My Yorkie puppy eats slow. Should I change her food to Eukanuba?

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. If Teddy is healthy and doing well, I would not jump to switching his food. Royal Canin is one of the best pet foods out there. First, be sure that he is not having any other problems causing him not to eat well. Be sure he does not have any mouth pain or GI problems. This may require a vet visit if you're unsure. If Teddy is 6 lbs, his daily amount of food should be around 1/2 of a measuring cup or slightly less, so it is not a large amount of food. Be sure you are using a measuring cup to accurately assess how much he is being fed per day. Be sure that he isn't getting many other treats during the day, as a small dog can fill up quickly with a couple treats. If you truly feel that Royal Canin is not the best of Teddy then Hill's Science diet or Iams Eukanuba are equivalent quality foods. But do not switch his food frequently as you may create a picky eater. Be sure to do any diet changes gradually over the course of a week, mixing the food gradually.

Small dogs like Yorkies are notoriously picky eaters especially when human food is offered. The best advise is to offer a small sized kibble and leave it in the bowl without offering any table food. You can soften the kibble with a little bit of water if that helps. Dogs typically won't starve themselves so he should eat it eventually. I would also have his teeth examined by a veterinarian to make sure he doesn't have dental disease making it painful to eat.

As long as she eats and is not losing weight, don't stress out over it. It is true that smaller breeds can be a bit more finicky. Switching foods would not be recommended as it can lead to gastrointestinal upset and reinforce her finicky nature. Instead, try mixing in a bit of warm water or a teaspoon of baby food to stimulate the appetite.

The most common cause for a pet not to eat their food is illness. If she ate her non-urinary diet well before and now she suddenly won't eat it, that's suspicious. I recommend to call your veterinarian and have her examined. It also sounds like she needs to eat the urinary diet for her health. These diets often come in canned and dried formula. You may also try switching the brand of urinary food. I hope this helps and they figure it out quickly.

She’s tiny, she could have low sugar or hypoglycemia. This can become life threatening. Please give her a 1/2 teaspoonful of honey or Karo syrup. You can rub it into her gums if she won’t lick it. I would try to have her eat small amounts of small breed puppy food at least six times daily until she’s bigger and stronger. If you still can’t get her to eat she will need veterinary treatment soon. This is a serious medical problem. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for your puppy.

It would be better is she was switched to an adult dog food. Small breed dog foods are typically a small pellet. Eukanuba has a small breed adult dog food so you could try that and see if she is able to eat that food. You should gradually switch to the adult food as an abrupt change may cause some gastrointestinal issues.

Dogs are lucky in that if they don't eat for a day or two there's no harm done. Cats will suffer liver damage after a few days, dogs just get hungry. As long as she is otherwise healthy, I wouldn't worry about it too much if she has a picky day here or there. Keep an eye on the behavior, to be safe, and see if there seems to be anything that seems to trigger the event, so you can keep your vet informed. If you do decide to change her food, don't do it abruptly. Make sure you have enough of the old food for about a week. You can change her over a couple of different ways. One method is to mix the two foods, 75% old, 25% new in a single bowl for 23 days, then 50% of each for a few days, then 25% old food, 75% new for 2-3 days or until you run out of the old food. Alternatively, you can offer two bowls of food, old food in one, new in the other. Gradually decrease the amount of new food until she is completely transitioned onto the new food. This will minimize and hopefully prevent any intestinal upset because of the new food. Feed the best food you can afford to as this will support optimal health which will, in turn, lead to fewer health problems later in life.