Some Shocking Facts About Feeding Yorkies

Getting Nutrition Right For Your Yorkie is Paramount

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With literally dozens of choices of food for the dog owner to choose from what does a Yorkshire Terrier owner do? There's high protein and low fat and large bites, small bites and even foods developed for the Yorkshire Terrier! There's dry and canned and frozen and fresh.

Dogs have never had so many choices or such a reliance on their owners to choose the right ones.

The variety of foods is often advertised to appeal to the owners, with pictures of top cuts of meat and "wholesome" vegetables.

It seems many manufacturing places forget that left to their own devices dogs, including a Yorkshire Terrier will eat the rabbit that died two days ago and consider it a treat! Of course that is less than pleasing for our sensibilities, but what a dog's natural diet is and what passes for a "balanced" diet can vary.

Many people question the quality of ingredients in commercial foods, while others love the convenience.

In April 2007 over 100 brands of canned dog and cat food were recalled from contamination of melamine that killed many pets.

Distraught owners wanted answers - they trusted the manufacturer, who bought a lower cost ingredient that was contaminated.

Owners fed their trusting dogs and lost them.

Many used canned food for tempting older dogs, or dogs that had been sick - both cases the least able to handle any contamination or stress to their already fragile systems.

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Small dogs like the teacup Yorkshire Terrier often have somewhat less reserve, and less exposure/resistance to things than big dogs do.

Many owners have never returned to canned food and many left commercial foods completely.

An early crude version of dog food was developed in the late 1800s, followed by Milkbone biscuits in 1907.

In the 1920s Ken-L-Ration introduced canned foods which increased to 91% of the market by 1941, due to the cheap use of horsemeat.

In World War II it was the tin, not the food, that was hard to come by, and dry dog food quickly became the staple of a dog's diet.

Purina led the charge and many other companies joined the quest for America's pet food dollar.

All supported the "culture of dependence" - advising never supplement with anything else and feed only from the box/bag.

Increasingly grains were used to cut costs as meat costs rose.

All dog food is regulated as to definitions of ingredients, such as what "by-products" may and may not include.

The dry and canned food can be doled out in recommended amounts by the owner without a thought of if it's enough.

Eukanuba and Royal Canin both have specific food developed for the Yorkshire terrier, with small bites to make it easy for them to eat and special coat formulas to help skin and coat issues.

Lesser known foods such as Taste Of The Wild have duck, bison and other options available for your Yorkshire terrier's tastes.

There are more products available than just canned and dry foods.

Frozen meals your Yorkshire Terrier can dine on are available from companies such as Farmore, Nature's Variety and Bil-Jac.

Like the other foods it is already formulated - you simply thaw and feed.

Ostrich, bison, chicken, lamb and beef are just some of the choices and because of the nutrient density it takes less to fill them up.

To meet the needs of a moderately active Yorkshire terrier, Nature's Variety recommends two of their "medallions", a pre-measured one ounce nugget.

For those wishing to go further and be more involved in changing your Yorkshire Terrier's diet there is also the BARF - Bones And Raw Food - diet.

With this your Yorkshire Terrier gets fresh meats and bone at a rate of 2-4% of their body weight per day.

This is divided proportionately into meaty bones, muscle meat (including ground meats) and organ meats.

While you may think 2 ounces is not enough for your Yorkshire Terrier consider small dogs don't need to consume a great deal of food.

For those purchasing direct this may be an option, using chicken, beef, fish, pork, lamb and rabbit as well as, for those who have it available, venison, duck, goose and other meats.

RAW meaty bones is the key - cooked bones can splinter and cause injury.

Even teacup Yorkies can handle many foods that can surprise you, but remember the amounts are important and don't overfeed.

This is real food without fillers! There is a wide range of foods available for dog owners to feed and a great many decisions to be made for your Yorkshire Terrier.

A good quality food is a basis of his health and ability to survive.

Always avoid toxic treats like chocolate and raisins.

It doesn't take much dark chocolate to kill even a larger dog.

Getting your Yorkshire Terrier on an appropriate diet that fits your budget and his health is a very important part of pet ownership.

The dog food dangers website covers more of these issues.

Take care and I will be back with another report later.

All the best.

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