Best Dog Food For Yorkies (2023’s Top 5 Picks)

Best Dog Food For Yorkies - Our Top 5 Picks

Pick #1 - Wellness Complete Health Small Breed Dry Dog Food

Adequate Nutritional Profile For Small Dogs Like Yorkies: Despite the fact that high quality adult dog food contains high amounts of protein (because adult dogs need high amounts of proteins coming from sources like chicken, lamb and beef), Wellness have taken into consideration the fact that your small Yorkie doesn't need as much high amounts of proteins in their diet because of their small size and light(er) weight.

While other dog foods have protein content among the lines of 35-40%, which is somewhat too much for a dog the size and weight of a Yorkie, this food has a much more convenient amount of protein for your Yorkie of about 28%.

Also, this formula contains no sort of useless fillers such as wheat, soy or corn, and doesn't contain any harmful meat by-products as well.

These two are critical when it comes to buying a trusted dog food brand for your Yorkie.

More Regulated Digestive System For Yorkies: Besides the well thought out and convenient protein content, the macro-nutrient and nutritional profile of this food is often credited to making small dogs like Yorkies "go potty" in a more regular and smoother way.

Pick #2 - Blue Buffalo BLUE Adult Small Breed Dry Dog Food

Impressive Natural Ingredient Approach: This dog food is a choice that many dog owners often get advised to feed their Yorkies suffering from health problems (such as digestive problems, stool irregularities, random vomiting and growth issues) thanks to the dominant profile of natural ingredients this food boasts.

Just like the Wellness Complete Health dry dog food we've chosen as our #1 pick for the best dog food for Yorkies, this dog food is also free from any by-products that offer no sort of nutritional benefit to your Yorkie and ones they won't be able to properly digest.

Also, and since more and more dog owners are looking for dog food that isn't made from anything that has to do with chicken, the lamb recipe this dog food is made of will be a great breath of fresh air both for you and your Yorkie.

Pick #3 - Natural Balance Original Ultra Whole Body Health Dry Dog Food

Good For Yorkies With Sensitive Stomachs: This dog food is another excellent choice for Yorkies, especially ones with sensitive stomachs that tend to negatively react to most of the garbage being promoted out there as "the best dog food for Yorkies".

High-Quality Ingredients In The Top 3 List Spots: The first 3 ingredients you'll find on the list are Chicken, Brown Rice and Oats, which directly tells you that you won't be finding any useless filler here.

Not The Smallest Of Kibble Sizes: The one negative we could find is that the kibble size isn't exactly the "smallest of bites" out there, something which isn't ideal for dogs as small as Yorkies who need kibble sized as small as practically possible so they can properly chew on and digest them.

Pick #4 - Purina Pro Plan Adult Small Breed Formula Dry Dog Food

Good For Yorkies With Sensitive Skin: This dog food is especially beneficial to dogs suffering from skin irritations/sensitive skin/rashes, as its nutritional profile boasts a lot of properties that may very well help turn that situation around with time.

Adequate Kibble Size: Kibble size is small enough and very easy to chew for a small dog the size of a Yorkie and it doesn't have that "stinky dog breath" that many other products out there leave your Yorkie with, so that's a positive as well.

Pick #5 - Diamond Naturals Dry Food for Adult Dogs, Small Breed

Corn Free: One of the best foods for your Yorkie if they have a sensitive stomach and are allergic to all the low-quality dog food that's filled with corn out there since this dog food is free from any corn.

Beet Pulp: This dog food also contains beet pulp which is an excellent source of dietary fiber for your Yorkie and provides an excellent boost to keep their skin healthy and their coat shiny.

Perfect Bite Size: The small-sized kibbles are perfectly engineered for the mouth of your Yorkie. The only issue with this food will be getting your pup to stop eating it all!

Yorkies Nutritional Requirments

Meal Frequency: Since Yorkies are tiny in size when compared to other dog breeds, this means that their digestive systems are only able to handle a small amount of food being processed at once.

So, you should aim to feed your Yorkie frequent meals (aim for 3 small meals, you can even push to 4 very small meals if you want to) throughout the day as opposed to only 1-2 large meals during the day.

