs the surgery while she is young and before her muscles waste away..she will get to the point of NEVER walking. Also I would be willing to bet she is in pain. Even a minor case is painful.
3) take the advice of the no salt green beans added to her food. This is a filler and will give her a fuller feeling without adding calories. Continue to carefully measure her food. Maybe divide her total daily ration into several smaller meals.
4) AND here is the biggy. STOP CARRYING THIS DOG AROUND. Start immediately letting her walk everywhere possible. As for exercise. With some conditioning you can train her to only eat AFTER her walk. Each time she insists on eating..grab the leash (or carry if you HAVE too) and take her for a walk....short walks in the beginning. Get her use to the idea....she MUST work for her food. This is the tough love part. ***BUT be aware this is dependent on her leggs perthe condition. If she cannot walk even a short distance (say a city block) then she really does need another look at her hip (s).***
I would say if you can employ even some of the tips offered in this thread you may begin to see some progress with her. Good luck
__________
DISCLAIMER: My opinions are just that..my opinions. Before acting on ANY advice I may offer please check with your vet, breeder and/or mentor!

[red98vett]

Reese is BEAUTIFUL and doesn't look overweight to me either but the hunger thing sounds like it must break your heart -

I've heard GREAT THINGS about adding string beans to their food that MMYorkies mentioned - I read about a woman who tried it and her yorkie really did lose weight.... and I never forgot being surprised it was with green beans...GOOD LUCK with your baby - she is very pretty

[momofreese]

I have to thank both of you for your responses.

I would like to know more about legg perthes from you. I have researched it quite a bit and have spoken with at least four or five vets and two specialists. Her xrays were sent to a specialist at Cornell who said that he wasn't convinced that she had legg perthes. He and the vet (a friend of my daughter's dad) said to leave her alone if she was not showing signs of being in pain, or limping for that matter.

When we had taken her to a specialist on Long Island, more of a factory, they had of course said that they immediately wanted to perform the surgery.. and not only on her hips but her knees. I might seem lax but I can assure you I had followed up on numerous occasions.

I have been with my latest vet for over 2 years. She has xrayed her and also told us to wait since they didn't look too bad, and also was not positive that this was legg perthes. She felt that it was foolish to go in and operate if she never shows any signs of it bothering her.

Now, being so "lazy" can definitely be a sign of this condition, although none of the vets, whom I saw for first, second and third opinions found that to be the case. Most felt that she was "spoiled" by us and that it is the nature of her personality. I honestly do not believe that she is in any pain. She never wimpers or cries, she is certainly capable of climbing steps, although she does wait for us to place her on the first step. She does run, and quite a bit to play ball or just run around my property.

She does not act like the "normal" and quite often very hyper yorkie. She is by no means a jumper, will not attempt to jump on or off furniture (unless she hears someone eating in the next room). I do fear waking up one day and gd forbid seeing that she is limping or cannot walk at all. Now that it has come up again, I will probably call in the morning to ask my vet if she should get xrays, again.

I will take your advice about the carrying from room to room. We have shown her some tough love, by letting her bark or cry from another room. I will often scream out to her to come here.. and she will, unhappily. I know I seem nuts, as if I am able to analyze her every move, but I think most would agree, they certainly do have strong personalities, easily seen.

I once again appreciate all of the help and will certainly take all advice into strong consideration. I am definitely starting her on the canned string beans and gave her a baby carrot with her dinner tonight. I must admit we took her to drop off one of my daughters at a friends home, and she did throw up on the way there. She has an extremely sensitive stomach but continues to gulp down her food. I have tried various techniques with that also, spreading the kibble around my kitchen ( the things we will do for our babies) to try to slow her down. I should videotape her, since she looks like the canine vacuum cleaner. She will still manage to race around gulping every piece she finds.

Thanks again for all of your help and thank you for the compliments. We certainly agree that she is a beauty.. both in looks and personality. All of the yorkies on the site, whom I have been lucky enough to already meet, are beautiful. I hope you all have a great night and look forward to chatting again.

Randy and Reese

[yorkieusa]

Hi again. I had forgotten you mentioned the sensitive stomach when I earlier suggested baby carrots. I was thinking that perhaps you could boil them. My last yorkie, Muffin, loved cooked carrots.

[Lucky's Mom]

I found these websites. Maybe you could try this dog food, its supposed to help w/ weight loss.

http://www.healthypetnet.com/Healthy...lname=10075847

This website offers a sample pack of that food for $3 w/ free shipping.

http://www.petprokennel.com/site/532373/product/K9-3pak

This Canine Zone dog food is supposed to be really good. Hope this helps!

[momofreese]

I cannot believe how your yorkies smile so much. I had to send the link to my daughter at college. They were hysterical and ooooing and ahhing about how cute all of your babies are. Thanks for the many links and suggestions about diet. I will lightly cook her carrots. It will probably be easier on her stomach.

I liked giving her raw vegetables since I felt that the crunchyness of them would make her feel more filled.. it would also take her longer to eat them. Unfortunately she has trouble digesting them too. I will go slowly with her and hopefully she will feel fuller.

All of your yorkies are adorable. It makes me want to have a million more. My daughter just said that she can't wait to get her own. If it was up to her she would have one in college. Thankfully I am still controlling those purchases.

Reese is sleeping next to me and I think I need to do the same thing. Thanks so much for all of your help. It has been so much fun. I am so happy that a person on Craigslist told me about this site. The people could not be nicer here. See you all soon.

Randy and Reese