My yorkie is getting FAT - need help !!

[fridaelder]

We have 2 Yorkies, Frida and Kramer they are 20 weeks old,
we got them 12 weeks ago. Frida was just 2 pounds, now she is
3, which is ok, but Kramer was 3 and now he is 9 pounds
I have no idea what is going on. Need help
This are my first Yorkie's

[danacee]

I have the opposite problem, mine is so skinny.. What do you feed them?

[fridaelder]

I just feed them Eukanuba, 3 times a day

[lickthestar]

are they related? My dog is like 11 pounds, and his sister is 3 pounds. Sometimes that happens...one baby just takes the nutrients.

[yorkipower]

OK . . .couple of things:

1) Are you sure they are getting fat? I know this sounds like a silly question, but I would not go by their scale weight alone. There is a visual test vets perform which is either done to a scale of 1 to 5 or 1 to 10. On a scale of 1 to 5 a “3” represents good healthy weight, 1 is emaciated and 10 is obese. What your vet will do is look at your dog from the spine downward. He should be able to see your dogs ribs (the outline) without being able to put his fingers in between them. Your dogs should also have a high “tuck up” meaning that where the abdomen is towards the hind legs, the dogs stomach should appear to go up ward and the dog should have a “waist” if your pup resembles a sausage on four legs, you’re in trouble.
2) You are feeding Eukanuba? Wet or dry? Wet generally has more fat but if memory serves, Eukanuba, overall, has a high fat/protein content. You might consider switching to a food with a lower fat content (I feed Solid Gold Kibble that I know get from Yorkshire Terrier Rescue). I also like the http://www.waggintails.com website as they have many excellent quality dog foods and they allow you to compare product labels so you can pick out something that has less fat than what you are presently feeding.
3) While I think its great that you can feed your dogs three times a day, which with these little guys does ward off hypoglycemia, because you’ve broken their portions down into three meals, you may be feeding more than what is recommended (and even the recommended portion according to the manufacture’s label I find to be a bit on the high side). Calculate the total amount of food you give your dogs a day and then compare it to be sure you are not overfeeding
4) One of my dogs has Addison’s disease. As a result, he will be on steroids for the rest of his life. One of the unfortunate side effects is that he constantly hungry. However, because he does agility, he cannot get fat or else risk injury and joint damage. In order to keep his weight down but satiate his hunger, I add organic vegetable baby food into his dog food every night. Dog’s don’t digest raw vegetables very well but they can digest processed veggies which also serve as natural vitamins supplements and a good way to help those anal glands too (so cuts down on scooting as well). His portion size looks bigger this way, he fills up on roughage, but I am actually reducing his caloric intake.

If diet changes alone don’t help, remember that just like you, your dogs need exercise and may not be getting enough. I am neurotic enough to have a dog treadmill and to take my dogs to the beach for swims (or a dog pool in NYC in the winter) to keep them fit. Although you don’t have to sink to my level of neurosis, I strongly suggest looking into a) whether you dogs are getting enough exercise and b) and even if they are, can you increase their activity level? I know everyone schedule is tight and crazy these days but getting your dogs fit will also help you stay fit. People, particularly, WAY underestimate the fitness potential of small and tiny dogs. My four pound girl, last night, jogged for 20 minutes with a five minute warm and cool down. That’s probably two or three miles of jogging! She wasn’t even panting when I stopped the treadmill. If you take it slowly and remember to do a slow walk before and after each exercise period, remember to give your dog access to water, and make sure with your vet’s assistance that neither has any physiological problems, you can and SHOULD incorporate exercise into your dogs life (Frisbee, long walks, swimming, jogging, etc.).

[Ringo]

YorkiPower....I'm glad you posted this about exercise. I made a post not too long ago about walking. I was curious how far people have walked their pets. I do a 2 mile walk and was wondering if that's too much for a Yorkie especially a Yorkie pup. Do you have any advice? Thanks

[Honey]

i have an 8 pound 2 yr old that i just got a few weeks ago. Would it be okay to walk her 3 to 4 miles a day?

(as you can see -- we really dont have much of a clue!)

Thanks!

[yorkipower]

I want to make the caveot that I am not a vet and the advice I'm giving here is based soley on what I've read, have been told, and what I do with my own dogs. Ringo and Honey - the best advice I can give you is to visit Chris Zink's website and read her books:

http://www.caninesports.com/fitness.html

"An exercise program should start gradually, should be consistently applied, should provide variety, and should progress towards a specific goal. Conditioning is not just a weekend activity. A Golden Retriever that is being prepared for the National Specialty 2 months away may be taken swimming on Saturday when there is more time for travel, and on Sunday it may undergo skill-training (practice stacking, free-baiting, and gaiting) in the morning and a 30 minute trot in the evening. During the week, when the handler has less time to devote to conditioning, the dog may be trotted for 30 minutes on Tuesday and Thursday. On Monday and Wednesday, the dog may be worked on cavaletti and conditioning jumps, and on Friday it gets to watch a movie on HBO."

