This is a post I have been stewing over for quite some time. I have tried a number of dry dog foods and reviewed a lot of them. I have wanted to do a list of my top 10 companies, but I always feel like I haven’t tried every Yorkie food out there, so how can I write a comprehensive top 10? Today I realized, if I wait until I try every single food available on the market, I’ll never write a top 10, because there are new foods all the time and there are a lot of small companies I have never heard of. So, I’m taking the plunge and writing my all time favorite top 10.
A number of factors went into deciding the top 10 yorkie food companies. The factors included cost, nutrition, ingredients, taste (whether or not Catherine would eat it), size of the kibble, past recalls, and the company itself. There are a lot of great foods out there. These are our favorite companies when it comes to daily feeding.
This is my top 10 list of dog food companies for Yorkies.
#10 Three Dog Bakery
We like the oven baked foods from Three Dog Bakery. We like that it is baked, Catherine likes it, it’s wheat and corn free with no artificial anything, and we like that the company is privately owned. We also like that Three Dog Bakery is a trusted company with no recalls on their foods.
#9 Earthborn
Earthborn is another great company that cares about pets and the environment. Their foods are great tasting and packed with good nutrition. The company makes their food in their own plant and has never been part of a recall.
#8 Merrick
Merrick makes some awesome foods, and they make it at their own plant in Texas. None of their kibble has ever been recalled.
#7 Fromm
Fromm Family Foods has been around for 5 generations, since 1904, and the company is still owned by the same family. The Fromm Laboratories and Dr. Robert Green developed the distemper vaccine in 1939. This company has a long history of working with animals and developing the best nutrition possible. They’ve never had any recalls.
#6 Acana
Acana is owned by Champion Pet Foods and is manufactured in their own facilities in Alberta, Canada. They’ve never had any recalls on their food. They do not buy bulk ingredients from overseas. They get local, sustainable ingredients, with better quality control.
#5 Royal Canin
Royal Canin is a big company. They make foods at 12 different plants all over the world. They sponsor many dog events and are active in animal welfare activities. They publish dog encyclopedias and really study dogs and their nutrition. The company’s head office is in France and was established by the French veterinary surgeon Jean Cathary in 1967. The company was bought by Mars, Incorporated in 2001. They make breed specific foods, and have a Yorkshire terrier puppy and adult formula. I have literally never met a Yorkie who wouldn’t eat the Royal Canin Yorkshire food.
#4 Petbrosia
Petbrosia is a new company, established in 2012. They make their foods at their own facility in the Midwest. They are based in Cincinnati, Ohio. Petbrosia uses high quality ingredients and nutritionists to custom make formulas for every pet. They’ve found a way to make food specific to your Yorkie’s needs and to get the food to you soon after it’s produced.
#3 Canidae
Canidae makes some great foods that taste great. Catherine has never turned her nose up at a bowl of Canidae. Canidae is family owned, and one of the last, family owned, truly independent food companies left in the U.S.
#2 Honest Kitchen
The Honest Kitchen makes superior foods, using the highest quality ingredients – human grade ingredients, produced in a human food facility. The company is family owned. Their website also lists where all their ingredients come from, including that their beef is from the Midwest U.S. and is hormone and antibiotic free. They’ve never had any recalls and the company is just amazing.
#1 ZiwiPeak
Ziwipeak is our number one Yorkie food company. The ZiwiPeak food is air-dried and made from 100% natural, fresh, raw meat sourced in New Zealand from farms that don’t use antibiotics, growth promotants or hormones. ZiwiPeak is a priavetly owned company in New Zealand with their own facilities. Their foods are minimum ingredient and great for dogs with sensitivities. They are packed with nutrition and protein. The food is so great tasting, you can use it as treats – it’s that good. The food is fantastic and company is amazing. The folks at ZiwiPeak have a real passion for pets, and it shows.
I agree, 3 dog bakery has the very best baked treats. We used to go visit their store in Michigan, a really lovey family owned company.
Love 3 dog bakery!! and their cookbook is awesome.
I found Honest Kitchen and finally found a food picky Pixie will eat. When we first started she gobbled it down. Y By the second week it was back to being picky. So I ordered several different samples. I alternate her food every week. I am so happy to have discovered this product. My sons Chihuahua has allergy problems. We started him on honest kitchen keen and it has changed this little dogs life. I recommend this product to everyone it is wonderful thank you honest kitchen
I can not find ZiwiPeak in small breed bites, so I do not understand how it is the top food for a yorkie?
