Your 4-5 Pound Adult Yorkie
 

I'm wanting to converse with the owners of a now not less than 4 lb under 5 lb Adult Yorkie that has had them since puppyhood.

What product/homemade food and how much have you fed/feed your dog from 13 weeks and up? What did your Yorkie weigh at 12-13 weeks? How tall is your adult Yorkie now as an adult?

Pooky weighs 2 lbs. 3 oz. yesterday at 13 weeks. He is eating Canine Royal Kibble. I set out a 1/4 cup of kibble in the morning and let him eat at his leisure even though both the breeder and veterinarian told me to feed him twice a day. I just don't see the point but maybe it's so they eat it in one setting? It takes him all day to finish it and even though he has food, he tries to sneak a kibble from the big dogs.

You MUST be an engineer...you are trying to make an exact science out of this and it cant happen!!! All pups are individuals and no two run on the same statistical information...all the mathematical formulas that go into one pup, will not guarantee you will get the same end results on another puppy!

It's almost impossible to determine. My Cali about 1 1/2 lbs at 13 weeks. She is now 5 lbs. She has shorter legs and a stockier body. I had Nikki(RIP) who was 5 lbs but very tall and skinny. He was taller than Roxie who is 6 1/2 lbs but very solid body. So as you can see it really is hard to tell. Mine were all on California Natural. I feed them 3 times a day. They all need to lose weight so I am cutting back on their food at each meal. I had a pom who had cushings disease and I had to fed her 3 times a day so they got into that habit.

How can you tell they need to lose weight? Is there a weight/height chart for this size? Are they fed from the same bowl or do you control what they eat? 15 min. 3 times a day? I'm just curious what other people are doing.

Do you own an adult Yorkie that's between 4-5 pounds or do you just want to argue? I don't care to argue.

I'm interested in what the owners of a 4-5 pound yorkie have done, what happens to mine is yet to come. I'm gathering information. I've already stated in another thread that I predict mine will be around 6 pounds. I'm not interested in predicting in this thread, I'm interested in the already know owners of a 4-5 pound yorkie and how they fed them, what the puppy weighed at 12-13 weeks. It's interesting. So hold on and read the thread and make some observations.

Cali is ok in the weight department. Roxie is very solid but has put on 1/2 lb over the years, she is 5 years old. Pixie was 3 1/2 lbs when I got her at 13 months and now almost 4 1/2 lbs at 7 years old. She also need to loose 1/2 lb. It's my fault as I am the one feeding them. They also don't get much exercise. I am switching their food, cutting back on portions and once the weather is better here getting them out more. My husband passed away 8 months ago after battling cancer for 10 months so I wasn't as vigilant as I should have been with their weights for the past year and a half.
I feed them 3 times a day each from their own bowl. They eat canned for 2 meals and kibble for the third meal. I am going to try and give them more kibble and less canned.

Patti, I'm so sorry for your loss. I can't even imagine what you're going through. This year we celebrate 25 years, he's tough on me but I like him anyway :D In fact, he wasn't keen on my getting Pooky, especially what I paid for him(but I wanted a good healthy proportioned one). I pray the Lord comfort you through this season. I hope the Yorkies are a healthy distraction .

Is it just me or were you a tad dyspeptic when you posted that?

I have been involved with Yorkies since 1976...I have been breeding healthy, beautiful dogs since 2000....Yes, I own Yorkies that are consistantly breed standard.....several more than "one" dog. I know what my dogs weigh, I know what they SHOULD weigh, I know what to feed my dogs and how much to feed them in order to nail desired weights on each individual dog. I know what my dogs usually throw when they are bred to specific dogs, and I am familiar with ALL their pedigrees back at least 12 generations, some 18 generations, a couple, further back than that, which also hold the key to jnboiwing how ig they will eventually mature and their estimated growth curve. I have height and weight and caloric charts committed to my memory for the last 15 years....I know which ones are more accurate than the others, which ones are pure speculation. My beloved father was an engineer, and I have NOTHING but the greatest respect for the mathematical, pricise minds and thought processes of these brilliant people....I did not intend to insult or huirt your feelings....I was just trying to inform you, in a light hearted way.....obviously, I failed, and appeared to be trying to "argue" with you....sorry you misunderstood my intent.

