My puppy won't eat dry food. Should I mix it or try Royal Canin?

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.

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.

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!

Congratulations on your new baby! I definitely recommend getting him back on his puppy food, since it nutritionally balanced for his growing body. My favorite brands are Science Diet and Royal Canin. Feed the highest quality food you can afford, since this will help prevent illness in the future and save money on vet bills in the long run. The bad news is it sounds like he's training you they way he wants you, the good news is you can correct his behavior. Dogs can go without eating for a few days without any detrimental effects, unlike cats. So, to convince him he needs to eat his food, offer his puppy food in two to three meals a day. Read the directions on the bag or can for guidelines on how much to feed per day and divide that into however many meals you need to. You can offer dry, canned or a combination. It may help him transition if you offer him some canned food with the dry, and/or moisten the dry with some low-sodium chicken broth to entice him to eat. Try to keep him on a regular a schedule as you can. Put his food down in the morning and give him 20 minutes to eat it. If he doesn't eat it, take it up, and put it away for the next meal. Only give him treats for doing something, such as training or going potty outside, and only a few. You don't want to have him rely on treats as a meal. When it's time for the next meal, put his food down, give him 20 minutes. When he gets hungry enough, usually after a day or so, he'll eat. Don't feed him anything off the table either. If he begs and you feel you have to give him something, keep a bowl of his kibble on the table and give him that. Most dogs think it's fantastic because it came off the table from you.

Charlie is very cute. I would recommend adding a small amount of can puppy food to the dry food or even a little water to soften the food. Some puppies prefer a little soft food to wet. IF that does not help you could try and change brands of food and see if something is a better fit. IF Charlie really is not eating I would recommend taking him to a vet to make sure he is healthy and okayed to continue to try other brands of food. hope that helps

As you probably realize this is not a balanced diet for a growing puppy. If you haven't already I would recommend trying various canned puppy foods with a little chicken and rice mixed in. If he absolutely won't eat you can talk to your veterinarian about whether or not it is safe for you to leave food out and wait for him to eat when he's hungry - this could take a day or even longer. If you don't mind cooking for him you could also ask your veterinarian for a referral to a nutritionist to help create a recipe for a balanced home cooked diet.

It sounds like you have a couple of picky eaters on your hands! You could still try another flavor of kibble - Purina makes a ProPlan with some softer pieces or you could try Royal Canin or Hills. You may need to ‘wait them out’ and leave the dry kibble out until they eat it without offering anything new. It also won’t hurt to continue to mix a little wet food in if you aren’t opposed to it. Good luck!