Canned dog food for puppies...

[buttercup132]

The dog teeth with be rotted in no time unless she gives it bones too but it doesnt sound like she does.

[3muttsandaboston]

The dog teeth with be rotted in no time unless she gives it bones too but it doesnt sound like she does.

Thats what I was thinking! She doesn't have much money and can't afford the dogs she has so I don't know why she got a puppy!

[bckrazy]

Actually... wet food being worse for teeth than dry food is a big ol' myth! Wet food is actually less likely to stick to the teeth and encourage the growth of bacteria. Dry food does nothing to clean teeth, especially since most dogs swallow the pieces whole... raw meaty bones and appropriate chews are what keep teeth clean. Plus, wet food has much higher meat content. Puppy food is NOT a must. Fozzie ate all life stages food when he was 9 weeks old, and mostly Raw from then on.

The big concern is that, yes, a poor quality wet food is just as unhealthy as a poor quality dry food. You should definitely give your Aunt a call, or send her an e-mail, with some friendly pointers. I know it's hard, but try to be as gentle as possible with the advice... like saying: "My girls do really well on *insert high quality food*!" Or, you could even send her a puppy basket with good food included. And you could throw in some healthy chewies, like lamb ears & bully sticks, too!

[Jessika]

Actually... wet food being worse for teeth than dry food is a big ol' myth! Wet food is actually less likely to stick to the teeth and encourage the growth of bacteria. Dry food does nothing to clean teeth, especially since most dogs swallow the pieces whole... raw meaty bones and appropriate chews are what keep teeth clean. Plus, wet food has much higher meat content. Puppy food is NOT a must. Fozzie ate all life stages food when he was 9 weeks old, and mostly Raw from then on.

The big concern is that, yes, a poor quality wet food is just as unhealthy as a poor quality dry food. You should definitely give your Aunt a call, or send her an e-mail, with some friendly pointers. I know it's hard, but try to be as gentle as possible with the advice... like saying: "My girls do really well on *insert high quality food*!" Or, you could even send her a puppy basket with good food included. And you could throw in some healthy chewies, like lamb ears & bully sticks, too!

Six months ago I would never have believed this, but after my nutrition courses at school... surprisingly, kibble does not promote dental or oral health unless it is a specific food.

Dry kibble is simply not abrasive enough to "clean" teeth as many people seem to believe.

There ARE some dental formulas where the kibble DOES clean teeth, I do know Science Diet's T/D does this, but it is a prescription diet.

The only downfall I see with feeding canned food all the time is with canned food you are mostly paying for water and the nutrients are so diluted since it is nearly 75% water therefore you would have to feed a LOT more canned food than dry kibble in order for them to get adequate nutrition.

My opinion is that unless there is a medical reason, you don't mind forking out the money, or they do not drink enough water on their own, feed kibble. It's cheaper, muuuch cheaper in the long run.

As far as dental health goes, buy dental treats, take your dog in for their yearly dental exam/cleaning, and brush DAILY, not weekly!

[3muttsandaboston]

humm that is interesting to know. My grandmothers Dachshund Hogan used to eat dry food but for some reason now he will only eat wet food also recently he has the grossest teeth/breath ever. I don't know if this has anything to do with the switch from dry kibble to wet food...She has started giving him dental chews and brushing his teeth and it's alot better though.

[Jessika]

humm that is interesting to know. My grandmothers Dachshund Hogan used to eat dry food but for some reason now he will only eat wet food also recently he has the grossest teeth/breath ever. I don't know if this has anything to do with the switch from dry kibble to wet food...She has started giving him dental chews and brushing his teeth and it's alot better though.

As previously mentioned dry food will stick to teeth and cause all sorts of bacteria growth. Also when animals stop eating kibble and only eat wet, check their teeth/mouth/gums to make sure the reason why they don't eat kibble isn't because they can't or are in pain... sometimes they have abscessed teeth, broken teeth, cavities, etc and the only food they can "eat" is soft food they don't really have to chew.

[3muttsandaboston]

Oh Hogan the dachshund has a severe overbite. I think just tasting human food made him not like kibble anymore. Everything for him is hard to eat and if it doesn't taste very very tasty he won't eat it.