Hi what do you feed your dogs dry food or other stuff?

Question

Hi i have a almost 6 month old cavalier king charles called oliver ,he is on the complete dry food ,but he will only eat once a day ,i was told they are meant to eat 3 times a day until they are 6 months , i dont know if i should try him on the other type of food or keep him on dry ? i know i will have to do it gradually so he gets used to it ,he is a normal happy puppy who is in to everything ,hes had all his injections ,but i am worried hes not eating enough .

my vet said not to add anything to his dry food as its complete but would a tiny bit of canned food hurt that much ,just enough to give him a taste???

Answer 1

If he is a healthy weight and active, you shouldn't need to worry. (If he stops eating completely, that's another story.)

You shouldn't need to mix wet with dry, the dry food should be nutritionally balanced. Make sure you're feeding good quality dry food.

Here's a few I recommend (I personally feed the Chicken Soup brand) Keep in mind, this is only a partial list, there are also other good quality foods out there:

Chicken Soup Brand - http://www.chickensoupforthepetloverssoul.com/
Merrick - http://www.merrickpetcare.com/
Innova - http://www.naturapet.com/brands/innova.asp

Read the ingredients on the food you buy. Go with a high quality dog food. A grain should not be in the first couple ingredients ingredient (corn and such are mainly fillers, dogs don't digest it well). Avoid foods that have a lot of "by products" listed.

My dog also gets between-meal snacks of carrots, yogurt or cottage cheese (1 spoonful), apples, etc..

Be sure to do a bit of research before you feed your dog anything. For example, chocolate, broccoli, onions, and many more things are very bad for dogs, even though they are fine for people.

When switching foods, do it slowly. I do this over about a two week timespan:
25% food A, 75% food B
50% food A, 50% food B
75% food A, 25% food B
100% food A

Answer 2

I feed my dog dry food mixed with a little topper called Purina Moist and Meaty in the mornings (only 1/2 pouch of Moist and Meaty to 2 cups dry food), and then in the evenings, he gets the same dry food mixed with about 1/3 can of canned Pedigree dog food. I alternate between lamb and chicken for the canned part. My vert said that was a great diet for him, and she also said he was one of the healthiest-looking English bulldogs she'd ever seen, so I must be doing something right, LOL. You definitely should change his diet gradually if you're going to do it. Just sort of add a little bit of the new food to the old, then add a little more the next time, and so on.

I had another idea for you, too- maybe he is eating plenty. Maybe the portion of food you're giving him once a day is fairly large and fills him up. Cavaliers are tiny dogs- maybe if you want him to eat more times a day, you should cut the portion size down. Just a thought!

Answer 3

As long as you are providing the food 2-3 times a day you should be ok.
My dog at that age didn't care that much about food. I would put it out in the morning for a little while and she would eat a little and then at night she would eat a good amount. As she got a few months older she began to eat more consistently twice a day. Now she finishes everything she is given

I wouldn't worry. Just continue feeding a good brand of dry food.

Answer 4

Keep him on dry food - general rule for pups is to feed it 3x a day until age 6 months. If he is the only dog just measure his daily allotment (see side of bag for amounts) into a bowl and let him "free feed" as he wants. Usually young pups' stomachs are not large enough to hold all or even half their nutritional requirements in one feeding.
Always keep fresh water handy.
Dry food is better for their teeth, if you don't have to go to the wet, don't...
Make sure the dry food is a quality one, not something you get at the grocery store. Premium foods may seem to cost more but you feed less and he gets superior nutrition to boot; less in also means less out.
Some examples of premium foods without corn or wheat and which were not affected by the recall are:
Canidae
Wellness (Mother Hubbard)
Eagle Pack
Solid Gold
Nature's Variety
Flint River Ranch
Royal Canin
All these manufacturers have website which list ingredients and where to purchase the product. DO NOT feed anything with wheat or corn in it, both cause allergies and wheat gluten was involved in the recent recalls.
My dogs eat Wellness and/or Canidae. Dogs at the boarding facility where I work get Canidae. They love it.

Answer 5

He will eat what he needs to survive.Some dogs don't eat much, where others just can't get enough. The problem with dry food is can be painful to eat when they are teething. Between the age of 4 to 6 months when they are teething you can soak the food in warm water until it goes soft. If he eats it quickly you will know that it was hurting him. I feed my 10 dogs dry food but I soak it for an hour beforehand in water. This stops them drinking alot of water later & makes it easier to eat. Dry food can cause kidney problems later in life if the dog is not a big drinker.Adding water to the food will help guard against problems later.

Answer 6

My sister has two cavs. One of hers is extremely picky about his food - and apparently this is very common in this breed, so on that front I wouldn't worry much. Once a day is OK as long as he is not underweight but it would be better if you could at least get him to eat twice a day.

My sister found it was helpful to feed him in very quiet surroundings with not a lot of activity going on since getting easily distracted at meals was part of the problem.

No people food or snacks between meals and pick up what he doesn't eat so you can get him on a regular schedule. Dry is best for their teeth. And feed a very high quality dry food like California Natural, Innova or orther similar brand so he is getting all his nutrients. Good luck.

Answer 7

Free feeding them is not good - whether you agree with it or not... it is not how a canine stomach should work. It is also very rare for a dog to regulate its food enough to not put on too much weight. I do homechecks for several rescues and I have never seen a free fed dog of a suitable weight. So not sure how you manage it with eight of them. Anyway -- the two on your list that are really not good are Bakers and Wagg. These two really are the pits with the Bakers being completely full of colourants and preservatives, and Wagg basically made up of whatever is left on the floor and swept up. None of the dog foods in the UK are that good and the only one I would recommend is Arden Grange, or Royal Canin. (I see Nutro recommended above. Yes forgot that one) The very best food you can get them is a raw diet and in the UK we can do that quite cheaply with a delivery from someone like Landywoods.

Answer 8

When my dog was younger, I fed my dog once a day. I tried mixing some wet food with her kibble thinking it would make her food more yummy, but she wasn't eating it fast enough and the wet food became hard and icky. Now I only feed her kibble (dry food) twice a day - once at noon (lunch) and then again at 6:00 (dinner). I read it's better feeding your dog twice a day because it makes it easier to monitor how much food she is eating.

I've fed my dog Iams, Science Diet, Hill's Prescription Diet, Eukanuba, and finally *Royal Canin. *This has turned out to be the best kibble for my dog. She loves it and she responds very well to it. Good luck!!!

Answer 9

I mix about a tablesppon of canned food into the dry, (same brand) and my dogs love it! They need the dry kibble for healthy teeh, but the canned must taste pretty yummy! By the way I just love the Cavalier King Charles Spaniels. You are very lucky! Wish I had one.

Answer 10

You're doing a fine job, don't worry. As long as your dog is healthy and happy its cool. I don't give my dog wet food either cos of the poison situation. My dog only eats once a day, I never really heard of having to feed a dog 3 times a day, maybe you should get a second opinion.