Dry vs wet food basics, how often??

[Mark Huddleston]

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Our 12 week old Shih-Poo seems to be doing really well. He is our first ever dog and the choice in dog food is mind blowing.
Presently we give him Butchers Puppy Perfect (he was weaned on this) and this scores 90% on allaboutdogfood.co.uk. We tend to feed him this as his main early evening food. We also use Iam’s Puppy dry food for breakfast which only scores 66%. His poos are quite smelly, formed but sometimes quite soft.
So in a nutshell what are the advantages/disadvantages of dry vs wet food for a dogs health?
How often should a 12 wk old be fed? 2,3 or 4 times daily?
Is it OK to alternate through the day or should we stick to one type for every meal?

 

[Caro Perry]

Harri gets a mix and two meals a day. He doesn't have breakfast as he isn't interested in food until he's had his morning walk.

Raw chicken wings for lunch (although we are going to have to stop that shortly unfortunately). He gets a premium wet food ( Butternut Box) for his main meal and a play snack of Canagan kibble in his dispensing ball.

Poos are firm and well formed and not overly odorous.

At 12 weeks old we were feeding Butternut Box 3 times a day with kibble occasionally when out and about. It dropped to 2 meals at 6 months which is the standard recommendation.

 

[Mad Murphy]

We started Murphy on 4 small meals 2 dry kibble and 2 of fresh meat and as he grew up we reduced that to two meals.
We now feed a raw diet because as he aged it became clear that dry food of any kind did not agree with him and since changing to his current diet we have had nothing but small solid poo with hardly any smell at all.

To be honest you can ask a 1000 people and get a 1000 answers about whats best but the fact is the best food is the one your dog likes , the one that suits his or her tum , the one that will give them what they need and the one you can afford. Some dogs wont touch raw my old beagle would run away if he so much a caught a sniff of tripe but enjoyed lamb hart and a dry meal. Murphy cant have beef but George loves it. Its what suits the individual.

 

[JoanneF]

I personally would feed him 4 times for another month or so - you could go to 3 times but i think 4 spaces out their blood sugar levels more evenly. I also would stick to one food, and if he is having soft smelly poos, you might be feeding a little too much (a common cause, although one of the foods could equally cause this).

Wet versus dry - your preference (and his) really. There are good and bad varieties in each, as you have seen on the website. Its partly about convenience (storage, carrying home from the shops) but mainly about what he enjoys and does well on. The Iams has quite a lot of maize which is used as a filler because its quite cheap, that can result in sloppy poo so if it was me, i would change it. If you prefer dry food though there are plenty that are very good. Have a look at Orijen (but expensive and some people find the meat content too high/rich) Acana and Gentle.

 

[Mark Huddleston]

So in basic terms meals should be 3-4 times per day and by 6 months of age it should be twice a day.
I will look at the other dry foods suggested thanks.
With regards to over feeding the vet told us not to worry about this and if he clears his bowl give him more which is want we have been doing. This doesn’t happen all the time but now I’m thinking should the portions be more measured??

 

[JoanneF]

So in basic terms meals should be 3-4 times per day and by 6 months of age it should be twice a day.
I will look at the other dry foods suggested thanks.
With regards to over feeding the vet told us not to worry about this and if he clears his bowl give him more which is want we have been doing. This doesn’t happen all the time but now I’m thinking should the portions be more measured??

I would keep an eye on his weight and condition. Like I said, it could be one of the foods rather than the amount that is causing him to have soft poo, but feeding guidelines are just guidelines and in my experience, they do tend to be generous.

 

[excuseme]

Take care not to over feed your puppy, If your puppy clears it's meal, that is fine, it is healthy for your puppy to be wanting it's next feed and quiet natural.
At 12 weeks 3 meals should be quiet adequate. Our 2 puppies in 2018 cut themselves back to one feed a day by 9 months of age. They were weaned onto raw and and are still eating raw.
There are plenty of good Grain free makes of kibble these days as @JoanneF has mentioned. I would like to add "Eden" and "Millies Wolfheart" to Joanne's suggestions too. These may seem expensive to buy, but because the contents are such good quality and quiet rich, much less is needed to be fed. If too much of these good quality kibbles is used, loose and even runny poo's are what you will get.
When feeding dry kibbles, meals never look to be much, if you soak them with about 80% of water you will see just how much you are actually feeding.
You will be fine to alternate your meals, the variety will do no harm. If your puppy is doing well on the Butchers tins, I would suggest that you do not rush to change this.
Iams puppy food is not the best food for a puppy, It is full of corn, grain and beet pulp, much of this will be difficult for your puppy's tummy to digest, therefore big, soft/squidgy, smelly poo, can be the end result.
Do try to include a raw chicken wing 3 to 4 times a week, these are highly nutritious, perfectly safe and very good at keeping teeth sparkling and clean.

I'm sure we would all love to see a picture of your puppy. BIG PLEASE !

.

 

[Mark Huddleston]

Thanks so much for taking the time to reply in such detail.

 

[excuseme]

Thank you for the picture of your puppy, is that him in your Avatar? He's gorgeous.
I forgot to mention yesterday that if you could consider it, a raw diet would be best. Puppies change over very easily, there are companies who make "complete" raw meals.
@JoanneF often mentions that she uses both raw and Gentle which works well with holidays and travelling