Is it okay to feed my puppy this?

Question

I have 11 week old Toy American Eskimo puppy .. who weighs a whopping 3.4 lbs.

Tuffy (his name) stayed with my mom and dad for a weekend and they spoiled him rotten, by giving him table food ... cooked hamburger, ham, Kraft dinner etc ...

So, since he came home he refuses to eat his dog food. He will eat an extremely minimal amount of crunchies (dry) but has turned his little nose up at even the premium dog foods such as Beneful (real chicken in gravy) and Ceazer (porterhouse steak etc ..)

The vet said such a tiny dog can't go even one day without eating, without it affecting his health. So, at my wits end ... I purchased a cooked, fresh chicken and cooked some moose roast ... and he loves it. Is it ok to feed him just moose and chicken? or do dogs need other nutrients as well?

Answer 1

Well first, beneful is not premium, its a grocery store brand. If you are wanting to switch your dog to a healthy holistic natural diet that is still safe after all these recalls try Eagle Pack Holistic Select for Small and Medium Breed Puppies, or a brand from Wellness or Innova. These are HOLISTIC brands, plus with all these recalls its the ones you know are going to be safe and plus, they will give your dog everything they need in their diet. I prefer eagle pack and highly recomend it, its equal to greater quality of wellness and innova and cost sooo much less!! If you are serious about giving your dog a human diet you should not only consult your Vet but also set up an appointment with a pet nutritionist to get the exact dietary needs for the breed, age, and health of the dog. Human diets are very costly and time consuming and should only be done organically!! With a human diet your going to spend alot of money on supplaments and what not, its a lot easier and safer just getting an high quality holistic pet food, you and your dog will benefit from it!!

ps hills contains by products , fillers, and artificial preservatives that are extremly hard to digest and hills causes alot of skin and other allergies in dog

pps, eukanueba, contains wheat and corn and soy which are fillers and soy actually can harden dogs arteries over a period of time, it also contains by-products which are like i said before hard to digest, they have little to no nutritional value and they come from dead, dying, dieseased animals, one week you can have dog by-products, and the next you can have roadkill byproducts, they are extremly UNregulated and id suggest staying FAR from them!

Answer 2

You have a smart dog- he doesnt like corn and fillers apparently
Try a REAL premium food (not bought at a grocery store or a store such as Kmart) look for brands that have no fillers,corn in any form, by products, animal digest, BHA, BHT, Ethoxyquin, artificial flavors/colors.
Here are some good ones:
Innova
Nature's variety
Canidae
Evolve
Merrick

for now, chicken and moose is ok, but dont let him get used to it or else he won't eat anything else, try to get a dry food he likes or look into a raw diet

Answer 3

He must get back on to his puppy food as all the goodness to help him develop is in his dog food. Try adding his dog food with some of the meat, mix with a little gravy then slowly over the next one to two weeks use less of the meat and add more of his dry food keeping the gravy on.I have never known of any dogs being affected by not eating for a day or two so don't worry.

tony

Answer 4

No it's not OK, dogs need more nutrients than this.

You can thank your mom and dad (sarcastically) for spoiling your dog and getting you into this difficult situation!

Moose roast eh? Sounds interesting! Anyway, you need to wean your dog back on to normal dog food or his health is going to suffer in the future. Start by mixing a couple of spoofuls of dog food in with the chicken - just a little mind you, so doggy eats it without really noticing. Gradually increase the amount of dogfood with each meal, or each day - soon your dog will realise he's eating dog food with just a little bit of chicken mixed in! Hopefully you can then phase out the chicken altogether.

This won't be easy, but it is necessary. If your pup stays with your parents again, tell them specifically NOT to undo all your hard work by giving the dog human food. They only need to get a taste for it and of course they'll turn their nose up at regular food, they don't know - or care - what's good for them!

Oh and by the way, Beneful and Caesar are lousy dog foods I'm afraid - the equivalent of burgers for dogs. I'm not surprised your dog turned up his nose at this delicious junk food if he's been used to something even tastier - get a decent quality dogfood like Hills or Eukanuba or something to wean him on to.

Chalice

Answer 5

It's always best to feed the dog ONLY dog food. The dog will not starve itself. Just leave out the dry food and let him be. He'll eventually give in and start eating his food again. It's kinda like a 2 year old throwing a tantrum. If you dont give in, they have to.

Answer 6

Please, please, please, for Tuffy's sake, feed him PUPPY food. Puppies need a special diet to keep healthy, not to mention to look their best. With the recent toxicity in many brands of pet foods, it would be best to check with your vet on what brand to give him. Puppies should NOT be given table food like that, it is just not healthy for their little tummies! (Think of it as giving a baby adult food - they just can't handle it.)
Our baby, Brody, refused to eat his own food for a while (probably because we all thought it smelled bad and he picked up on it) so we had to spoon-feed him for a few months. We got him a stand-up table to aid digestion, and we still spoon-feed him (after a year+) the first few bites. It's a bonding experience too, but he now eats his regular dog food, and only on special occasions (his birthday, Christmas, etc) does he get people food (SMALL cut up bits of roasted meat, a little milk here and there). Certain foods should NEVER be given to dogs (such as chocolate, grapes, raisins, etc) of course.

