# Puppy chews concrete wall



## PuppyGRECO (Jul 13, 2011)

Hi

We used to feed our puppy Royal Canine and Hills.
Recently we swapped to Friskies and Friskies Chicken can food (small amount mixed in).
This was for financial reasons mainly, but also as when we tried these brands the puppy didn't eat them on their own. We added yoghurt and that worked, but switched to canned dog food as it seemed more practical.

Recently the puppy has been chewing the concrete wall, and also eats anything that is vegetation on walks and on my balcony.

Is this due to a vitamin deficiency as friskies is a lower quality food, and if so, can we supplement the diet with real vitamin intake or some additive to the food?

Thanks in advance


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## Sibe (Nov 21, 2010)

Those are terrible quality foods. I know money is tight but you will likely spend a fortune on vet bills if you stick with such low quality food. In my experience, dogs on low quality food have horrid breath, their skin and fur is oily and gross and smelly, they are overweight more often than not, they have runny eyes, and are more itchy. And that's just externally. Internally damage is done as well over time.

Taste of the Wild is a great kibble that many people feed and is pretty cheap considering the quality. It's one of the cheapest high quality foods. See if you can find that and fit it into your budget. If not, Kirkland brand from Costco is a decent food if you're really tight on money and it's cheap, about $25 for 30lbs last I heard.

About the concrete wall, you need to stop this habit. It is dangerous for your puppy, not to mention destructive. Puppies chew anything and you need to direct that to proper chewing items. He will get away with whatever you let him get away with. Block off the areas he chews, don't leave him unsupervised (crate him when you're gone or can't watch him, or get a longer leash and physically tie him to you so you always know where he is), and nip this habit in the butt NOW.


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## kafkabeetle (Dec 4, 2009)

I would recommend looking around for a Tractor Supply store in your area. They have a good and super cheap kibble called 4Health. It's their store brand so you can only get it there, but it's worth searching out.

As far as the canned food, I wasn't aware that Friskies made dog food, but their canned cat food is ok. It's not the best because it has grains and food-coloring in it, but really almost any canned food is going to have more meat and less filler in it than kibble. I wouldn't worry so much about the canned as making SURE to get your puppy off of the Friskies dry food, because it's really as bad as it gets. It's basically just meat flavored corn cereal. 

Other kibbles that are good and cheap:
- Whole Earth Farms (Merrick's value line, can be gotten at chain pet stores)
- Kirkland (a high-quality Costco brand)
- 4Health (TSC house brand)
- Taste of the Wild or Chicken Soup (slightly better foods sold at TSC as well for a good price)
- Natural Balance (chain pet stores have it)

The concrete and plant eating habits just sound like puppy behavior to me, but that doesn't mean you don't need to look for some better foods. I would just redirect your puppy when they try to do those things and never leave them unsupervised around things they can chew up that they shouldn't.


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