My puppy only drinks milk. How do I get her to eat puppy food?

Congrats on your new puppy, Honey is very cute! No, it is not right to feed her milk, especially cow's milk. Dairy productions should never be fed to dogs due to GI upset, and milk alone is not a balanced diet for a puppy. It will not be providing her with the nutrients she needs to grow properly. Puppies need higher amounts of protein, calories, and calcium than adult dogs, and a puppy formulated food will give that to her. It may be that she isn't used to puppy food yet, and I can give you a method to try to get her used to puppy food. To help her get used to puppy food, 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.

At this point mom has generally begun to wean her puppies. Offer water, regular dry kibble, kibble soaked in warm water and canned food. This does need to be a large breed puppy formula for the food. There’s a brand that makes a food specific for weaning puppies called Royal Canin and I recommend to pick some up at the pet store or online. You may need to smear some of the food on the puppy’s mouth so that it gets the idea. Also allow him to see mom eating so that he has the desire to copy her. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

Discontinue feeding the curd. Dairy products or cow milk may cause gastrointestinal upset in dogs and puppies. Mix the puppy milk replacer with a good quality puppy food to make a slurry or gruel. Serve it warm or mix in a teaspoon of baby food to stimulate his appetite. Gradually decrease the amount of liquid until Scooby is eating only puppy food by 8-10 weeks of age.

At 4 weeks of age it is normal for a puppy to only be drinking milk. Ideally your puppy should still be nursing from his mother at this age. If he is already away from his mother then you will need to continue feeding him puppy milk replacer until about 6 weeks of age. You can try to leave some moistened kibble with him to get him interested in it but at this age he should be still getting most of his nutrition from milk. I hope this helps. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Best of luck.

I would try canned puppy food as she is young and may now be able to easily chew the dry yet. You can also soak the dry food in warm water until its soft and she may eat it that way. Mixing the canned with the rice will get her started eating dog food and you can gradually change her over to dry as she ages. Most dogs love canned food so try several varieties to see what Cloud will eat. To get proper nutrition she needs to eat dog food so she can grow and be healthy. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Cloud.

A puppy should get milk or an appropriate replacement until 3-4 weeks of age at which point you can begin to mix in some solid food. The milk can be used to make a slurry or gruel. The milk is gradually decreased until the pup is eating solid, dry food around 8 weeks of age.

It is best to give Fido a formula specific for dogs as giving regular cow's milk can cause diarrhea and dehydration. Most pet stores will carry formulas such as KMR for puppies along with feeding instructions on them.