Royal Canin Yorkie Mix and Bully Sticks
 

Hi there!

Just my experience with these two products.

I'll start with Bully Sticks. We ordered from best bully sticks. Optimus was not interested at all. They varied in color from dark to light and we tried one of each color -- he hasn't chewed on a single one yet. I will probably end up giving them away. As far as the smell -- unless you shove them in your nose they are relatively smell-free. I imagine they don't stink until the dog starts chewing.

I was sad because I wanted these to be his special in-crate treat, but he really wasn't interested. Oh well! Doesn't mean they are bad, just that not all dogs will like them. The shipping and service on the site was super fast and excellent.

Royal Canin Yorkie Mix --

He *LOVES* it. FINALLY a food he likes. We couldn't get him to eat regularly (which makes potty training very difficult). He would only eat his food when he was so hungry he had no choice. With this stuff -- he can't get enough. He gobbles it down the instant it hits the bowl, and is eating regularly every single time.

The con? It took a long time to get him "used" to the food. I did the tempering thing and went 3/4 old food 1/4 new food. That was too much. He was sick for almost a week. Eventually we had to do a few nuggets at a time increasing by 2-3 each day. After 2 weeks of tummy troubles (peeing out of his butthole) he finally got used to it and can eat a whole bowl and be fine.

So in the end -- LOVE this brand (so much so we switched our cats to the RC cat food too and by gosh THEY love it). My advice would be to introduce it very slowly. Just for reference we switched from Orijen.

I'm glad you found a food that Optimus likes. As for the bully sticks try dabbing a little bit of peanut butter on one end to entice him to start chewing.

Or maybe chew them a little in front of him - show him how it's done? :D :eek: :D

Yep!

We can get RC locally at a place called Pet Supplies PLUS! On the outside it looks like a run-down version of petco. On the inside it is a great place.

I'd try the peanut butter trick but -- he HATES peanut butter. If he gets any in his mouth he'll hang his mouth open and whine til I get it out.

I'll substitute some cheese -- he can't get enough cheese.

I get my bully sticks from Westbrookdog.com and I cannot keep them in the house. My crew LOVE them. Great price too.

That's the reason I switched to RC, he really loved it and I love the small size. I do use it for training and treats, and he always seems to be thrilled. Another thing you can try with the bully sticks is boil an inch of water in a cup in the microwave. It only takes about 30 seconds. Set the bully stick in the cup and boil about 30 seconds more, this will soften the tip and make the odor come out a little more, you do need to cool it by running cold water over it. We use Merrick Bully sticks and they are very hard, it takes Joey at least a week to eat one, so this works well for us.

I wouldn't give up on the bully sticks. Sometimes Gracie will go several days without chewing and then she will want to chew quite a bit. They are one of the safest things for a dog to chew on. Maybe your little guy has just not been in the mood.

Sooooooo....have you tried the cheese?:D