my dog only eats wet food

I have to say...the only way I've ever been able to curb a picky eater is just tough love. If all you offer is the dry food then they have no choice but to eat it. They may not eat for a day or 2 but when they get hungry enough and the dry food is the only thing available they wont have a choice. (of course make sure they dont starve themselves but every dog i've known can only be stubborn for so long before they get too hungry)

Normally I would agree that tough love is the way to go, but with a small breed puppy that young it needs to eat several times a day. It can be very dangerous for them to go a day or two without eating. Is there any other less expensive canned food she'll eat?

I mix a full tablespoon or two of wet thoroughly with dry and this works well. There is no problem mixing dry with wet. I have been doing this for many months with my 1-1/2 year old. She loves the food and is doing very well. I feed my dog Nature's Logic dry and wet, a really wonderful food.

I would soak the dry food with water and then feed it to her.  If you continue to offer the canned food, you will get no where.  Also, are you feeding set meals or free feeding?

ORIGINAL: ColleenC

I would soak the dry food with water and then feed it to her.  If you continue to offer the canned food, you will get no where.  Also, are you feeding set meals or free feeding?

 
im not sure what u refering to as set meals/free feeding, but i give her like half a can of wet food morning, and another half a can at night.
 
tonite i took her to my friend's place cuz she just got a new dog and that dog eats dry food i brought. so she started eating the dry food too. i dont know if its because there was no wet food present or its just because the other dog was donig it and she thought it would be cool to do it too!

i dont know if its because there was no wet food present or its just because the other dog was donig it and she thought it would be cool to do it too!

Many dogs will eat things just because of competition or the other dog is doing it.  For example my Rottie Athena before she came to live with the other 4 dogs would not touch a turkey neck or any raw chicken...she was grossed out by it.  When we moved in with the other dogs and they ate the raw chicken etc then Athena started eating it just because they were eating it.  She may or may not eat them without the other dogs present.  Competition can make a picky eater into a gorby guts.[]  When there is no competition why eat what they don't want to eat.
   
Have you tried other canned foods? with a smallish breed like a Cavalier it shouldn't be too pricey to feed an entire canned diet with some homeprepared meals .  A good quality canned  food is so much more healthier than kibble as it contains the proper amounts of water for a healthy urinary tract etc. Dogs, humans and other pets should get a lot of their water naturally from food...canned food is great for that.  You could skip trying to feed kibble entirely.

If I could afford it I would never feed kibble again, all it is to me is economical and convenience.  Some of the canned foods I found to be economical yet very healthy are canned foods like Natura (Innova, EVO), Canidae (some dogs don't like Canidae as it doesn't hae a strong smell), Solid Gold, once in awhile Nature's Variety (which can be expensive), Eagle Pack....there are so many good foods to choose from...others will have more suggestions. You can also rotate with the canned. 

If you want you could add half a palmful of kibble a bit of warm water and mix in your canned (more canned to kibble) and feed this way as well.  You could also try some of the Freeze dried foods on the market or dehydrated...I like using NRG to mix with canned and Nature's Variety Freeze dried to mix with canned.

For my 8 month old pup (2x a day) , I give 1 cup of dry Innova and add 2 Tablespoon EVO canned,,,mix thoroghly and add a few more tablespoon of warm water.  Makes it all very wet.  She goobles it all.  It only cost $1.50 for the EVO can and I get about 4 days out of it.  = .40 cents a day plus  the dry cost.
 
2 meals a week are canned salmon I buy for $1 a can (13 oz),,,I give her whole can.  LOVES it, and so cheap.
 
Make sure you are giving a fish oil capsule daily for her brain development.
 
Yes, some of those canned brands are almost $3 so shop wisely,  I can get Canidae chicken/rice for $1.20 or Evangers chicken or chicken /beef for $1.20

me too, if I had a small dog I'd never bother with dry food. Canned food is so much healthier. I'm sure there are cheaper options for you as far as canned foods go than the $3 a can one you are feeding. Evangers is probably the most cost-effective-- good quality, low price.

ORIGINAL: mudpuppy

me too, if I had a small dog I'd never bother with dry food. Canned food is so much healthier. I'm sure there are cheaper options for you as far as canned foods go than the $3 a can one you are feeding. Evangers is probably the most cost-effective-- good quality, low price.

 
Sometimes I wonder why I bother with kibble at all with just one 8lb dog.  She would need only one small can a day - how expensive can that be?

Canned Canidae is inexpensive (at least locally it's 99 cents to $1.19 per can)  and it's a good food. Maybe that or Evengers would be more economical. Also Dick Van Patten Natural Balance is econimical (again where I live).

Be careful I just priced Evangers and some were almost $3 !! Think it was the chicken drumstick meal.  The "chicken" and "chciken/beef" were 1.20.
 
Same with EVO, the rabbit and others are almost $3 whereas the beef or chicken is $1.50.
 
I bought the Evangers and can;t wait to open it.  Will it top EVO in taste??

If a new puppy never tasted canned food they would be eating dry!
I warn people who buy canned food for a puppy- if they want to do canned, great, but be prepared to feed that for the dogs life.  I often wish I had never tasted so many things in life, then I wouldn't crave them, and I would never know what I am missing.  Sounds like your puppy did eat dry, so maybe the tough love approach will work quickly for you.  Or find a dry food that your puppy likes.

 Forcing your dog to eat nothing but unpalatable dry food for its entire life just because it's easier for the owner seems cruel and unhealthy to me. Kibble was invented only what, fifty years ago? It was intended to be fed as a supplement to cheap meats and table scraps. It was never intended to be fed as the sole diet of dogs. Feeding nothing but dry kibble is like you eating nothing but dry beef jerky and dehydrated fruits and veg. You would never even consider it-- what an unhealthy, unpleasant diet. And yet it somehow has become PC to force your dog to eat it, and nothing else.
 
And I know lots of folks who have fallen for the dog food companies marketing campaigns and have never given their dogs anything but dry food-- no canned, no "people food", and yet these dogs clearly don't really care for their food, and go around drooling and begging for the "people food" being consumed around them.
 
If I could afford it I would never feed any dry kibble-- with my pack of large dogs, that's out of the question. But I refuse to feed a meal of nothing but dry kibble. It's always mixed with something wet.
 
The key to optimal nutrition is to consume a wide variety of fresh foods. Kibble isn't fresh. It offers no variety. It is not optimal for dogs when fed alone.

I agree and disagree with some of what you said.  My dog eats kibble but does get fresh food added if that is an option.  If not, he will eat anything (including kibble) that won't eat him first.  While I do like adding variety to my dogs diet, not all dogs can vary a diet daily without stomach upset.  Mine can handle some extra's added, but can't have his kibble switched without vomiting.  And I do think that many kibbles offer everything a dog needs, maybe not want!  But everything is in there to promote growth and health.  Dogs do not need the variety that you speak of.  Humans want them to have that.  99% of dog food marketing is aimed at the owner, its all about emotional response.  Am I the only one who thinks that many here are "over-zealous" about dog food?