What to feed a Yorkshire terrier at home: what they can and cannot eat, how to create a diet and what food to choose

The Yorkshire Terrier is a small decorative dog with fragile health.

Due to their imperfect digestive system, any mistake related to nutrition leads to poor health and health problems.

Even before purchasing a Yorkie puppy, it is necessary to understand what foods are suitable for these dogs and, if possible, determine the type of food. This is especially true for miniature species, since they are more painful than standard representatives of the breed.

The health of a pet directly depends on the quality of food, and one of the main tasks of the owner is to organize a correct and balanced diet.

This article will talk about what to feed Yorkshire terriers at home, whether they can eat the same things as people, and how to properly create a diet for them, as well as how many times a day to give pets food.

Natural or artificial nutrition?

Yorkshire terriers eat both natural products and ready-made industrial food. The main thing is not to mix these two types of nutrition.

Both diets have their pros and cons.

By using ready-made food, there is no need to waste time preparing food for your dog. If chosen correctly, they do not cause allergies and contain vitamins and minerals necessary for the health and development of the pet.

Natural food is varied, which eliminates the possibility of overeating, but the dog must be given additional vitamins and minerals.

Expert opinion

Tolkachev Andrey Mikhailovich

veterinarian

Judging by my work experience, most Yorkie owners believe that feeding natural food means giving the dog leftovers from the common table, which is fundamentally wrong. Natural nutrition involves preparing food specifically for your pet and only using approved products. If, when choosing the type of food, the owner has doubts and uncertainty about natural products, it is better, in my opinion, to give preference to industrial feed. Moreover, on the modern market there are many high-quality feeds that have a good balanced composition.

General recommendations

For a month after purchasing a puppy, the best option is to feed it the same food that the breeder fed it, then gradually introduce new foods into the diet.

Basic feeding recommendations:

food should be at room temperature and cut into small pieces;
you need to feed 2-3 hours before walking or half an hour after;
you cannot give food from the table;
the amount of food depends on the age and physical activity of the pet;
with a natural diet, a serving should consist of 25% vegetables, 60% protein and 15% cereal.

IMPORTANT!

Yorkies are prone to obesity, so portion sizes need to be controlled.

Baby teeth

Yorkie is 4 months old his baby teeth are starting to bother him . They will be replaced by permanent teeth before the age of one . It is at the age of 4 months that you should start monitoring your puppy’s jaw - play a lot so that the teeth loosen faster, examine the jaw daily for swelling and wounds.

Important! If you see that a molar tooth is growing on a baby tooth, then you need to go to the veterinarian.

Natural food

Advantages and disadvantages

The main advantage of natural nutrition is the absence of artificial flavors, colors or flavor enhancers. The products are easily digestible and all the beneficial substances that enter the Yorkie’s body are of natural origin, and the menu is varied and does not get boring for the dog.

But “natural” also has significant disadvantages:

Preparing a balanced diet takes a lot of time;
food must be fresh, which means it needs to be cooked daily;
It is necessary to carefully control the quality and freshness of products.

Having given preference to a natural diet, you need to additionally give your pet a vitamin and mineral complex.

Authorized Products

The Yorkshire Terrier can and should eat:

boiled lean meat - rabbit, turkey, beef;
boiled offal - heart, lungs, liver;
cereals – rice, buckwheat or millet;
sea fish;
greenery.

NOTE!

To ensure that your Yorkie gets the necessary vegetable fats, you should sprinkle his food with olive or linseed oil.

In addition, several times a week you need to give your pet boiled yolk, cottage cheese, kefir, fermented baked milk, yogurt and boiled vegetables.

It is acceptable to introduce into the diet as a treat a small amount of low-fat cheese and fruits - plums, pears, apples, bananas, melon or watermelon.

What is strictly contraindicated?

Foods that Yorkies should never eat:

legumes (peas, lentils, beans);
corn;
pasta;
bread;
sweets;
fatty meats (pork, lamb);
smoked meats, pickles, marinades;
tubular bones;
cabbage, turnips, potatoes;
citruses;
grapes and raisins;
onion;
alcohol;
oatmeal and pearl barley;
milk;
seasonings;
fried foods;
raw chicken protein;
juice;
freshwater and fatty fish;
fatty cheese;
mushrooms.

CAREFULLY!

Neglect of nutritional rules and feeding your Yorkie with prohibited foods leads to the development of a number of diseases - dermatitis, flatulence, indigestion, kidney failure and underdeveloped limbs.

Caring for a Yorkshire Terrier puppy in the first days after birth

Yorkie puppies are born within half an hour of each other . It happens that a terrier giving birth for the first time does not understand what to do, so consult your doctor in advance about how to help the dog.

When born, Yorkshire Terrier puppies are blind, deaf and have no teeth . In addition, they are black . The weight of a newborn Yorkie puppy is approximately 70 to 125 grams .

Important! With their first breath, newborn Yorkies scream loudly; they must breathe through their nose. A few minutes later, he begins to navigate and look for his mother's nipple - this is an innate instinct. If the puppy is weak and breathes through its mouth, then you need to call a veterinarian or a breeder who has experience in giving birth to this breed.

