Pro's and Con's of feeding a yorkie....
 

I am wondering how you guys feed your yorkies
A) leave the food down all day and they eat when they want
B) At a certain time in the day they get their food

Also what are some Pro's and Con's you've found in feeding your dog that way

Thanks in advance
Jess

I'd like to know this, too

i feel lexi in the morning, dryand wet mixed and leave only dry food out all day and all night, when i get home in the evening i feed her again, just alittle bit though...if she gets hungry during the day, she eats her dry food

I free feed and give her a little wet in the evening for dinner.

I free feed my dogs dry food. There is always fresh dry food down for them -- day or night.

i leave the food down all day and they eat when they want dry nutro & eukanuba Con's they are fat ...lol pro's they are happy ....fat & happy yay we should all be so lucky..lol

I free feed mine the dry and give them a half a tin of Lil caesars each in the morning

i have oscar on a schedule kind of like feeding a new baby. it works out so much better for us if we stay on sort of a schedule for him. i do leave a small amount of dry food out...but he doesnt eat this 99% of them time. i just like to have it available in case he needs it. i feel like the more comfortable i make him with the food schedule the better his body will function. just like in humans.. if we allow ourselves to be regulated...everything including our digestive system will appreciate it. i home make his food so he knows that when he sees me warming something up in the microwave... hes about to get his meal...his going potty schedule has followed in line with his eating schedule too..which saves my carpet and my nerves from trying to make sure hes not going somewhere hes not suppose to!

that is interesting making your own food is there some recipes to do this? I think I would like to try that
Thanks again
Jess

I feed Loki at 6:30 and then at 4:30, give or take an hour. The good part is that I know when he needs to go outside! It's just easier because if he had access to food all day he would either A. Eat too much B. Eat it all in the morning and then be hungry C. Not eat because he was at the groomer/daycare/training/shopping with us/etc. and he doesn't have access to food or D. Poop randomly or more often. Make sense?

Buddy gets feed twice a day. I do not leave food down during the day.
This way I know exactly what he eats. At 6:30 am he gets his 1/2 c
kibble with fresh chicken breast. At 6:00 pm he gets the same.
Never leaves his food bowl with food in it.
It is the recommended amount of food for his age and weight.
Of course he get treats before I leave in his kong and again around
8:00 pm. He comes and gets me. How he knows what time it is amazes me.
But everynight at the same time 8:00 he comes and whines next to me for him night treat.

I leave dry Canidae down 24/7 for snackiepoos. In the evening I feed Canidae mixed with a small amount of high quality canned food which they gobble right down. My guys are very active ... the evening meal is just to be sure that they get enough calories.

That's exactly what I do.

We pretty much do the same thing especially because hubby and I work, but I think that because of this he is gaining weight, in a lapse of one week, my Tyler gained 1lb. So now I try to take his food when I am home

I have a related question to those of you who feed wet food. I will sometimes give him green beans, potatoes, chicken, etc. when we eat those things but I never really give him canned food HOWEVER I just bought a can of Merrick and I was *extremely* impressed. It looks and smells (and probably tastes) like a real stew or chicken pot pie I would like to give him this occasionally but I can only get the big cans. I only want to give him canned occasionally so what should I do? Freeze it? Give it 3 days in a row and then not for a week? Ideas?? I don't feel right leaving it more than 3 days in the fridge.

For adult dogs I leave the dry food out at all times. I don't like to get into a habit of feeding wet because they will wait for the wet meals and not eat the dry. Dogs that are fed wet meals also tend to be picky eaters. I have never had an overweight Yorkie, but I am home with them all day long and they have each other so they don't eat out of boredom. I do feed wet meals occasionally, just not on a routine basis, more of a treat. I like to do this because if I have to go out of town for 24 hours, I know they will be just fine by themselves.

