My puppy won't eat dry food. Can I keep mixing in liverwurst?

You might try gradually decreasing the amount of canned food added to the dry food. You can also try switching the dry food to a different hepatic diet to see if the new kibble will be more exciting. You can also try soaking the kibble in some warm water (and continue mixing in the canned food) til it softens so that Louis cannot pick it out. Gradually decrease the amount of canned food. Then gradually add less and less water. This will need to be slow. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

Most commercially available canned foods are still balanced diets. As long as Zoey is eating a food formulated for growing puppies, she should still be meeting all of her nutritional needs. However, being a small breed dog, she is naturally more prone to developing dental issues as she ages. Dry food is a bit more abrasive to the teeth, which will help to decrease tartar formation. You can try mixing a small amount of dry food with her wet food to try to tempt her to eat it. Otherwise, be sure to brush her teeth daily to maintain oral health. Be sure that you are feeding a high quality brand of food (Science Diet, Purina ProPlan, and Royal Canin are some of my favorites), and keep Zoey on puppy food until she is 1 year old. Anytime you change flavors or brands of food, mix the old and new foods together over 5-7 days for a slower transition to decrease the incidence of vomiting and diarrhea. Wet food should be just fine provided that you stay on top of brushing her teeth. :-) I hope that all goes well!

Mix a teaspoon or two of canned food in with the kibble. Leave it down for 20-30 minutes before picking it up whether they have eaten or not. Repeat this at the next mealtime. Do not offer any food between meals. Be consistent, dogs thrive on routine. Be firm, they will not starve.

This is a common problem. Sometimes once dogs get the taste of specific food like liver or meat they will become really stubborn and not eat until the food is supplemented. I recommend trying tough love and offering food for the day. Now Sweety is young so depending on her weight she might have to eat a few times a day so her blood sugar does not stop. You can try a different brand of food or even mixing in can food to help stimulate her to eat. Hope that helps

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Sure, you can use baby food mixed into kibbles if you like. But the real question is why won’t Luna eat the dry food? Possibilities include: 1) A bad tooth or other mouth problem 2) An organ dysfunction, disease, or infection that affects appetite 3) She has you well trained. I recommend seeing your vet to help rule out medical causes. If nothing is found, it could simply be that she has you well trained and knows that if she waits long enough, you’ll put something good in her bowl. My advice for that is to wait her out. Don’t give in and within 3 days, every healthy dog I know has eaten plain kibbles. Of course if Luna is a healthy weight and you don’t mind pampering her, that’s fine too, so long as she does get some dog food (it has all the minerals and vitamins we need her to get). Best wishes to you and Luna!

I can certainly understand being concerned about your puppy not eating enough. It's really not the best for for your puppy, as it's not formulated to meet her nutritional needs. It's not something that is recommended to give to a puppy on a regular basis, usually only when the animal is sick. In addition, there may be ingredients in the baby food that is not safe for her to ingest. It could be that she isn't used to dry dog food, and you can try making a puppy mush for her to see if that helps. I would soak a high quality puppy formulated dry food in warm water until soft. Then mix that with puppy formula such as KMR to make a mush the consistency of oatmeal. Over the next two weeks, gradually increase the amount of dry puppy food and decrease the amount of water and KMR you use until she is eating the dry puppy food only. If she still doesn't want to eat much, then I would have her seen before the 15th.

You could mix some wet and dry together to see if that helps him eat more. Also, have your vet test a stool sample for parasites to make sure he doesn't have any, especially if he starts losing weight or has any vomiting or diarrhea. If his body score is normal than he is probably getting enough calories and nutrients. You could bathe him with a moisturizing dog shampoo and see if that helps his skin. Also, adding Free Form Snip Tips to his diet may help keep his skin and coat healthy. http://www.petcurean.com/blog/body-score-chart-for-dogs/