How to care for a Yorkshire Terrier puppy? In the first days, their mother takes care of them . After the mother has licked all the puppies , examine them - their bodies should be elastic.

For several days the babies sleep and eat all the time . They have stool up to 4-5 times a day. Therefore, change diapers often in the playpen where the dog lives with newborns.

Babies should be active, crawl, look for their mother’s nipple, and at this time you don’t have to touch them - just keep an eye on them. She licks and turns them over herself.

Advice ! If puppies are crying and whining, they are probably low on milk or have a stomach ache. If the puppy's belly is swollen, give it to the dog and apply butter to the puppy's anus so that she can lick it and help the baby.

What to feed a Yorkie puppy if
there is not enough milk, then artificial supplementation is introduced .
There are specialized mixtures or you can prepare them yourself - take 400 - 500 ml of milk, one yolk and a tablespoon of dry cream .

The mixture is stirred until the dry matter is completely dissolved, heated to 35° and fed to the babies.

If a tragic situation occurs and the babies are left without a mother, then you need to urgently consult with the breeder or a veterinarian , who will clearly explain the intricacies of caring for newborns. Ideally, you need to find a nursing dog.

If this is not possible, then for the first week, feed with formula milk 12-20 times a day , constantly wipe, turn and almost never leave the baby.

Industrial feed

Advantages and disadvantages

Industrial feeds have both advantages and disadvantages.

Pros:

hygienic if stored correctly;
balance and content of the required amount of useful micro- and macroelements;
ease of use;
long shelf life;
ease of use while traveling;
no time spent on cooking.

In addition, dry food granules are coated with a special composition that cleans teeth from plaque and tartar.

Minuses:

may contain harmful chemicals;
The dog quickly gets bored of the same food;
difficulty in choosing the right food due to unfair advertising.

Varieties

Ready-made food comes in several classes, depending on the composition and quality of the ingredients:

economy (Pedigree, Chappi, “Gurman”, “Nasha Marka”, Darling) – contains low quality ingredients, possibly containing soy, beans, dyes and flavoring additives;
premium (Royal Canin, Brit, Hill's, ProPlan) - made from meat and offal with the addition of vegetables, but not always enriched with vitamin and mineral complexes;
super-premium (Monge, Acana, Eukanuba, Bosch) - products for production are selected as carefully as possible, containing vitamins and minerals.

Also, almost all companies produce hypoallergenic food based on rabbit, lamb, pike perch or salmon meat, as well as vegetables and rice, and holistic food, the composition of which is closest to natural nutrition.

Which to choose?

Economy class products are not suitable for feeding the Yorkshire Terrier - such foods may contain pesticides, antibiotics and meat waste from the slaughterhouse.

What kind of food should you feed your pet then?

Here is a rating of the best food for Yorkshire terriers:

Acana . The food is produced by a Canadian company and belongs to the holistic class - only high-quality natural products are used for its production. The food is based on meat (more than 60%), fruits and vegetables. Contains no corn, grains or by-products. The main feature is different lines for all categories of dogs;
Orijen . This is also a holistic product made in Canada. The food is enriched with proteins, natural vitamins (vegetables and medicinal herbs), there are no by-products, the content of natural meat is more than 40%;
Bozita . Super premium complete food made in Sweden. There are no by-products or flavorings in the composition. It is important to ensure that the meat content is not lower than 30%;
Monge . Italian super premium food. For Yorkies, the Mini Puppy & Junior line is recommended. In the feed, by-products do not replace meat, and the flavors and additives used are natural and permitted;
Brit caret . Czech super premium food. It has several variations, taking into account the age, weight, characteristics and activity of the dog. The composition does not include by-products, flavorings and chemical additives, and the percentage of meat is from 40%.

The percentage of meat content in any food should not be lower than 25%.

Also popular are food brands Royal Canin, ProPlan, Mera Dog - they have lines for puppies, pregnant and lactating bitches, adult and old dogs, dogs with health problems.

Ready-made industrial food is represented not only by dry food, but also by canned food. Their difference lies in the amount of water - in wet food there is 80% more of it.

Advantages of Royal Canina over other brands

This dog food is a premium food. No brand of dog food has such a wide range as Royal Canin dog food.

REFERENCE! There are 16 types of dry food, more than 20 types of food for adult dogs; in addition, food for the treatment or prevention of diseases is also produced separately.

Thanks to this, the owner of absolutely any dog can choose the necessary option. At the same time, food of this brand has a fairly low cost and can be purchased at any pet store.

What vitamins are needed?

For normal growth and development, Yorkies require the following vitamins:

vitamin A – is responsible for the growth and development of the body, promotes the formation of new cells and tissues, helps maintain healthy skin and mucous membranes, improves immunity;
vitamin E – antioxidant of vitamin A, prevents the formation of peroxides and infertility, regulates the reproduction process;
vitamin D – is responsible for the exchange of calcium and phosphorus, participates in the development of bone tissue, its lack leads to rickets, frequent fractures, and bone deformations;
Vitamin K – is responsible for blood clotting and has antibacterial properties.

