Dog Community

My 45 pound Yorkie

Posted : 12/5/2006 1:22:43 PM

Cord, my six year old Border collie, has an overbite and an open bite (his front teeth are rounded forward), so eating kibble is so difficult for him. He's also got this extremely inefficient trial dog metabolism, so it takes a huge amount of food to keep him in top condition. He's gotten to be a very lazy eater over the years thanks to his mouth problems, so it's hard to keep weight on him for that reason alone.

Sunday I was in a new store looking for food for Ben, and my eye fell on the row of Royal Canin dog foods. There was a food for Yorkshire terriers - "Softer, easier to chew, with flavor attractors for picky eaters!" Okay, it's a gimick. I looked at the ingredients. It was the good, the bad, but nothing too ugly, and the good outweighed the bad by a long shot. It's a 28/18 formula so it's good for working dogs.

So far it's perfect. Cord likes EVO okay, but he's in loooove with this stuff. He cleans his bowl and turns it over looking for more. It's like crack for dogs. I'm feeding it to Zhi too and you should see her run through all her tricks before the bowl hits the ground.

So apparently I have a 45 pound Yorkshire Terrier. And if this goes well he'll be a 49 pound Yorkie soon.

shamrockmommy

Posted : 12/5/2006 1:32:02 PM

LOL Well, whatever works- if he eats and gains weight, that's great!

tony

Posted : 12/5/2006 1:32:26 PM

I like Royal Canin, there foods seem to be among the most palatable foods, and I think it gives good results, when I first started reading your thread, I immediately thought of there Boxer food, it is designed to be easliy grasped since some boxers can have problems grabbing kibble.

sandra_slayton

Posted : 12/5/2006 1:59:12 PM

When Buck's kidneys cleared up and i could take him off that nasty tasting ( so m y vet said) Apparemtly most dogs do really like it.Science Diet, which he didn't like, and i still had some left, my vet GAVE some cans of the Royal Canin to mix with the SD so I could finished using the rest of what i had here. Buck often left some of the SD k/d the entire 3 m onths he was on it. But once i started mixing in a couple of spoons of the RC, he ate every kibble of the SD as it all had at least a hint of the RC on itl.

UrbanBeagles

Posted : 12/5/2006 2:52:54 PM

A bit OT, but if I'm remembering correctly, Royal Canin made a food for Boxers that had a unique shape to compliment the size/shape of their mouths. That may be easy for your dog to eat, if the Yorkie food doesn't work out, lol [

]

brookcove

Posted : 12/5/2006 11:05:58 PM

I'd be afraid the Boxer formula would be a "large breed" oriented ratio and energy level, but I'll check it out, thanks!

So far we've had our third helping of doggy crack today again. Plus of course his rmbs, which he's always loved, but rmbs just don't cut it as we go into lambing season here.

Luvntzus

Posted : 12/6/2006 12:11:50 AM

Softer, easier to chew, and flavor attractors sound great for Gingerbread! Unfortunately I looked at the ingredient list and I'm pretty sure he's allergic to about half of them. [

] Why can't they make a food like that without poultry, wheat, corn or brewer's yeast? Anyway, I hope the food works out for Cord!!

papillon806

Posted : 12/6/2006 1:15:52 AM

Luvntzus---your dog is allergic to all that at only a little over a year old?

**and I don't think any of the mini varieties have wheat in them

brookcove

Posted : 12/6/2006 9:13:34 AM

There's no wheat but there's corn gluten meal. Not horrible but not great for dogs with lots of sensitivities (and I'm a real un-fan of corn). There's several other things in there unsuitable for sensitive dogs but thankfully Cord can eat literally anything, just not big round kibbles.

Cord still thinks the RC Yorkshire 28 is doggy crack. I'm starting to feel just a bit of padding over his ribcage. He will look huge when he's got up to the right weight as he looks "normal" unless he's wet, because of his large frame and bushy coat. I do hope I can get him there before winter. My old standby, oatmeal, didn't work on him, and I was getting worried he'd freeze working in the early morning and during cold snaps. Yes, he's healthy by the way, just crazy. [8|]

Now the problem. I've got to find this stuff in a larger bag - I can only find the 15 pound bag and Cord's eating 4 cups a day. I imagine he'll level out at 3 cups plus rmbs once he's up to his ideal weight.

I wonder whether, as many dogs as I have, I could get one of those breeder deals from RC?

brookcove

Posted : 12/6/2006 9:26:17 AM

Oh, papillion, Ben's been sensitive to grains since he was a pup. His other sensitivities developed later (beef, venision, chicken), but the problems with grains have always been there.

dogslyfe

Posted : 12/6/2006 9:28:35 AM

I wonder whether, as many dogs as I have, I could get one of those breeder deals from RC?

Might could! Particularly with the rescues thrown in.

Doggy Crack? [sm=rofl.gif] I can't wait to see what Cord looks like up to weight!

papillon806

Posted : 12/6/2006 10:48:59 AM

I know you can get the mini varieties in 15 lb bags (I got that size when I was feeding it to Wolfie). But I do think that is the biggest, lol.

BTW--I just mentioned the allergy thing because it's VERY rare that a dog that young is allergic to certain foods (rare, but it can happen). Usually food allergies take years to develop....when it comes up that early, it's usually a genetic issue.

brookcove

Posted : 12/6/2006 11:41:38 AM

when it comes up that early, it's usually a genetic issue.

Next time you pick up your Merck, look up "genetic issues" and you'll see poor Ben's picture next to the article. [

]

jennie_c_d

Posted : 12/6/2006 1:40:40 PM

BTW--I just mentioned the allergy thing because it's VERY rare that a dog that young is allergic to certain foods (rare, but it can happen). Usually food allergies take years to develop....when it comes up that early, it's usually a genetic issue.

Emma's picture is next to Ben's, in Merck, but she was allergic to things from birth, as far as I can tell. When I got her, at nine weeks, she was already allergic to chicken and oats. Other things were discovered, over time. Corn was found out almost immediately.

Erica Saunders

Posted : 12/6/2006 3:34:49 PM

Hey Brookcove,

The RC Medium Energy formula is very similar to the Yorkie formula except even more energy dense and more likely available in bigger bags. Might be worth a try?