# When to switch from wet to dry food?



## Just4Lillie (Jun 14, 2010)

When is the right time to switch from wet to dry food? The breeder had my puppy on wet food twice a day (morning and evening meals), kibble to snack on throughout the day, and would sometimes feed her raw. I would rather feed her kibble for two meals and not allow her to snack, since we are in the potty training process. She is 3 months old, 2 pounds, and we've had her almost two weeks. I made the mistake of switching her wet food too quickly, but she loves what I feed her now (Vitality). She was on some Winn Dixie wet food junk. Anyway, she is having loose stool quite a bit, not consistently, though. Just wondering if she is too young to eat just dry kibble or if I could gradually switch her to it now? Shouldn't the kibble help to firm up her stool?


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## Duckie1009 (Dec 17, 2009)

She's old enough to eat kibble b/c her milk teeth have already come in. I was feeding kibble at 8 weeks old. I've never heard of Vitality but Dog Food Analysis (http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com) shows the first ingredient is Australian cereal and should be a meat. The second is Australian lamb/beef. I hope you live in Australia. 

The loose stool may be due to switching too fast or just the quality of kibble.


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## Just4Lillie (Jun 14, 2010)

hahaha...no, I don't live in Australia. What I'm feeding her isn't what you found on dogfoodanalysis.com (it's not listed). It's called Dogswell Vitality (canned food), which is all natural and grain free. I'm giving her the Lamb & Sweet Potato Stew Recipe. The first ingredient is water, then lamb, lamb liver, beef, beef liver, etc. Probably too much water in it for her which is causing her loose stools? Duh, why didn't I take a look at this already?

I'm giving her kibble for breakfast this morning. The breeder had her on Iams. I gave her 75% Iams and 25% Innova. She's not discriminating between the two and eating heartily right now from her Kong. I hope this does the trick and firms up her stools. 

By the way, her kibble is so small it just falls out the widest opening of the Kong. She doesn't have to chew on the rubber at all to get any out. Kind of defeats the purpose, doesn't it? Any ideas?


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## Duckie1009 (Dec 17, 2009)

My bad, you obviously know good food from bad. I don't really know if wet food really causes loose stool. I think dogs drink less water when eating wet food and raw compared to kibble. 

For Kongs, the beehive shaped ones, I usually stuff it w/ something like peanut butter or yogurt with biscuits mixed in or I put a big biscuit in it. Both of my dogs don't chew on Kong that much, they just try to lick the filling out. They do make one for kibble and it's shaped like a weeble wobble. Here are some kong recipes...

http://www.dogforums.com/19-first-time-dog-owner/70261-kong-filler.html


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## hanksimon (Mar 18, 2009)

I don't know about wet dog food, but very high protein can sometimes create loose stools (?)

After a puppy is weaned, you never have to feed wet/canned dog food (I know, already been said)

Because are "scavengers" they have a wide variety of friendly intestinal flora to help digest their different choices of cuisine. However, when dogs add new things to their diet, their mix of stomach bugs have to adjust, taking about a week. Meanwhile, they get incomplete digestion, an upset stomach, and the runs. Not a big deal, just a normal evolutionary process. And, that's the reason why you slowly transition from the old food to the new food, mixing 80%/20%, then 60/40, 50/50, 40/60, 20/80, changing every day or two to accommodate the change in stomach flora. And, you should do this every time you change dog foods.

If loose stools last more than a week, then it may be due to a different influence. 

Kong - Use Peanut butter !!!! The universal glue ! You don't have to buy "expensive" doggy peanut butter, just go to the grocery store and get the cheapest brand that has no salt or sugar. If you can get "Peanuts, only" then that is best... But I haven't found organic to make a difference.

Use about the same amount of kibble, put it together with a little peanut butter, smear it into the Kong, then add more peanut butter or kibble to get the right consistency (preferably the most time consuming to remove)

I have also jammed dog biscuit into the Kong with peanut butter, making them very hard to remove quickly...


When you use the Kong, make sure to include those calories as part of the normal feeding, otherwise you get a well-occupied, but fatter dog


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