Thank you, I appreciate your thoughtful comment. I'm not smart enough to be an engineer, terrible in mathematics but I'm a heck of lot curious when it's something new and interesting to me and I'm very persistent. ;)

Please, tell us about what you see and how you know a puppy will fit into that category? Or when? How much do you feed them? What do you feed them? What do they typically weigh at different stages in the growth period to be able to determine that they will be in that weight category? Obviously, there's some that will will throw a curve ball but I'm interested in these that you know of.

I believe in free feeding the first 6 months or so, puppies are prone to hypoglycemia and food that is always available will help prevent low blood sugar. Joey's breeder told me to keep food available at all times. Their tiny tummies can handle much food at one time, so having it available 24/7 will help prevent that. Joey's weighed about 2 pounds 2 ounces at 12 weeks, but I don't know how much he weighed at 13 weeks. As an adult, he weighs around 5 1/2 pounds. They say you can't make a puppy fat; they go through growth spurts so it may vary how much they will eat each day. I wouldn't worry about their weight as long as they were gaining. After about 10 or so months, you might have to watch how much they eat, because they have stopped growing and are just filling out, but the first few months, they really need lots of calories. Their weight can vary at different times during the day, I wouldn't weigh him more than once a week, and I would not worry, at this point, about gaining too much.

I just realized, I shouldn't have answered, Joey weighs more than 5 pounds as an adult. Sorry.

You're forgiven Nancy, hehe this forum is so big that I thought it wouldn't overwhelm me so much if I study what people write to make a thread category like this. That way I can keep it straight without having other posts to muddle through. Easier to make comparisons.

I totally agree with you about obsessive weighing. A couple of years ago I bought a toy poodle from a home but they lied about her age. I totally obsessed with how much she weighed trying to figure out her age and prox adult size and I'm not going to do that with Pooky. I'll have to weigh him each month to make sure he's getting the right amount of food and when adulthood arrives I'll know where he landed. Totally agree with weight fluctuation, as does mine :p

I guess I can answer Georgie weighs 4lbs:) He has occasionally gone below 4lbs but I would say 4lbs is an ideal weight for him. I agree with Nancy free feeding up until 6 months to 1 year. After 1 year we feed about 1/4 cup grain free kibble twice a day with Greek yogurt and add a plain boiled chicken tender for his evening meal. We also give him carrots, apples with no skin and other grain free snacks.

Oh good, I'm glad you saw that I was teasing you. We get so many who complain that no one answered their posts, I'm glad you feel like lots of people are responding. I think you can weigh weekly without obsessing and it does give you a nice chart, but monthly is okay too.

Ive always free fed and fed a little canned in the morning for breakfast and mine have not gained too much weight. For little ones and puppies I would definitely free feed. Some people want sceduled feedings for potty training reasons but I think you have to be very careful with it making sure your pup is getting enough nutrition every day.

:confused::confused::confused::confused:

If you think yours is going to be 6 pounds why ask about 4-5 pound dogs? Are you going to force her to be the weight you want? I don't understand all the weight obsession your pup will grow to what its going to be.

Absolutely, he's going to be what he'll be; this year even! I have no idea what mine will weigh. According to this growth chart, he's going to weigh 4 pounds. Yorkshire Terrier Information Center | Yorkie Growth Chart

According to the doubling game at 13 weeks, he's going to weigh 5-6 lbs.

