# Feeding canned food



## MiniPoo (Mar 6, 2014)

I feed both canned food and kibble. But I do not mix them together and each of my 3 dogs gets different canned food. Neeka is on prescription ID, which seems to help her digestive problems and I cannot switch her from it. Phoenix is on a non-chicken canned food. I usually look for LID (limited ingredients) in either Nutro of Natural Balance. 

Now that Dakota is going to be one year old this January, I can switch him from puppy food to adult and he can share the same canned food as Phoenix.

What I do is give canned food plus supplements to each dog. Then when they are all done, I throw kibble on the floor and they eat it from there. Why do I throw it on the floor? Because they eat a little slower and will not reject it as they might if I put it in a bowl. 

I used to mix canned with kibble but I got different reactions from each dog. Then I tried putting canned on one side of the bowl and kibble on the other and sometimes one of them would choke. So now I just feed them separately. Since I am using kibble, I do not have to use as much expensive canned food.

Hope this gives you some ideas.


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## Shamrockmommy (Aug 16, 2013)

Those are good ideas. I'd have to be careful with kibble on the floor with my chihuahua who has megaesophagus issues, she can't have anything hard at all. 

I discovered my wegmans has some good quality chunky style wet foods, I'm going to give a try and see how he does.


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## Dechi (Aug 22, 2015)

At that price, you should look into an all-prepared quality raw food. Your dog would go nuts, guaranteed, and it wouldn't cost more than the canned Fromm.

I Have the most finicky eater, he only eats Caesar, and sometimes wouldn't eat it, but he's crazy about his raw food !


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## Shamrockmommy (Aug 16, 2013)

Thanks for the suggestion. I've done raw, don't wish to do it again however. I like commercial food at this time in my life. I fed raw or home cooked for years. Just not enough time or energy with that with my son and I and our food issues.


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## MiniPoo (Mar 6, 2014)

Shamrockmommy said:


> Those are good ideas. I'd have to be careful with kibble on the floor with my chihuahua who has megaesophagus issues, she can't have anything hard at all.
> 
> I discovered my wegmans has some good quality chunky style wet foods, I'm going to give a try and see how he does.


My dog Neeka takes Prednisone and will eat very very fast if I feed her right next to the other dogs. She wants to make sure she eats the kibble before they do. So I put a baby gate in the kitchen, and Neeka goes on one side and the other 2 on the other side. That way I can put a small handful on the floor on each side. Once they finish the kibble, I put down another small handful. Neeka knows the routine and goes into position as soon as she sees me get the gate set up.

So you could separate your Chi from the other dogs and perhaps give her something soft to eat while the others are eating kibble.


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## MollyMuiMa (Oct 13, 2012)

I feed Molly canned food in rotation with both raw and kibble .........so she usually gets her a.m. meal in that form 2-3x a week. She has her favorites!
Variety Pet Foods 'Grandma's Cassarole', 'Sunday Brunch' & 'Mom's Turkey Dinner' ( all 4 star rated on dogfoodadvisor) 12.75 oz cans and
Nutrisca Turkey & Chickpea Stew (5 stars) 
The Variety Dog Food I was lucky to find at Walmart for $1.50 per can or you can purchase a 6 can case for $8.47 that contains the Sunday Brunch and Mom's Turkey Dinner....big savings buying it there! (And the names of the recipes are cute Hahaha!) 
The Nutrisca is more expensive...but I bought a 12 can case on sale for $19.46 at Chewy.com (it's usually $31.46 case) 13oz cans
For me, one can of food is three servings so a case will last me a couple of months since Molly doesn't get canned everyday!

I'm pretty picky about food so these 'passed' my scrutiny! LOL!


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## Shamrockmommy (Aug 16, 2013)

I could set her up behind a gate to keep her from choking on kibble, I"ll give that a try. 

Molly's mom- I forgot about the variety brand cans, I've fed those before and the dogs love them.

It's really nice to have him eating his meals now. He hasn't walked away yet since switching him to cans. Goofy dog!


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## aasteapots (Oct 6, 2013)

Im probably in the minority here but anytime my dogs tried a food strike, they went hungry. I would put down the food if they didn't eat or ignored it I picked it up and put it away until the next feeding. Trust me they eat eventually. I understand that some dogs have food and health issues but a dog that can eat regular food but is being picky will learn quickly that isn't allowed if they go with out a few meals. Just my opinion.


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## ericwd9 (Jun 13, 2014)

*Poodle hunger strike!*

If your other dogs are eating the kibble and doing well then the fussy poodle could too if he was desperate enough. A bit of hunger puking should do the trick! HeHE!! Try soaking the kibble in a little chicken stock. When soft it will be like the canned stuff.
Eric:angel2:


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## snmim (Sep 7, 2015)

ericwd9 said:


> If your other dogs are eating the kibble and doing well then the fussy poodle could too if he was desperate enough. A bit of hunger puking should do the trick! HeHE!! Try soaking the kibble in a little chicken stock. When soft it will be like the canned stuff.
> Eric:angel2:


Lol that isn't funny but why am I laughing?

CM once posted a link to this article and I kept it in mind: Teaching Your Dog to Eat | Mind to Mind I believe it's working with Mira, she's a crazy fussy dog and did the hunger puking too. This morning she was eating her breakfast and suddenly abandoned it and followed me upstairs. I quickly put her bowl away, cut it in half, and gave the old bits to her at dinner. She finished it and looked like she wanted more... too bad!

