Wet dog food question

With a dog that tiny, the cost is not going to be prohibitive at all. I'd feed her exclusively canned, raw, or home prepared. The moisture level in canned food is much more natural for them than the levels in dry food, and much, much more healthy. 

I've had pom's all my life.

Currently surrounded by 2 as we speak. One is 3#, the other 6#...from my personal experience, these dogs do FANTASTIC on a diet high in fish, namingly Salmon.

Personally, I agree with the last poster. If this pom is your only dog, I wouldn't bother with the cost, and added preservatives that are in dry dog food of any kind. I would better spend your money on canned food, high quality raw food, or contact a nutritionalist to prepare you a recipe for homecooked meals that are properly balanced for a growing pup.

My pom's have done excellent with California Natural lamb/rice canned food, but primarily get homecooked meals of turkey, chicken, beef, etc with very small amounts of veggies, and only occasionally get brown rice. Aside from this, I generally stock up on canned Salmon from the health food store, the kind with no-salt added, and they get Salmon 3-4 times a week...they absolutely LOVE it and their hair is fantastic with it.

Since I have a chihuahua that has a metabolism of a grizzly before winter, and requires a high amount of calories for such a little dog, I have been known to purchase a 5-6# bag of dry food every other month to aid in keeping his fill. I tend to switch formula's every other time, so that they get a variety....but, as a general they get Innova, Cal Natural puppy version, EVO, recently had Taste of the Wild Salmon formula, in which they all loved.

Their canned food has always been either Cal Natural lamb/rice, Avoderm, Solid Gold, and a few cans of Wellness.

If I had just one dog though, seeing as she is a puppy, I would find a high quality canned food fit for all life stages, as over 90% of them are, and/or find a reputable pre-made raw diet fit for all life stages.

Reason behind canned foods, specially for those that have only one dog, or small dogs, is they have way less preservatives, and needless carb's, and are just generally overall much easier on the system to digest.

Personally, again, I would feed her wet food as the STAPLE in her diet, there is no need to feed a dry food at all in her case, and, a few times a week, include some canned salmon in her food...you could feed it as a meal all on its own.

Thanks for the suggestions

I've honestly never heard of a dog only being fed canned food before (I have heard of supplementing it) , I have always been told it would make their stool runny?

I still kinda don't understand why it would be better to only feed her canned, because she is on a really good dry dog food (I do want to supplement though to balance it). I'm not very knowledgeable on this topic, but I have just never heard of it before.

 The only brands I have available to me that are good are Eagle Pack and I think we have Natural Balance. I'll go check it out tomorrow and see which is better, and check out the costs.

Thanks again! 

The reason most people suggest wet food is because dog's out in the wild aren't eating dry cereal every day. No animal is meant to eat just dry cereal in and out of every day. It is sorta like you eating cheerios with no milk every single day of your life. (sorta) The foods they would eat naturally are moist, wet foods. I personally just do half wet with half dry for one of my dogs. My other two dogs can't tolerate the wet food. They have extremely sensitive stomach's. It is really up to you.

Lots of folks with small dogs feed only canned. My mom has a 40 lb, 14 1/2 year old mutt-mutt who has never, ever eaten dry food. Of course, she feeds him Pedigree, but... all canned. I know quite a few people who feed similarly. 

My dog doesn't eat any dry food (except for the tiny bit she gets for treats), and neither did my Teenie, who passed away last year.

Willow has never done well on dry foods.  I've been feeding all canned or home made for awhile now. 

But, every dog is different.  You would just have to try it and see if it agrees with her.  I've tried many types for Willow myself.  She can't tolerate any of the "stew" type versions.  It's the veggies she can't handle.

As long as you have a can that is complete and a meal and not for supplemental feeding only she will be fine without dry.

Liv

Would anyone be able to suggest which one would be beneficial to her coat/ skin, and how often & much I should feed her wet food.

    The Chicken and Rice dry formula should be very good for her skin and coat because it has a fairly high level of omega 3 fatty acids; .65%. That's more than a lot of other dog foods have. As for the canned formula, it doesn't list the fatty acids; most companies don't list it for the canned food. The chicken and rice canned food on the page you linked is only intended to be used as a mixer; it's not complete; Liver, Chicken & Rice Formula   only>

so only add a little of it to your pup's food. All the other canned foods on that page are complete, and can be fed alone. Eagle Pack's canned foods are 65% or more meat depending on the formula, and their Holistic dry foods are 40% meat meal. I really like their strict quality control standards; they're EU certified. If you are going to supplement your dog's food with some canned salmon, make sure it's Alaskan pink salmon because many varieties sold are high in pcb's and other contaminants.
 