IMPORTANT!

With a prolonged absence of vitamins in the diet, symptoms of vitamin deficiency appear, and excess amounts can lead to poisoning.

The most popular and effective nutritional supplements:

Calcidee is a mineral supplement containing large amounts of calcium and phosphorus;
Excel – contains substances that help enrich the diet;
Glucosamine with chondroxide - helps strengthen ligaments and cartilage, promotes calcium absorption.

Veterinarians also recommend Multitonic, a seafood-based supplement that contains the amino acids dogs need:

arginine;
lysine;
methionine;
histidine;
threonine;
leucine;
phenylalanine;
tryptophan;
valine

How to feed a puppy?

During the first weeks after birth, the puppy eats only mother's milk.

Complementary foods are introduced to a one-month-old puppy, gradually adding new products, as shown in the table:

Age	Menu	Number of feedings
1 month	Lean meat, cottage cheese, kefir, warm milk	6
2-3 months	Meat, low-fat sea fish, kefir, low-fat cottage cheese, vegetables (beets, bell peppers, pumpkin), green apples	5
4-5 months	The diet remains unchanged	4
6-12 months	To the previous menu you need to add boiled beef heart or liver	3

A one-year-old puppy should be fed twice a day: morning and evening.

Sample menu for York for a week

Once you have figured out what vegetables you can give your Yorkshire Terrier, you can start creating a menu. There are quite a lot of options for weekly meals. They all change depending on the weight of the animal.

Expert opinion

Kuzmenko Olga Olegovna

Information about the expert

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There should be about 60 grams of food per kilogram of weight per day.”

Split meals are allowed at the discretion of the owner, but usually food is given in the morning, afternoon and evening.

The approximate weekly schedule is as follows:

Day of the week	Morning	Day	Evening
Monday	Millet porridge and boiled chicken	Ryazhenka or kefir	Boiled rice, turkey and bell pepper
Tuesday	Ryazhenka, cottage cheese and greens	Bran and fish	Buckwheat porridge, cabbage and offal
Wednesday	Corn porridge and carrots	Ryazhenka or kefir	Boiled turkey, millet and beets
Thursday	Rice porridge and greens	Apple and cottage cheese	Barley porridge, boiled rabbit meat
Friday	Buckwheat and apple	Kefir	Rice, boiled chicken and carrots
Saturday	Barley porridge and offal	Cottage cheese and carrots	Boiled beef, pumpkin or zucchini
Sunday	Stewed vegetables and chicken	Kefir	Boiled buckwheat, finely chopped vegetables

Feeding an adult dog

Regardless of the diet, it is necessary to follow a feeding regimen - this has a beneficial effect on digestion and the stability of the gastrointestinal tract.

An adult dog should be fed twice a day, focusing on the optimal proportions of foods when preparing the diet:

50% – animal protein;
25% – fruits and vegetables;
25% – cereals.

Approximate diet:

meat – 80 g;
cereals – 20 g;
fruits and vegetables – 40 g;
fermented milk products – 20 gr.

The serving size depends on the age, metabolism and physical activity of the pet.

NOTE!

In the diet for older dogs, it is necessary to reduce the amount of proteins and fats and increase the content of carbohydrates and dietary fiber, as well as add glucosamine and chondroitin.

How to avoid obesity?

Obesity in Yorkies can be caused by overeating, lack of physical activity, lack of diet or imbalance.

Excess body weight leads to health problems:

heart diseases;
respiratory dysfunction;
diabetes;
liver dysfunction;
joint diseases;
high blood pressure;
deterioration in appearance;
reduction in life expectancy.

To exclude the possibility of obesity in a Yorkie, it is necessary to control its diet - food must contain the required amount of vitamins and minerals, and the nutritional value is selected in accordance with the energy costs and age of the dog.

It is also necessary to follow the feeding regime.

Prohibited Products

Like all other dog breeds, Yorkies have their own list of prohibited foods:

boiled bones (especially tubular chicken bones);
white bread and rolls;
spices, salt and sugar;
chocolate products;
canned food, smoked meats and pickles;
sausages;
raw pork;
River fish.

This is a general list of foods that are harmful to any dog. It is worth consulting with the puppy's breeder, because even when breeding dogs within the same kennel, there may be some deviations and additions.

Feeding during pregnancy

A pregnant or lactating bitch needs a special diet and more frequent feeding.

With a natural diet, the basis of the menu should be lean meat with the addition of fermented milk products, vegetables, boiled quail eggs, chopped cottage cheese and beef liver. Additional vitamins and minerals are needed.

When feeding commercial food, you should switch to products intended for pregnant and lactating dogs. Vitamins are not required, they should be given after childbirth.

Useful video

Video materials demonstrate cooking options for Yorkies and feeding methods. They are worth watching to avoid serious mistakes when developing a diet for your dog.