My mother's Yorkie is a very picky eater

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Our question this week was:

My mother's Yorkie is a very picky eater. She will hardly eat anything. Do you have a good recipe for dog food she can try?

Thank you.

Vicki Campbell

Answer

Hi – thanks for your email. It seems like out of all the breeds, Yorkies can be the fussiest little things when it comes to eating. It seems many Yorkies just don't have big appetites. Unlike some breeds, such as many Labradors (who live to eat), Yorkies will often eat to live.

This becomes especially tedious when they are puppies or they become ill.

The best food to feed is an AAFCO approved food formulated to meet your dogs age and size. Diets such as Hill's Science Diet Small Breed food or Iams foods are very good. You may also try a canned formulation of a premium food.

The problem with many homemade diets is that they can lack essential vitamins and nutrients that dogs needs.

When fed over a long time, this can create a nutritional problem. Most homemade diets that I recommend are short-term solutions to problems (such as after a dog has had some vomiting or diarrhea, or pets that have kidney failure and won't eat the canned formulations for that food). I'd recommend trying some of the premium foods until you find one that your dog likes.

An article that might be helpful to you is on our Petplace.com is "Nutrition in Dogs"


Best of luck!


Dr. Jon



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