Mixing Canidae with Puppy Chow

caesarsgirl79

Hello,

I have had my puppy, Halo, for almost a month. The day I got her I went out and bought some Canidae. I didn't know I wasn't supposed to just switch foods and she started having diarrhea and not feeling well. I found out that they had been giving her Puppy Chow. So, I went out and bought her a small bag of Puppy Chow. I slowly decreased the food until all she was getting was Canidae again. Well I noticed that she really wasn't eating it much. So, I went out Friday and bought another bag of Puppy Chow and I have been mixing it probably 2-3 scoops of Canidae to 1 scoop of Puppy Chow.

I know Puppy Chow isn't good food, but since I am giving her mostly Canidae is it so horrible. Is it okay to keep doing this or should I eventually try the switch again.

I go back to the vet again on July 8th, but she really wasn't any help with choosing foods. She suggested Science Diet and gave me a bag, but I gave it away. She had never heard of Canidae.

I would appreciate any advice.

Thanks!!

BoxMeIn21

First off, I love your puppy's name! Secondly, I would just continue to decrease the amount of puppy chow you are mixing with the Canidae. You could also add a little plain non fat yogurt into her bowl - that will help with the digestive aspect. Are you free feeding or does she have set meal times?

dre2142

Vets giving out Science Diet boggles my mind. And your vet not knowing what Canidae is?
Personally this would alarm me and Id consider going to a new vet.

Just continue to decrease the puppy chow...

caesarsgirl79

BoxMeIn21, thanks!! I will definitely try the non fat yogurt. Do I just mix in a little with the try food? How often is it okay to give it to her? I put out the food at specific times, but she eats a little at a time. I leave her food out all day, so I guess that would be free feeding.

Dre2142, that concerned me too. I really did like staff, but the more I think about it the vet herself was just okay. I found her online and the reviews were wonderful. I am going to go ahead and take her back next week, but after that I will look into finding someone else. I brought in some of the sample packs of the Canidae and she was like well if that's what you want to use, I am sure it is fine.

Thanks to the both of you for your help!!

dre2142

Thats frowned upon.

Give them their food, and whatever they dont eat in 15, 20 minutes they lose.
Your pup needs to be on a specific schedule....which in turn will give them a specific potty schedule as well, which makes housetraning easier.

A good read: http://www.peteducation.com/article....&articleid=704

Feeding them a good food like the Canidae will also make their potty breaks more regular and less frequent.

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caesarsgirl79

I have heard different people say different things about that. I really don't want to take her food away. I will look more into it to see why it could be beneficial.

I agree with you on the potty schedule. And we are doing that. She's doing really well.

Thanks for your advice.

dre2142

I bet youd be hard pressed to find anyone on this site or any of the puppy sites advising you to leave your puppys food out at all times.

You say you dont want to take her food away....any particular reason? Leaving the food out all day prevents you from getting your puppy on a set schedule....it also wont eat when you give it their food because they know that it will still be there later. Youre also setting yourself up for problems down the road with discipline and possible weight problems, as you are unable to monitor their intake.

Another thread about it: http://www.dogforums.com/19-first-ti...-schedule.html (Feeding Schedule)

Is it safe to assume that you are not crate training your puppy?

BoxMeIn21

I agree with only putting the food down for a set amount of time. Honestly there are a few reasons. First off if you leave the food out all day it wreaks havoc on trying to develop any type of potty schedule.
Secondly, it's much easier trying to develop an appropriate relationship with a dog if you control the resources; dogs understand this kind of thing.
Third, in the event of emergency surgery, you have no way of being accurate as to when the dog ate last, which increases the anesthesia risk.
And last but not certainly least, I have heard of too many dogs choking on kibble to leave it out while I am not home.

So that is why I wouldn't do it.

As for your question, yes, just mix about a tsp of yogurt in with the kibble every day, unless she is lactose intolerant, yogurt is very good for the digestive system.

Puppy & Dog Forums