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Feeding Stages
Yorkie puppies are
very small, so you should not be surprised if
they eat only a tablespoon or so of dry kibble
at a time. They should be fed 3-4 times a day to
start initially.
Remember, your Yorkie is
just like any other child, he has to be reminded
to slow down and take a nap, it is very
important not to overexert your Yorkie puppy. He
needs a healthy balance of eating quality food
and exercise. Never let him go more then 8 hours
without eating.
Feeding your Yorkie can be as complicated as you choose
to make it. Approached with a little common sense, however,
determining and meeting your Yorkies nutritional needs can
be quite simple.
Just like humans, Yorkies progress through various stages
of growth, development, maturation, and aging. Each stage
has attendant nutritional and health needs.
- Birth to Eight Weeks
- Within a few hours of birth, a Yorkie puppy should begin
to nurse from their mother. In the first few days, the
mother will provide a particularly rich milk known as colostrum. This "birth-milk" is unusually highly packed
with nutrients and contains antibodies that help prevent
infection in young puppies.
- Yorkies should normally nurse until they are about six to
eight weeks of age, although this can be supplemented with
puppy food as early as about three weeks.
- Eight Weeks to Twelve Months:
- Puppies are in a growth phase during this time of
life and should have food that meets the demands of this
growth. We feed our puppy's Nutro Puppy Food.
We highly recommend that you continue using this
food. If you want to change to another brand, do
so slowly over a period of a week or more, as
this will minimize digestive upsets.
- Do not overfeed your Yorkie during this time period.
Overfeeding can cause a variety of skeletal defects that
will cause problems all of your Yorkies life.
- Puppies may need as many as four meals a day until about
12 weeks old. Between 12 weeks and about a year, your
Yorkie should be fed three times a day.
- 1 Year to 7 Years:
- This is the adult stage in Yorkie development. The
growth phase is over and one could consider the goal of your
feeding program to be "maintenance". We have
preferred the Nutro line for a few years for the
nutritional value and the vitamins and minerals that
yield great coats on the yorkies. Depending on the
weight of the dog and dog's personal taste, there are a
wide variety for you to choice for them.
- 7 Years and Over:
- These are considered the mature, or geriatric, years for
a Yorkie. Just as at other your Yorkies other life
transitions, you need to adjust their diet to his or her
changing needs. We still pick an appropriate Nutro
food to meet the dog's needs.
Note: We prefer to feed our dogs hard food verses soft
foods because it helps keeps there teeth cleanest between
brushings and we have fewer tarter problems this way.
HYPOGLYCEMIA:
This is a central nervous system disorder
caused by low blood sugar and can be caused by
stress, improper diet or a missed meal, chills,
becoming exhausted from too much playing, or
having a digestive upset. The puppy may simply
appear to be depressed or he may be weak, wobbly
and jerky, or he may be found in a coma. Puppies
that usually are affected are the smaller ones
that need monitoring until they are at least 2
pounds.
TREATMENT: Begin at once . If
the puppy is awake, give a small amount of Karo syrup. He will begin to improve within 30
minutes. When he is unconscious he will have to
be given a dextrose solution intravenously. Your
veterinarian should be call immediately. Time is
of the essence
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