 Thanks everyone for the information, I guess you learn something new everyday lol.

I hadn't been set on the liver, chicken and rice formula, she is on the *dry* chicken and rice food . But I was thinking more of trying  Puppy Chicken & Oat Bran Formula

Because its the only one I can see thats for puppies too. I am going to go there tomorrow and check it out though so I can see whats on the labels and such. I guess its only going to be a wait and see method to see how she handles it. But I do want to make sure she is as healthy as she can be, and if you all think only canned would be better for her, I'm willing to try it.

Thanks again! 

Ow... Liv... before you jump on the Wet Food band-wagen let me give you some of my advice (Pom owner to Pom owner)

Canned/Wet food varies a lot. NUTRO for example is very wet & juicy while NATURAL BALANCE looks almost like a bland diet.

From personal experience wet food is a NIGHTMARE. Not only does it produce loose stool... well we have Pomeranians and anything and everything WILL stick to their butts... ugh just a nasty nasty experience. Kayla has also thrown up multiple times from the perservatives.

Check out a lot of different Canned Food options and I suggests you MIX it with your dry kibble for now (that's what I do).

The puppy is very young still and I wouldn't switch her off what the breeder was feeding her just yet...

If you want your dog as healthy as can be feed her in good moderation and watch out for any prone allergies. Make sure she gets plenty of exercise and plenty of love. Good Luck and keep us all updated on Aisha's diet! :o)

Thanks Pom,

I was kinda worried about that too. I know all dogs are different, but my old Pom had a very sensitive stomach and  we had to cut out a ton of things from her diet and wet food was one of them. But then again breeding could have played a roll in that, I don't know. I got my old Pom from a pet store, and Aisha I got from a reputable breeder and none of her lines have had issues with sensitive stomachs or allergies.

I actually already started switching her food from what the breeder had her on (Kirkland puppy food), to what I felt was better. With some tips from the breed on how to switch slowly we have had no problems so far.

This is all so confusing lol. I know everyone will have different opinions on this, so I'm just going to have to test dry/ wet for a while and see how she likes it. Then maybe when she's a bit older I will try all canned for a while and see how she handles it. I do like the idea of giving her canned salmon a few times a week like suggested.

 Anyways, I'm off to the store to check it out.
 

Pomeranian <3

Kayla has also thrown up multiple times from the perservatives.

Actually, canned foods don't have preservatives. They don't need them. Canning itself preserves the food.

Cherokee does great on an all-canned diet (my bank account, however, does NOT). Lots of dogs do. Trying it is the only way to know how your dog will do. I'd definitely try to feed canned food over dry food for such a tiny dog.

Yep! I knew you'd be worried since your old Pom was like Kayla.

But you are on the right track hun ;o) Just keep an eye out on the stool, no color, no foul-smell, and you want it firm. I E-Mailed Kayla's doggie nutrionist the other day and discussed Eagle Pack with her. She said if your dog doesn't have any reactions to it (of course) then it's a great kibble choice.

Canned Salmon is deff a good idea. Personally I just add Wild Salmon Oil mixed in with her food (1 tablespoon a day) but gosh it make her skin/coat very nice. Not to mention all the omega 3 it provides

Poms are one of those animals I strongly dislike when people "compare" them to any old dog. This is breed that was domestically bred down & has a lot of potential health complications and breeding issues.

Did you buy her locally? I'm wondering which breeder since I'm in contact with so0o0o0o many in North America. Most from the U.S. but I knew a coulpe from Canada. I only know 3 Parti-Pom breeders though. I love how Aisha is the traditional Black & White Parti-Coloring. I'll just PM you and we can chit-chat Pom & health!

A tablespoon a day for a tiny, little POM???? That's a lot of extra fat. Emma has severe allergies and arthritis, and weighs 20 lbs. I only give her a tablespoon a day. For a healthy, little, toy dog, I'd thing 1/2 to 1 teaspoon would be plenty. 

Yeah.. 60 pound Cherokee doesn't even get a tbsp per day.. she gets like 2 tsp.