Joyce, my Yorkie, Catherine, is 4 1/2 pounds. She has a small frame and a small mouth. She regularly eats the ZiwiPeak without any issues. She loves it. Because it’s air dried and not truly a kibble, there is no crunching that needs to be done. Also, the pieces are very flat. The pieces are very easy to chew, even for a small Yorkie. This is our favorite food for a number of reasons, but the main reason is the minimum ingredients. ZiwiPeak is like feeding raw without the mess.
I have a 2 year old yorkie named bandit. I wanted a good quality dry food for him and have fed him one made by HALO from day 1. I buy it at our local Petco. I buy one called Spot’s Stew, in the chicken recipe, and pick the one for toy & small breeds. Its made from real chicken, with no chicken meal or rendered meat. No corn or wheat. Its also made with whole eggs, farm freshed fruits & vegetables, and balanced omega 3 and 6 fatty acids. Its small kibble for those small mouths. The company has been around for 25 years and its made in the USA. A 4 pound bag cost around $15.00, but I can often find a $4.00 coupon on their website at http://www.halopets.com. My yorkie loves it. He has a shiny coat and in great condition. There are so many choices of dry food out there, but I’ve had good results with HALO, so I’m sticking with them.
I have been breeding show yorkies for years.After 5 years of trying most
toy dog foods, I settled on “Taste of the Wild ” . I get the best (oats, teeth and body mass. You should try it.
I haven’t heard of any of these which maybe means hard to find at pet stores maybe not we could be in different parts of the states. I feed my morkie yorkie maltese mix natures variety. Small bites for her she has an under bite. Always likes it natural products. Just thought id mention it
Jessica, Yes, some of these foods are harder to find. I order most of my food online. I live in a small town and have to drive 45 miles to the nearest pet shop that carries quality foods. That’s why I have amazon prime. 🙂 Nature’s Variety is a good food, too. 🙂 It was very close to making the list.
I FEED MY YORKIES DIAMOND PUPPY FOOD AND IT HAS VERY SMALL BITES AND HAS DHEA IN IT TOO. I WAS TOLD BY A BREEDER THAT SHE FEEDS HERS DIAMOND PUPPY FOOD. I USE TO FEED MY OTHER YORKIE’S PURINA ONE HEALTHY CHOICE PUPPY FOOD FOR MANY YEARS, AND THEY LOVED IT. IT HAS 26 GRAMS OF PROTEIN IN IT, UNTIL MY GRACIE HAD PUPPIES, SO I SWITCHED TO DIAMOND PUPPY FOOD. WHAT DO YOU THINK ? I HAVE NEVER HEARD OF ANY OF THE YORKIE FOOD’S YOU HAVE LISTED. I WANT WHAT’S BEST FOR MY LITTLE ANGEL’S . ALSO, DO YOU HAVE TO GRADUALLY ADD THESE FOODS TO THEIR FOOD THEY EAT NOW TO KEEP THEM FROM GETTING SICK?
Sharon, Diamond is an okay food nutritionally, but it has a lot of recalls. So, watch recall information if you keep feeding Diamond. Their best food is the Naturals Extreme Athlete.
As far as transitioning, yes, it’s a process. Read more at the bottom of this article http://blog.yorkieshampoo.com/pet-nutrition/
I HAVE A YORKIE AND A YORKIE-POO. THE YORKY IS ITCHING AND AND has a sensitive stomach, the yorkie-poo also has digestive issues, she also needs her anal glands expressed often. recently I switched to avo-derm, lamv and chicken. after 3 days they seem to feel so much better and their sensitivities seem to be getting better. what is your opinion on Avo-derm?
What Zuni peak is good. I see beef and lamb and one more. Which do u use
I meant ziwipeak
Tamika, I use the Venison usually, but sometimes get the lamb. 🙂
I’m in Columbia sc and we don’t have these food could you give me some good food I can by here in columbia
Hi Tamika, these foods are all available online somewhere. That’s where I usually get my foods. ZiwiPeak and the Honest Kitchen are available at amazon.com. The Petbrosia you can get at Petbrosia.com and if you use the code YORKIE99, you can get 99% off your first order when you sign up for autoship. 🙂
I am looking for a very tiny kibble about the size of a pea for my Yorkie who doesn’t always chew her food. Can you recommend a quality tiny as a small pea dog kibble?
