Switching dog to wet food

codemonkey

Yet another feeding fussy Captain Dumbass enquiry. We've persisted with dry food since we got him in May. We've probably thrown away more than he's eaten. We've tried various ranges, with and without wet food added. If we give him it without wet food he wont go near it and if he has wet food, he eats the wet food and scatters the dry over the floor.

So we give up. CD obviously doesn't want to eat dry food and I'm sick of removing it from the soles of my feet. Is it the end of the world if we just feed him wet food and give him bones for his teeth?

I'd do raw feeding but we don't have any freezer space.

trolleyrun

I'd keep trying if I were you. He'll eat when he gets hungry enough. At the moment he knows that by being fussy you give him something else. Pipsqeak* tried this for a while but now eats her food happily as she's realised I'm not changing it. She gets porridge (made with water) for breakfast, with bits of her dry food mixed in for flavour, and her dry food is in a bowl in the kitchen for whenever she's hungry.

*not her real name, she's a rescue

zaksmum

codemonkey wrote: »

Yet another feeding fussy Captain Dumbass enquiry. We've persisted with dry food since we got him in May. We've probably thrown away more than he's eaten. We've tried various ranges, with and without wet food added. If we give him it without wet food he wont go near it and if he has wet food, he eats the wet food and scatters the dry over the floor.

So we give up. CD obviously doesn't want to eat dry food and I'm sick of removing it from the soles of my feet. Is it the end of the world if we just feed him wet food and give him bones for his teeth?

I'd do raw feeding but we don't have any freezer space.

Is there any reason you want to feed him on dry food only?

I'd give him whatever he prefers.

Person_one

I'd stick with the dry food, better for their teeth and if mine lived just off wet food I dread to think what their poos would be like!

He won't let himself starve, he's not daft, in fact he sounds a bit too clever!

CFC

Accidentally posted.

CFC

Mine will only eat wet food now, he has Naturediet and his poos are fine. He has a Dentastix once a day and a couple of biscuits and a bone now and again. And an antler chew and various other bits and pieces to help teeth.I put the dental stuff in his water when I remember to try and help too.

The dry food is better for their teeth but I really don't want to make him eat food he doesn't want, life's too short for all parties concerned to force it on him.

If I couldn't afford Naturediet I'd feed him Chappie, that's recommended by my vet as a good wet option.

krlyr

I think feeding a high quality wet food with occasional bones for his teeth would be fine. You are more limited in quality foods with wet food I think though, and it is more expensive.

What worked for my fussy dog was switching to NatureDiet but slowly adding in dry. Microwaving the NatureDiet makes it more appealing too. I gradually added more dry and used less wet, until she just needed a teeny slither in with her dry. I could have stopped it completely but she had much more enthusiasm with that small amount and it didn't really break the bank so I kept it that way. I did phase out microwaving it too, to save a bit of preparation time

skintandscared_2

Our pup got seriously bored of just dried food when we tried it, so he now has half and half. We use naturediet and forthglade for wet, and Purina Beta or Arden Grange puppy for dried. If I don't mind waiting for him to eat, that's all he gets. If I want him to dive straight in and trough the lot, I add an ice-cube sized blob of my homemade boiled chicken & white rice. If that is in his bowl, he will literally wimper to get the bowl put on the floor and he will go straight for the rice & chicken. Luckily, he will then carry on and eat the proper food too. I have half a freezer drawer full of little bags of mixed chicken and rice LOL!

zaksmum

I give mine a mix of dry food and wet. They like Butcher's in gravy, all varieties, and just have half a tin each with their dry food each meal.

They scoff it immediately that way, rather than sniffing and walking away if it's only the dry food.

Keeps them happy and they are in good health and condition on this diet.

pawsies

Dry food is not better for teeth!!! The sugar sticks to the tooth hence tartar. It's like eating rich tea biscuits. A mix of dry and wet would be ok but better with naturediet or equivalent with burns or Harringtons.

janeys

Our dogs were a bit fussy with the dry chappie, like you we tried everything to get them to eat it. The only thing that worked was a small teaspoon of meat paste, like shiphams but from aldi 39p, mixed in a cup with an inch of boiling water tipped on their food just before they eat. Both dogs wolf their food down now. The good thing is you can vary the paste to add variety. It might just help.