9 week old Yorkshire Terrier Feeding Question

[taylorgal53]

Hi,

I have a 9 week old, 0.6 lb Yorkshire Terrier on my hands ("friend" bought her and is moving out of the country so I said of course I'll take a free puppy) and I am unsure if we are feeding her right. My friend said that she was told to feed her 25 pieces of kibble three times a day. This dog is eating it so fast, but I'm not sure if that's normal or if it's that we're starving her. And recently she ate some of her poop.

Any thoughts on this would be extremely appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[jep4christ]

@taylorgal53 Eating poop won't kill her, but obviously that's not something she should be doing. I know it wasn't on purpose, dogs get like, 40 times faster when they're doing something naughty. Definitely keep her feces cleaned up so she doesn't get into it.

9 wks is very young, she's been away from her mother for a week. She really needs to go to the vet and you need to get your information from them, not from Internet strangers. They'll hook you up with proper food, make sure she's got a good start and get her on a vaccine schedule.

 

[janine_h25]

@taylorgal53 That doesn’t sound like enough, but a bag of kibble will have recommended feeding guidelines based on weight and age on them so you can figure it out.

 

[imagebeastmarkbeast]

@janine_h25 Second this. Go with what the bag says as a starting point and adjust as needed.

A lot of puppies eat poop, probably moreso from disreputable breeders that don't keep the puppy pens clean, but she'll probably grow out of it especially if you keep everything picked up.

(What kind of idiot buys a puppy when they are moving out of the country a week later?)

 

[pippideb]

@taylorgal53 Buy a high quality bag of dog food or cans of wet food. Something without wheat, corn, soy, or byproducts. Use the feeding guidelines on the packaging. There is food specifically for small breed puppies, and there is also all life stages food that is good for puppy, adult, and senior.

Over time, the poop eating should lessen, but there are products on the market (specifically ones called Stop Eating Poop, or SEP) that can help curb that behavior if it continues.