Can someone help me get my puppy off of canned food....!!

If she is getting good toothcare in other areas canned food is not bad (de[ending on the brand).  I mean, she needs things to crunch and chew regardless of what food she is on and not just to keep her teeth healthy (teething puppies need stuff to gnaw, like raw bones, chews, your antique furniture or most comfy shoes for example)  You can also clean her teeth weekly if you think she might need it.

what are you offering to replace the canned? have you made the transition gradually so she accepts the new food more readily (and avoid an upset tummy?)

Actually, studies show that canned food is no worse than dry food for the teeth, as long as they have bones to chew on and get regular teeth cleaning. The reason most feed dry food is that it is more cost effective. Check out the nutrition part of this board, there was some talk about this a while back.

As far as switching, you could do tough love, put the dry down, she doesn't eat it in 15-20 minutes, pick it back up. Dogs WILL eat if they are hungry. Or you could try mixing dry in with the wet. and slowly elimiating the wet.

You can try putting a little canned with the dry food.  My dog eats dry food but she likes it a lot better if I mix in a little something wet or a canned sardine. 

Well the main reason besides her teeth is the canned food seems so much more expensive than the dry. I am really not sure what I should use as a substitute for the canned - I have been putting some dry food into the canned so that she doesn't just eat the canned alone but her then will basically spit the dry out and kind of eat around it until the canned is gone.

Right now the mixture I am giving her is Purina puppy chow and a purina puppy chow (canned) food.

Teri

Put some warm (not hot) water on the kibbles for about 3 minutes, then add the wet food and stir it up good. Warm water will bring out the flavor of the kibble and make it easier for the dog to mash. Slowly increase the amount of kibble and decrease the amount of canned.  Then continue to wet the kibble. I still wet the kibble for 3 of my dogs because they like it that way. :)

Kibble will not help your dog's teeth. Try raw bones or brushing.

Thanks that may work!!

I just have to say your dog Cara looks a lot like a German Shepard/Husky mix dog that we had before - BEAUTIFUL!!!

I do not use processed dog foods, but try to find the best one you can. I would let him keep eating canned and add it to the kibble. Canned has water and that is good.

Neither one is good or bad for teeth. You need to brush the teeth or use Dental wipes. Works very well.  Some dogs break teeth on bones, I don't use them. I hear about broken teeth a lot here on this forum.

Find a really quality food. 

well, purina is well, not a high-quality food. It's over-priced low-quality crap, to be honest, dry or canned; it's not surprising she won't eat the dry. You might have better luck trying a food with actual nutritional value. Check out http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=main for help in choosing a food that will actually promote life-long health in your dog.

My dog wouldn't eat his dry dog food for a while - when I got him he was on both Newman's Own and Science Diet, and I switched him to Nutro Max. He wouldn't touch any of those without some canned food mixed in.

When I switched him to Royal Canin kibble, he loooooved it. He gobbled it up like it was candy. But man, that stuff is way overpriced!

I finally switched him to Timberwolf Organics, which I buy online, and he is crazy about their "Wild 'n Natural" flavor. I use the kibbles as training treats. This dog who I thought would never voluntarily touch dry kibble now starts running around the house and jumping in the air when I walk towards him with his filled food bowl. This is the link to what I feed, if you're interested: http://timberwolforganics.com/pet-foods/Wild-Natural-Dry-Canid-Formula-16-5lb-7-5kg

I know a lot of other people have had great success with many other brands, including Innova, Eagle Pack Holistic, Solid Gold, Canidae (probably the most cost-effective premium dog food), and Orijen. For me, my "picky eater" simply hated the kind of food I was feeding him. As soon as I upgraded his kibble he started gulping it down like he was starving!

Put some food on top, such as peanut butter or even dog treats. You could also put canned a dry food together and mix it up.

 5 year old thread

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