admin answers:

Hi there! First of all, disregard what most of the people here said already. It is a myth that canned food is bad for a dog. In fact, if you pick a good quality canned food and compare it to dry kibble at the same quality level and price range, the canned food has more meat, the animal protein is fresher, and the nutrient levels are retained for a lot longer. I don’t know if you are familiar with a publication called “The Whole Dog Journal” but they have a great article about canned food in their March 2007 issue.

A dog’s tastes and preferences when it comes to food are shaped fairly early on. If your dog was raised on wet food only, he will most likely never get used to eating dry kibble. Kibble is not really that appealing to a dog who knows better. Of course he will not starve. If you limit his meal choice to one type of kibble and just let him go without dinner if he does not eat, he will probably eat after 12 hours or so. But is that what is best for the dog? If your only consideration is getting him maximum nutrition and health, then you can just feed him canned food. It is also a myth that kibble cleans the dog’s teeth. Are your teeth any cleaner after you eat a bag of pretzels?

This is a direct quote from the article I cite above:

“Wet foods offer your dog a few advantages over kibble. At levels of 70 to 80 percent moisture, canned foods are beneficial to dogs with kidney ailments. All that moisture can help a dog who is on a diet feel full faster (although you should look for low-fat products, as most canned foods are higher in fat than their kibbled counterparts). Canned foods retain their nutrient value longer–two years or more, although their contents may change color and texture with time. Dry foods, in contrast, experience significant vitamin loss within a year of manufacture (longer for artificially preserved foods, less time for naturally preserved products).

Most significantly, though, the majority of wet foods contain far more animal protein (the dog’s evolutionary staple) than dry foods. Animal proteins are higher in biological value to the dog; they contain more of the amino acids that dogs can’t manufacture themselves, but must consume in their diets (essential amino acids). Though their digestive systems are beautifully able to extract at least some nutrients from just about anything edible, dogs benefit most from meat, especially when it is served up with proportionate amounts of the fat, connective tissue, organs, and even bone that originally came with the meat!

In addition to being more digestible, wet foods that contain mostly meat are also more palatable to dogs. (Conversely, the more grains and non-meat ingredients are present in a wet food, the lower its palatability.) Best of all, the meat used in canned pet food is usually fresh or frozen; generally, the meats in canned foods are of higher quality that the meats used in dry food.”

And this is the list of recommended canned food:

Addiction Foods – Venison & Avocado www.addictionfoods.com
Advanced Pet Diets – APD Sel. Choice Chicken & Rice www.breeders-choice.com
Artemis – Beef Formula www.artemiscompany.com
Avo-Derm – Priginal Formula www.breeders-choice.com
Azmira – Beef & Chicken www.azmira.com
Blue Buffalo – Chicken www.bluebuff.com
By Nature Organics – Organ. Turkey, SwPotatoe & Peas www.bynaturepetfoods.com
California Natural – Salmon & Sw. Potatoe www.naturapet.com
Canidae – Chicken lamb & fish www.canidae.com
Chicken Soup for the Pet Lovers Soul – Adult www.chickensoupforthepetloverssoul.com
Drs. Foster & Smith – Lamb & brown rice www.drsfostersmith.com
Eagle Pack Jolistic Select – Chicken www.eaglepack.com
Entrée for Dogs – chicken, veg. & rice www.threedog.com
Evangers for Dogs – Duck & Sw.Potatoe Dinner www.evangersdogfood.com
Evolve – Turkey www.evolvepet.com
Fromm Four star Nutritionals – Beef www.frommfamily.com
Innova – Adult www.naturapet.com
Innova Evo – Evo 95% Beef – www.naturapet.com
Lamaderm www.nlpp.com
Lick Your Chops – Adult Maintenance www.healthypetfoodsinc.com
Merrick – Thanksgiving Day Dinner www.merrickpetcare.com
Natural Balance – Beef Form. Www.naturalbalanceinc.com
Natural Balance Eatables for Dogs – Irish Stew www.naturalbalanceinc.com
Natural Life – Adult www.nlpp.com
Neura Meats 95% Beef www.oldmotherhubbard.com
Newman’s Own Organics – Chicken www.newmansownorganics.com
Nutro Natural Choice – Chicken rice & oatmeal www.nutroproducts.com
Organix – Adult www.castorpolluxpet.com
Performatrin Ultra – Chick & Wild Rice Stew www.performatrinultra.com
Petguard Organic – Organic Chick & Vegetable www.petguard.com
Pet Promise – chick & Brown Rice www.petpromiseinc.com
Pinnacle – Trout & Sw. Potatoe www.breeders-choice.com
Prairie – Beef www.naturesvariety.com
Precise Plus – Foundation Form. Adult www.precisepet.com
Sensible Choice – turkey & Rice adult www.sensiblechoice.com
Showbound Naturals – Chicken www.healthypetfoodsinc.com
Solid Gold –

admin answers:

Dont give your dog ice cream… Dogs will eventually eat when their hungry enough, but I’d rather you not try and starve the dog. If you give him kibble, get a little wet dog food, heat it up, and mix it together. Warm food smells and taste better to dogs. You can also mix his kibble with baked chicken… After a while mix his food with less wet food or chicken until its all just kibble.

admin answers:

Merrick is a very good food. I just switched over to Merrick about 2 1/2 years ago after using another brand for well over 30 years.