Dog Feeding Question?

Question

We just adopted a little 3 year old female sheltie and we love her but her previous owners only fed her soft food, so her teeth are not to good and her breath is well.......its horrible! I'm trying to get her to eat solid dog food, but she is not doing to well everyone says she'll eat it if she's hungry, well then i feel bad because i feel like i'm starving her. We tried mixing soft with hard and the solid food we got is very small pieces like for brand new puppies small and were now to the no soft and she's just not eating it like i'd like her to, should i be patient or just keep giving her soft food, i'm working on getting her teeth healthy and i've heard by feeding them only soft food it is not good for their health either, so please any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks

Answer 1

You might want to take her to the Vet to get her teeth and gums checked to make sure she doesn't have some sort of infection causing pain which would cause her to avoid eating hard food. At the same time you could see about getting her teeth cleaned.
Follow the Vet's advice from there. She may need soft food for awhile depending on what needs to be done for her teeth and gums.

Answer 2

I don't believe the problem is with the soft (wet) food vs the hard (dry) food but more WHAT BRAND are you feeding? If it's Purina, Science Diet, or any other grocery store brand, then please stop and read the label. ALL of the companies producing these brands use ROAD KILL!!!! No kidding. Humane societies sell them their euthanized animals, restaurants sell them their old grease...it's HORRIBLE!!! Do some research on your own and you'll find what I say is true.

What you SHOULD go with is NATURAL foods from companies like Merrick, Fromm, and other manufacturers that you won't find in the grocery store. This is not your cheap stuff, but if you love your pet you'll give them good food. Get a small bag of the dry food from either Merrick or Fromm or any other company that states they use NATURAL ingredients...then get some chicken breasts from your grocery store and boil them. Chop up the chicken into small chunks and mix this along with the broth into the dry food. I also put in fresh sliced carrots, frozen peas, and chopped apple in the water to cook up with the chicken. See if this won't make a difference in her eating habits. TWO THINGS YOU NEVER WANT TO GIVE A DOG: CHOCOLATE AND ONION...BOTH ARE LETHAL.

For the teeth, try IAMS tartar treats. A toothbrush with regular dog toothpaste would be best, but this isn't always the easiest thing to do. There are also breath mints you can get for her. But if her teeth are bad, it's important to have them cleaned by your vet. Bad teeth can cause all kinds of health problems down the road.

I hope you'll try the natural food and that it works for you.

Answer 3

If she is a healthy girl, she will not starve herself. Do not give in because she misses a meal or two or three. Put down a quality dry kibble for her and set a time limit. (20-30 minutes) If she doesn't eat, do not enable her by leaving the food down. It will only make her fussier. At her age she only needs to eat twice a day so that is all I would offer to her. Also you can try adding just a scant amount of water to the kibble with a dash of garlic powder(not salt) and nuke it just to warm slightly because the warmth of the food will bring out more of the smells of ingredients in the kibble to be more appealling to her. Don't forget to make sure that your Vet does give her a clean bill of health. Good luck and hang in there. I know it is very hard to feel that you are starving your dog. Your'e not.

Answer 4

I would try to re intoduce the kibble very slowly while mixing it into ther wet food. Thsi way she will not really notice when your hvae finally srtopped the wet food all together.

I would not feed her kibbles and bit it's a very poor quality of dog food. Look for something not at a grocery store ok.

Answer 5

I would go with whatever Goldengal says but also I would give her healthy dental bones. Also I Take a soft damp rag or tissue and wipe the tarter off my dogs teeth, gently, using a finger, about once a week.

Answer 6

She needs crunchies so keep offering it to her and make it like the soft food is only a special treat.

Answer 7

i had the same problem once. i found that my dog would eat kibbles and bits and bits. it is not as crunchy as regular dry food and my dog was eating dry in a few weeks. buy a small bag and see if she likes that.