Not eating well Hello! I just got my first Yorkie puppy! I've had dogs before when I was living with my parents, but this is my first small breed dog. Now I'm raising Dexter together with my boyfriend. We are trying to make sure he grows up a healthy and happy dog, so we do a lot of research online as to what to feed him and all that. We got Iams Smart Puppy food for toy breeds (food that was recommended by the breeder). We try to put him on feeding schedule and not just leave food out for him all day long. Over the weekend we added some wet food (Cesar Canine Cuisine) as a treat. We mixed it in with his dry food and he just gobbled it down in seconds. This morning I gave him just the dry food and he would only eat it if I sat right next to him and basically fed him from my hand, that is not something I want to make a habit of :-/ Should we just wait until he gets hungry? Or should we add a bit of wet food every time? Thank you! |
Hi and welcome to YT. With the small breed puppies it is very important that they eat every couple of hours so that they do not get hypoglycemic. I would add a little bit of the wet food to keep them feeding. Buster really wanted company when he ate and just loved licking it off my finger when he was a puppy. He outgrew that but I miss it sometimes now as it was a sweet bonding moment. Hopefully others will chime in as having a finicky eater seems to go with this breed. |
Handfeeding is actually very good to help bonding with a pup, but I know what you mean about not wanting it to be a habit. I personally don't feed canned food. Mine eats homemade stew, raw and kibble. Perhaps, take away for a very short period (say, 20-30 min) and put it back and see if he'll eat it? It could be that he just isn't hungry and saving it for later (hopefully). |
I guess for now we will add some wet food, anything to make my baby eat :) Unfortunately we are not able to feed him every couple of hours as we are both working. I guess for now we should just leave some food with him during the day. |
Many free feed them, basically leave food out all day. I do and in the evenings I will make some home cooked dinner for them as well. But I always leave dry food (and plenty of fresh water) out for them too. |
I do not personally like the Iams brand food. I like the Blue Buffalo or a more high quality food than Iams. Buffalo puts out various foods for different ages. I use Blue Buffalo and add a tablespoon of water for gravy. Then a little wet food (Chicken with vegies from Buffalo) My guys gobble that up. No problems with this food. It has all a dog needs. Go on line and look up dog foods. See the ratings and choose wisely. |
Hi!! Welcome to YT- Congrats on your Yorkie Dexter- How old is Dexter? Where do you keep him when you and BF are at work? I personally don’t like Iams or Cesar- I would look into another dry food- Maybe even one that Dexter likes! When Peanut was a pup he ate very little- Like you, my DH and I worked and left him home, however we left his dry out for him so he could eat when he was hungry. I would not try schedule feeding now, since he is young he should have dry food available to him at all times. The more you add the wet food, the more it will be harder to break him from that. Since he doesn't eat it without, you adding it in there will make him want it in there all the time. |
How old is your pup? With small breed puppies sense they are at risk of hypoglycemia eating is VERY important. I would leave dry food out all the time sense hes a pup most people do with pups. I hand feed my five year old yorkie because its pretty much the only way she will eat and it does promote bonding. Not a fan of iams and what there company stands for so you might want to just research dog food a little although I would not change his food for at least a month. |
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Dexter is going to be 12 weeks tomorrow. We keep him in crate when we leave for work, it is big enough and fits his bed, water bowl and puppy pad. As much as I hate locking him up :( We have no choice until he is house broken. Afterwards we plan to leave him out on his own (just block the stairway). Interesting that so many people don't like Iams, I will most definitely not buy another bag once we are done with the first. Overall is it a bad idea to always mix a little bit of wet food with dry food? Today i added about half a teaspoon. |
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