Pat, the Petbrosia is about the size of a pea. Their food is online at Petbrosia.com
Also, The Honest Kitchen foods are dehydrated and the pieces extremely small, almost like a purée. We reviewed some Honest Kitchen foods here: http://blog.yorkieshampoo.com/best-yorkie-food-part-5/
Solid Gold’s “Just a Wee Bit” is very small as well. Here’s a link where we reviewed it. http://blog.yorkieshampoo.com/the-best-yorkie-food-part-1/
Is puppy chow a good food. Is store food good or the dog food from the pet store.i have my dog on the taste of the wild but I don’t think he like.he will go all day before he eats.
Thank you for this information. The reviews I’ve seen are very good for ZiwiPeak. One comment I saw mentioned the calcium phosporous ratio being an issue for a puppy and even some breeds of adults. I know nothing about this and wondered if you took that into consideration for your Yorkie because I would like to try this for mine. Thanks!
I have had Yorkies for 27 years. I used Purina ONE for many years and always had beautiful healthy Yorkies but they did have a tendency to have itching issues. My current fur babies are sisters from the same litter. One is 3.5 pounds and the other is close to 5 pounds. I have tried many “high end” foods for these two three year olds. When visiting a Petco I noticed a new Purina food line called pro-plan and there is a special one for Yorkies. My vet is extremely knowledgeable on nutrition issues and she compared it to several others I had bought. She actually pointed out that Purina had a much longer track record than any of these other companies and were well known for their rigid testing standards for both nutrition and safety. Ironically, the only concern was that the pro-plan actually had 30% protein which was higher than the average 27% on the other boutique foods. She was concerned that might be a bit too high for the teeny tiny one. The food comes in itty bitty pieces the size of lentils. My girls adore it. Easy to spot in the pet stores, there is a beautiful YORKIE on the bag! My only complaint is that it only comes in a small bag. As for the teeny tiny girl, I sometimes mix steamed veggies in her food so she doesn’t get too much protein. By the way, out of all the foods I tried for these girls, they would not eat Royal Canine. Had to give it away!
I’ve heard some bad things about Purina from my vet (he isn’t selling any food), he had a few cases of stomach illness with puppies on Purina…My personal preference is Canidae All life stages..my puppy just loves it!
Since we changed our 11 pound yorkie poo from Authority puppy food to the adult formula, he has issues with regurgitation, but not every day. He also will eat 2 small servings somefays and others will not eat at all. I noticed that what comes back up appears to be undigested or chewed. Will it hurt to keep him on the puppy version? He had no issues until we advanced him to adult food. We use the small breed chicken that is grain-free.
Since we changed our 11 pound yorkie poo from Authority puppy food to the adult formula, he has issues with regurgitation, but not every day. He also will eat 2 small servings somedays and others will not eat at all. I noticed that what comes back up appears to be undigested or chewed. Will it hurt to keep him on the puppy version? He had no issues until we advanced him to adult food. We use the small breed chicken that is grain-free. Jake is 14 months old.
what about ND Farmina? I had to order it online after trying samples with my Silkie Terrier. It’s fresh cod & oranges. All natural grain free with fruits & veggies. He loves it but no one carries it locally. It has high quality ingredients & it’s from Italy.
Puppies are in constant growth and need foods with high quality proteins listed as the first ingredient of the dog food you are going to use.Moreover,love this blog.Can i shop for small puppy online?
Hi all….
I’m the proud new owner of a teacup yorkie. He is only 2 pounds but only 4 months old now. I am looking to change my Royal Canin food as I find he is itchy and am thinking it’s his food. Recommendations?
Joya, I actually really like Ziwi Peak air dried foods for Yorkies that may have food allergies. Ziwi Peak has minimal ingredients and can help you eliminate possible allergens. http://www.ziwipeak.com/
Is puppy chow a good food. Is store food good or the dog food from the pet store.i have my dog on the taste of the wild but I don’t think he like.he will go all day before he eats.
Kevin, the best place to look for info on a specific food is DogFoodAdvisor.com – here’s a review of Purina Puppy Chow. http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/purina-puppy-chow/ There are a lot of filler ingredients in Puppy Chow, so I wouldn’t recommend it. Look for a food that’s got a meat as the first ingredient and minimal total ingredients, with high protein and low filler (corn, wheat, etc). I personally prefer ZiwiPeak. 🙂
I have been breeding show yorkies for years.After 5 years of trying most
toy dog foods, I settled on “Taste of the Wild ” . I get the best (oats, teeth and body mass. You should try it.