P.S I used to add a lot of additives just like you, but ever since she got so picky I gave up and just mix a little canned with dry now. Nothing more. If she is eating well I'll add an egg or yoghurt or something in but if she refuses her regular meal, no way am I adding something scrumptious to it. I won't give in to her demands anymore.


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## Shamrockmommy (Aug 16, 2013)

I guess I'm a softie, because he's doing well eating 75% canned, 25% dry now. Honestly I don't mind. He is only 10 pounds, doesn't eat that much anyway.  

He likes and is doing really well with Natural Life Lamaderm and their Chicken canned formulas. At walmart it's 93cents a can. 
I also have some Fromm cans, but comparing the calories, Fromm is about 360 vs Natural Life at 461. Much better value for the price. His tummy digests it better than Fromm too. 
Still have him on Fromm kibble.


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## Poodlebeguiled (May 27, 2013)

My dogs liked their kibble, Taste Of The Wild (prairie formula) better than their canned, which was a variety of Merrick, Hound and Gato, Dave's and a few others. They didn't always seem to like to eat though. Now they're on fresh, home prepared raw and they love it, most of it anyhow...there are a couple things they would rather skip. In fact, I need to watch it. They're getting fat I think. Oh dear. :afraid: Anyhow, you might try that brand of food and soak it some broth but it takes a long time for it to soften...(no grain) It's kind of known (I've read it in a lot of places) that dogs seem to love it. Who knows? 

Anyhow, unless I'm worried about hypoglycemia, I wear this apron when I fix their food.


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## aasteapots (Oct 6, 2013)

[/QUOTE]

Kids and Dogs have to follow this rule at our house! :rofl:


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## Shamrockmommy (Aug 16, 2013)

Taste of the Wild gave most of my dogs ear infections that wouldn't go away until I put them on something else. 

Honestly I don't mind feeding him canned. Was just seeing what other brands other people are using. 

Dogs' lives are so short, I'll indulge him a little bit  :angel2:


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## Streetcar (Apr 13, 2014)

Shamrockmommy, I feed a good deal of canned to my little guy, too. Actually, to both my cat and my dog. Though my cat is so picky there is little of the quality stuff he'll eat, so I had to lose my false pride over ingredients just to get wet food in him . Oliver Tpoo isn't picky at all LOL. He gets some canned in the mornings mixed with his kibble.

Brands get switched and often depend on what's available in the local stores I frequent. Lotus makes some delicious (looking and smelling; haven't tried them myself) canned like beef and asparagus and a lovely pork stew. Takes a while to go through a can here so I generally freeze half of it.

And he gets to share in some home cooking, like when I stir fry veggies, make stews or soups, whatnot. My Tpoo is a great vegetable eater. Turns out both of them like certain blue cheeses, too. Who'd a thunk it?


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## Viking Queen (Nov 12, 2014)

Check out the Merrick canned foods....very nice and some good flavor choices. They also have Wing a Ling and Smothered Comfort which have whole chicken wings and whole chicken thighs, respectively. They pressure cook the food and the bones are included ....they don't splinter, they just crumble and are safe to eat. Iris won't eat canned food as a rule, but will eat the Merrick foods as a special treat. 

Many of the foods are also labeled "low glycemic" which is helpful to know if you have a diabetic dog or one who otherwise requires a low glycemic diet. Their cat foods are labeled this way also.


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## Streetcar (Apr 13, 2014)

Some of Merrick's I've liked and some have changed to a weird consistency over the years. I fed my last dog a lot of Merrick's. Unfortunately my cat will have none of it, but good point, I should pick up a few cans for current dog. Wing a Ling was one my last dog loved.


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## Poodlelvr (Mar 13, 2010)

I am a little late to this thread, but I'd like to share an idea. For most of my two tpoos lives I have pretty much home cooked starting with a premix that came from Canada. My dogs did well on it.

About 2+ years ago I experienced my own health problem. I couldn't keep doing what I had been doing. I realized I needed to find a quality commercial food that they would eat and that agreed with them. I tried many. Belle and kibble did not do well together, so I decided to concentrate on canned. 

While my dogs liked many, and they were well reviewed on Dog Food Adviser, problems remained. Their poo was never very solid. After a while they rejected what they had previously enjoyed.

I was frequently visiting my local Agway to buy cans of various well regarded foods. one of my last tries was Weruva--a ridiculously expensive brand, between $3 and $4 a can. It looks beautiful and smells wonderful. Still had very soft stool.

One day as I was checking out, a woman in the back office suggested that I try Evanger's as it was much the same and it would save some money. I decided to try it on my next visit.

My dogs are now eating Evanger's Super Premium which is only $2.09 at Agway and comes in four flavors. It is more of a pate and not gravy covered. It is 4.5 stars on Dog Food Adviser and made in the USA. Even more important the dogs have nice firm poop. They would eat a whole can, if I would let them. Since I don't want them to get fat, I add volume in the form of well chopped veggies that they enjoy. If there is an Agway near you, you might want to try it, before you order a case from Chewy.


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## peepers (Apr 13, 2012)

*Too many options*

Finding the right combo of dry, canned is a real challenge. I have always used Innova wet food but they have modified their product line. Finally decided on Wellness, which the same brand as his dry. Hope you find something that works for you with all the suggestions.


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