im actually in the search for more recipes right now but i do have a few that are fool proof... my oscar was a finicky eater and this way i personally know and responsible for whats in his food and what quality the food is. i make a general chicken liver stew that he always loves and that i actually use as a base and mix with other things such as a little fruit and sweet veggies (i use organic baby food alot of the time.. its suupppeerr convenient) the chicken liver stew is
1/2-3/4 lb chicken livers
(sometimes if i have extra meats laying around ill throw them in as well such as veal scallopinis that i chopped up and threw in yday..he loved it)
2-3 carrots chopped
2-3 celery stalks chopped
2 cups brown rice
i brown the livers and other optional meats and then add the veggies to soften up...i almost always use Extra Virgin Olive Oil to do this
after they are all browned and softened i fill with water to cover and then add about an additional cup (for the rice)
i sometimes add an organic beef bouillion cube (or subsitute a cup of beef stock)
i add the rice and stir and allow everything to cook and come together
i have a hand puree' mixer (some people call it a boat motor) that i puree everything with in the pan... i just like it to be soft enough for oscar and this way he cant pick and choose what he will eat out of it.
i seperate it into different tupperware dishes and freeze what ill need in the days/weeks to come...i just pop one into the microwave and his meal is ready!
i often mix it with goats milk, yogurt, cottage cheese, fruits and other veggies...he absolutely loves it.
i have other recipes if you would liek those as well!

I only leave food in Rocky's cage during the day because he doesn't eat until later, and I don't want him to go hungry. We take his food away at 6pm though. Sooner or later I'll work on getting him to eat sooner. I'm just to scared to have him go all day without eating.

Be very careful in feeding liver, know what you are doing - it is on the foods to avoid list because high concentrations of Vitamin A are toxic. Vitamin A overdose has also been linked to babies being born with cleft palates if given to pregnant Moms.

Baby actually enjoys the dry! I guess it depends on what kind you buy. Even after she eats her wet, we go upstairs, and sometime later she'll be pawing her upstair,s bowl for some dry. So I'll put a tad in, and then she'll be pawing for some more. If I don't pay attention, she paws louder! LOLOL

I leave food and water all day but I heard its not good cause
You can't tell if they're eating
They can eat too much and then they'll be overweight
and you can't tell when they have to go out unless they're trained

i was getting really freaked out when i decided to make all of oscar's food..trying to figure out what is good and what is bad( the list are outrageous and often times contradict each other).. and then i made the decision to feed him like i would myself.. a good balanced meal. since he is under chiropractic care and his nervous system is working at its peak level..oscar doesnt have the low tolerances/low toxin immunity that other dogs sometimes do. we had him checked at the vet and by a friend who is a nutritionist and they were suprised at how his body uses and then discards all the things that it can not and does not want to process unlike the majority of dogs and cats whose bodies are prone to being more "picky" about the vitamins,minerals, and levels of protein that it will take...its pretty cool. the only thing that i have to worry about for him is the chocolate thing...im just not up for druggin him with caffieine like that lol.

Adonis is 5 years old, so I free feed him.

Now since I'm working on potty training Venus, I free feed her in the day, and take the food up at 7pm.

I free feed Ferdinand - but at night he doesn't have access to it as he's in his crate. During the day he's in the gated laundry room with his food. I'm just really afraid with him being so small to put him on a feeding schedule because if no one's home we can't look for signs of hypoglycemia.

I feed dry twice a day 5 am and 5 pm.. I count the pieces out and fed Wysong Anergen.. a very good food. once in a while, carrot pieces , a little pasta, maybe a dry cracker.. he is 4 .5 lbs.. very healthy..

I feed Teddy about 3 x a day his Royal Canin dry food, although I am thinking about switching foods. I don't leave his food out all day because if I do he would eat ALL the time, so I don't want him to get fat but he eats morning, afternoon and for dinner. If I am out of the house and leave him alone then I leave food there just in case he gets hungry but usually he eats it right away.

I feed Daisy in the morning and at night. I can't leave the food out all day or my Sheltie will get fat and Daisy will get thin. I give her 1/2 cup of Nutro natural choice puppy in the morning and at night. She also gets a few small biscuits. :)

I used to leave Rosie's food out in the mornings and in the evenings. If she wouldn't eat I would still pick it up. She was a real picky eater, so she would not eat it most of the time I put it down. She started throwing up and the vet said it might be because she's hungry. I felt so bad when the vet said it's because she's hungry, so I started leaving her food down all the time. I heard it's best to keep them on a schedule. Kind of like how they say to keep children on a schedule. In my situation though I would rather want her to eat instead of starving my little one.