Canned dog food for puppies...

[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.

[Giselle]

The simplest way to think about it is this: What's on the bottom of every bag of kibble? Crumbs. That's what is stuck between the crevasses of your dog's teeth. Kibble contains a large amount of carbs. Put two and two together, and you'll find it hard to believe that kibble actually helps keep teeth clean.

No regular, healthy dog or puppy necessarily needs dry kibble or canned food or raw food or homemade food. Just use whatever works for you! (JMO anyways)

[bckrazy]

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.

I think what Jessika was saying is... he probably started refusing to eat the kibble when his teeth really started hurting, and the horrible breath is a later side affect of the bad teeth, not eating soft food. Hogan should definitely get his teefs checked by the Vet, if he hasn't already!

[3muttsandaboston]

Hogan lived his first three years as an outside dog he never saw one table scrap. When my grandmothers other dachshund died she decided to keep him inside where he was spoiled and as soon as he tasted his first table scrap he refused to eat anything but canned food. lol Like I said it is extremely hard for him to eat anything because he has a severe overbite or parrot mouth so much so that he is pretty goofy looking lol. Now that my grandmother has realized that he needs chewies and bones to keep his teeth cleaned she gives them to him and they have helped alot.

[catfancier]

I've recently finished writing an article on nutrition and another one on dental health.
In the research that I did, I found it amazing how many carbohydrates are in cat and dog food. In their natural state, cats and dogs do not eat many carbs at all, relying on the energy they need from protein (sourced from other meat, and to a lesser degree plant protein), and also from fats (which are naturally present in meats). Also in their natural state, cats and dogs would often not have a pre-prepared meal waiting for them and would need to fast due to the lack of food available.

Dog's teeth are naturally ultra-white in colour (more so than the whitest white that a Hollywood dentist could achieve). They should not have smelly breath at all - smelly breath indicates bad dental hygiene.

And absolutely, puppies should always be on a food specially formulated for puppies. Perhaps you could say to your auntie (or get your mum to) that if a puppy isn't fed on puppy food, it could be detrimental to their growth and they will not develop the way that they should.

So with this in mind, I would recommend finding a good quality pet food that is meat-protein based, feed frozen bones to keep their teeth and gums healthy, and perhaps have them skip a meal once or twice a week. I know this sounds harsh, but when you consider that up to 1/3 of pets these days are overweight, this may not be such a bad feeding regime...? JMO