Plus, only feeding your Yorkie one meal a day and leaving them without food for long periods of time will cause stomach upset and problems like vomiting and loose stools.

Note: Please consult with your veterinarian first before making any dietary changes to your Yorkie's lifestyle or before attempting to make a diet plan for them on your own.

The best diet for Yorkie's greatly varies based on a whole host of factors, most importantly of which is age and size, and no 2 Yorkies are the same for us to give you a one-size-fits-all recommendation about their diet.

Your veterinarian will be able to best advise you about how many calories your Yorkie should be getting in throughout the day, how many meals they should be eating, the portions these meals should be divided into, and any other details you should know about.

The last thing you want to do is make up a diet plan on your own and have your Yorkie drastically become overweight/underweight or get really ill.

Yorkies Health Issues

Hypoglycemia: Yorkies are known to be more prone than other dog breeds to suffer from hypoglycemia (low levels of sugar in the blood), which should be one more reason that you stick to a plan where you feed your Yorkshire Terrier many, frequent small meals throughout the day as opposed to 1-2 large meals all at once and going long periods of time without any food.

This will make sure they maintain healthy and steady sugar levels in their blood flow and don't experience sudden sugar crashes.

How Is The Best Dog Food For A Yorkie Chosen?

Besides playing a key role in determining your Yorkie's health, the dog food you give your Yorkie also plays a large role in determining things like their behavior and temperament.

When ranking foods under the "best dog food for a Yorkie" category, many criteria are taken into consideration, most important of which are:

Portion Size: A small sized dog or puppy won't be able to take the same bite size as a fully grown, 50 lbs+ adult dog, so the portion size of the dog food you're giving your Yorkie to eat should be small in size as well.

Choose dog food that's manufactured in small, bite sizes.

Small Breed Formula: When shopping for dog food for your Yorkie, you should look around for ones manufactured with a formula for small dog breeds as opposed to large dog breeds.

The reason is that a certain dog food manufactured for large breeds will have different nutritional profiles and caloric contents than a certain dog food that's manufactured for small sized dog breeds, and your Yorkie needs dog food that's manufactured with a formula that takes its small size into consideration.

Think about it, it wouldn't be logical to feed a Yorkie which usually weighs between 4-7 pounds the same dog food that contains 500 calories that you would feed a 50+ lbs Pitbull in a meal, would it?

Different sized dogs have different nutritional and caloric needs.

Preservatives: Commercial dog foods that have high levels of chemical preservatives, artificial colors or flavors are very bad and dangerous for your Yorkie's health.

These ingredients often times lead to problems such as allergies and digestive problems in Yorkies.

High-Quality Protein: The best dog food for Yorkies will have the highest quality protein in the market, which means that the product isn't dominated by meat by-products that offer no nutritional value to your Yorkie whatsoever.

You should take extra care to make sure that the dog food you're giving to your Yorkie doesn't contain any of these meat by-products because they can actually lead to a whole host of health problems, given their very low quality standards.

The best dog food for Yorkies will have protein that comes from high-quality sources such as chicken, turkey, lamb and fish.

Useless Filler: Guess what's another thing you won't find in the best dog food for Yorkies? Useless filler.

We always talk about this whenever we're reccomending any sort of dog food for any dog breed, useless filler like wheat, corn and soy is only added to these foods as an ingredient just so they can "fill up" space without providing any nutritional benefit whatsoever.

Most of the times, this ends up causing your Yorkie to suffer from malnutrition (because they're not getting all the nutrients they need), and you spending more and more money on the same dog food product thinking that they have to eat more and more of it to get the nutrients they need.

One of the most prominent signs that should get you worried about your Yorkie suffering from malnutrition is if they're making a habit of eating their own poop.

The carbohydrates that are okay to feed your Yorkie, which are usually found in high-quality dog food, are the likes of rice and sweat potatoes.

Dry VS Wet: Since Yorkies are a toy breed, they're much more prone to suffer from dental disease than other dogs if their teeth aren't frequently brushed and cleaned properly.

One way you could help prevent your Yorkie developing dental disease is by giving them dry dog food to eat instead of wet, canned food.

The dry dog food will go a long way in keeping your Yorkie's teeth clean and fighting any plaque that might have developed.