Her book, Coaching the Canine Althete is my bible. http://images.amazon.com/images/P/18...CMZZZZZZZ_.gif

Now, with the preliminaries over, here's my advice: before you start any exercise regime with your Yorkie. Have your vet do a full -going over, including blood work to rule any physical or congenital problem. Aside from the obvious orthopedic problems, you want to be sure that your dog does not have a heart murmur, liver shunt, diabetes, etc. If any of these problems exist, they will need to be addressed and controlled before you start your exercise program. If you think your Yorkie has an orthopedic issue (many have patella luxation including both of mine), a canine orthopedist might also be worth visiting to determine the degree of luxation for example.

Now, I'd get a base line for your dog. You want to know what your dogs resting heart rate is, what his capillary refill time is, normal temperature, and the normal color of his gums. I say that because you want to be sure that you can read when your dog is in distress. Next, you also want to be able to know how to test for dehydration and distress. What I do for my own dog is pinch some skin on his side and see how long it takes for the skin to come back. This should be instantaneous. If the skin tents, this means my dog is very dehydrated. To test your dog's capillary refill time (CRT), lift your dogs lip and press your finger against the upper gums. The gums should return to their normal pink color within 1 and half seconds (almost instantaneously).

One advantage we have as small dog owners, if our dogs do tire or have problems, we can simply pick them up and carry them the rest of the way home, so there's no need to push them beyond their limits, even if you are stuck on a hiking path, six miles from home (I once had to carry a bleeding Basset Hound to the vet, six New York City blocks away!).

While small dogs are not prone to this problem, you should also be aware of gastric bloat. Bloat is a situation where a dog's stomach builds up with gas. I don't think they know what actually causes it but I do know it is thought to be related to dogs swallowing air. It is potentially fatal. I bring this up because while you definitely want to provide water for your dog during exercise, you do not want him to be gulping his water. I usually carry pediolyte (sp?) with me mixed with water in a 1:1 ratio. I let my dog sip some (in other words, a few laps) before exercise, in between and after but I do not let him gulp it and will take it away from him if he starts to gulp his water. I also do not feed my dog his dinner or any large meal before or during exercise (I do feed treats while training for agility but these are giving in small pieces over the course of the training session).

Another you must be careful about his heat exhaustion. I literally dunk my dogs in water during hot days in order to keep them cool. I strongly recommend reading up on heat exhaustion (this would be a topic of another long post) and know the signs!

One of the best pieces of advice I've been given actually comes from my horse years. "Always trot the last mile home." Basically, it means you should sufficiently warm up your animal before exercise and after - just as you do for yourself when you exercise.

As for whether a Yorkie can walk three or four miles? Yes, he can, if he is properly conditioned and is in GOOD health. Don't just slap on your pup's leash and say "OK, we're going to a three mile hike today!" Especially with a new dog, I'd start with "OK, we're going to walk around the block today." And build from there. One block, into two, two into four and so on. Always with a good stretch beforehand and after (Chris Zink and Susann Clothier each offer stretching exercises in their books). IF I am going to jog, or do some agility/jump training, or jog my dog on a treadmill, I will also start out with a slow five minute walk beforehand and a slow five minute walk afterward.

The most important piece of advice I can give you is to learn to read your dog and know when he has had enough. Don’t push him and don't let him push himself past the point of exhaustion. Some dogs are very good at knowing when they have had enough and will "Tell" you. Others will work themselves into the ground. Growing up, we had a Yorkie who was insanely crazed about Basketballs. She would play with them until she had soars on her chin. IN order to keep her from playing herself, literally, to death, we wound up having to hide the basketballs! My little boy, is good at telling me when he needs a break. When we jog in the neighborhood, I usually, have him tied to me with a "Buddy System" Leash; he's wearing a harness (so that he can pull against the leash). When we start out, he's usually ahead of me and the leash is taunt. When he begins to tire, the leash will begin to sag. When he is running in tandem with me, I know he's had enough and we will slow to a walk and walk the rest of the way home.

[spydergurl]

[QUOTE=yorkipower]OK . . .couple of things:
Do you just feed your yorkie once a day? I am trying to cut my gurl down, the dr said she was 10 lbs overweight! She weighs 18 lbs!

[fridaelder]

Spidergurl, I feed my puppies 3 times a day (7AM, 1PM & 6PM).
Now Kramer lost weight, we start running together.