His parents are in the 4 to under 5 pound range. Still haven't chatted with a single person who's parents were within ounces and the father being larger. I don't know what a larger father produces. Everyone breeds a smaller and sometimes super small male to female in the English speaking countries to get smaller puppies. I just picked a number compared to the charts and what I saw happen to my toy poodle...it was a guess for fun. Have no idea what the reality will be. When I talked to my vet about it, as stated in another thread, he said not to feed him much...It's good to ask to find out if people let their dogs graze, causing them to be larger, as per my vet. I don't need an overweight dog. But from asking all of these questions, I can observe and make better choices for my dog at 13 weeks, he still has his life ahead of him and I want him to make it to the 12-15 year mark.

Hey, if you're relaxed about it no sweat. Why have a growth chart or a scale? Obviously, I'm not the only one curious about it. I'm curious, gathering information because I'm interested in it. I don't have anyone to discuss this with. Why not ask others that have experience? In my experience, sometimes I have to ask a few different ways to get the answers I'm looking for. Not sure why the need to question the question. But if it's alright for my dog to be 4-5 pounds, I'd like to feed him into that direction. I have several herniated discs and really want to carry him around. I want him to be healthy but the reason I chose this breed was for their small size. Hope this helps to see why my obsession. Oh, and I bought a toy poodle for this same reason, to tote around. Love her dearly, she's just too big for me to tote around. Yorkies have anxiety separation, I really want him with me and like I said, if I can see what other Yorkies are weighing at 12-13 weeks and they also fell into the 4-5 pound weight category, with similar parents, then I can go ahead and feed him similarly or watch that at certain age he needs to be gaining more. I really want a healthy dog.

:(:confused::(

There was nothing argumentative about YorkieMom's post. She took time out of her day/away from her dogs to try and answer your question.

I agree. There is no way to predict like this.

My girl has been 5.8 pounds before. She ate around 1/2 cup of Science Diet Adult Small Bites and then later she ate homecooked food. Her caloric needs increased and she was a bit underweight. Now she eats approx 1 to 1 and 1/3 cups of a prescription food daily. If I went by the charts she should eat about 180 cal/day. However, she needs at least 300 a day which is not common, but just shows that there is no way to predict.

I have found EVERY on line chart to be inaccurate in guessing weight. I double the 12 week weight....and even then my puppies have NOT reached those.

Many vets don't recommend free feeding AFTER they are puppies but puppies really cant be fat and there are many many many dogs free feed who are not overweight. Please don't feed you puppy very little and feed him the food he needs.

Withholding food and nutrients so that your dog will be at a certain weight doesn’t work because the dog's skeleton will grow to it predetermined size, but it won't have strong bones and teeth. These early months nutrients go into making brain cells and eye cells, liver cells, etc., and if you withhold food, your dog never again has a chance to make up for this growing time and will not be a healthy adult with healthy organs, strong bones and teeth and a beautiful shiny coat. Heath should be the number one priority on your mind right now.

This!

Why is every single one of your posts about size & weight? You'd think you'd be more concerned about how to take care of a Yorkie! It seems to be an obsession on how big your pookie will be. Many people have made it quite clear you never can tell! Just wait & see! The bigger he is the more there is to love.

I hate to burst your bubble but most yorkies that weigh what yours does now are going to be more than 4 lbs. If this really is an issue for you please take this sweet baby back to the breeder and wait for them to retire an adult.

Dog weight
 

Pookybear. I have read this thread with interest, but I do not understand what you exactly want from us? You say you think your dog will be 6 lbs, but seem to be asking how you can mold him into being 4-5 lbs? You also say he will be what he will be. Please just feed him to keep him healthy, that is all. We should all be glad to have a well proportioned and healthy dog. Good luck with your baby whatever weight he grows up to be.

Not all, but many. I'm looking forward to Pookie growing up. Nobody can give you the answer you want to hear or with certainty. Did you mention that your breeder is hard to reach, wont respond, qnd you think they are BYB?

Totally agree!! I'm concerned for this sweet lil guy being underfed to achieve desired weight! Or lack of attention when he turns out 6+ pounds! Might be best to return the puppy!

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/att...wn-up-pnut.jpg

This is Pnut- he is now 5 years and 4 pounds