Good luck with Tuffy! He sounds adorable!

Answer 7

no he needs other nutrients other then protein . u r gonna just have to get him back on the dog food and dont worry bout what ur vet. said if ur dog dont get food for a day or two cuz he dont want it ..its not going to hurt him if anything he will get hungry enough to eat that dog food. Remember hes a dog in the wild they go without food for a good while. Dont treat him like hes a person that will just get u a spoiled dog that u will be unsatisfied with sooner or later.

Answer 8

honestly, i grew up all sorts of dogs, pedigreed and mutts, and if a dog is really hungry, he will eat. dogs are descendants of the wolf, and wolves can go without food for weeks. so i think your vet was just trying to sell you his food that he's got in his practise.
keep to his old food, trying to get him to eat all sorts of different stuff is just going to upset his tummy. he is acting like a spoilt child throwing a tantrum cause he cant have a sweetie.
persist in giving him his old food. he will realise that he is not going to manipulate you, and give in.
remember, you are the pack leader, and if you dont exert your will on him when he's young, you are going to have dominance issues when he's older. dogs are still pack animals, and a puppy sees you as the leader, and he will completely rule your life if you dont identify yourself as the leader. if he thinks he is the leader of your pack, he might become snappy, destructive and might even start to growl if he doesnt get his way.

Answer 9

Just like humans need a balanced diet, so do dogs. Too much poultry can cause intestinal problems. Try mixing what he likes with what he needs then daily decrease the yummy. Eventually he will back to his regular diet.

Answer 10

Hate to say it, but the fatty scraps they were giving him and the chicken you are cooking for him are healthier than the 'premium' food you are trying to get him to eat. Beneful and Ceasar are HORRIBLE dog foods. Both are chockful of poor ingredients, byproducts, and artificial crud.

A good quality dog food is a brand such as Canidae, Flint River Ranch, Innova, Eagle Pack Holistics, etc.

Here are some links to help you choose a better food:

http://www.dog-food-zone.com/whats-really-in-pet-food.htm

http://www.terrificpets.com/forum/24000.asp

http://animalark.eapps.com/animal/PetFoods.nsf/$$PetFoodsByManu?OpenForm

http://www.canine-epilepsy.com/toptenfoods.html

There's nothing wrong with adding a little 'people food' to a dogs' diet-- millions of dogs around the world are fed a raw or homecooked diet and do just fine. However, it is time-consuming and you need to be experienced and knowledgeable as to what constitutes proper nutrition to do so. Fatty cooked hamburger, salty ham, and macaroni and cheese won't cut it. Boiled chicken with rice, turkey, etc. are better, but not a complete diet. Occasional raw meats, chicken, veggies, rice, and fruits are fine depending on your dog and provided you know what you are doing. Some dogs, particularly small ones, can suffer fatal problems like pancreatitis with fatty foods, so it can be risky if you are inexperienced. For the average dog owner, I'd suggest the following in this situation:

Find a top-quality dog food-- you won't find these foods at the grocery store, wal mart, etc. Look for a holistic pet supply store or order online. For a tiny dog like yours, it won't cost much to order his food online and have it shipped since you aren't going to be going through it very fast. Look through the links I listed above to help find a good food. Some of the previous posters had some good suggestions as well. Offer that food with a bit of cottage cheese or plain yogurt mixed in. Perhaps warm the food a bit with some warm water or a spoonful of low-salt chicken broth. Offer the food to the dog. If the dog doesn't eat it within 20 minutes, remove the food and throw it out. Offer another meal several hours later. Repeat. The dog won't let himself starve. He WILL eat when he gets hungry. However, since he's very small, you may want to visit with your vet about a calorie supplement like NutriCal. You can give the dog a few licks of that if he won't eat. It will provide the nutrients necessary to keep a small dog from suffering the ill-effects of going without food but won't 'fill him up' so he will still be hungry. Many small-dog owners keep it on hand in case a dog is ill and off his food for a day or so to keep problems from happening.

Once the dog is eating, simply cut back on the amount of yogurt, etc. that you add to the food until he's eating dry food only if that is what you want to feed. I supplement my dogs' diets with cottage cheese or yogurt or kefir as well as raw meat, fish, boiled egg, etc. several times a week, but you shouldn't need to do this unless you want to, especially for a house pet that doesn't get tons of exercise.

I would definitely look into a different food than what you are currently feeding, however. Other foods to stay away from include Hills Science Diet, Eukanuba, Iams, Purina anything (although Pro Plan is by far the best of their foods if you MUST feed a commercial brand), ol Roy, Alpo, etc.

Good luck!