Is canned food necessary for pups?

[Nancy Sunderland]

I will be bringing my doodle puppy home Sept. 4th. I have a 30 pound bag of dry kibble that the breeder recommended, Wellness I think it's called. I don't have any of the canned food of the same brand yet though. Is it entirely necessary, or could I just mix it with milk or water? OR, scan I just feed it dry? We live on a dairy farm so I have raw bulk tank milk available as well, (or should I avoid that alltogether?)

[Deb McD]

Hi Nancy - you must be so excited about getting a doodle puppy. I just had a litter of pups in early May - I found by 7.5wks - the puppies no longer needed their dry kibble softened - they enjoyed it crunchy. They had a small kibble to start and then I got a little bigger puppy kibble after a week or so. Don't bother with canned food - too expensive and they don't need it. Just give plenty of water.

[Nancy Sunderland]

That's what I was hoping to hear!

[Kelly Gallagher]

I too fed my puppy dry kibble from the beginning (9 wks old). I sprinkled a little water on it..not much..but I don't think it matters to her one way or the other.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Nancy, I am not aware of any reason why a puppy needs to be fed canned food. I have never fed any dog canned food at any age except for reasons related to illness or old age.
I don't know what "raw bulk tank milk" is, but you never want to give a puppy any kind of milk; most dogs do not tolerate milk well, (or most dairy products), puppies least of all.
Wellness is a good quality food, and I'm assuming it's what your breeder has been feeding. You want to stick to the same food that he is accustomed to for a decent period of time until your puppy is well acclimated in his new home. There is no reason to add anything to the kibble, you can just feed it dry, at the amounts recommended by your breeder or vet.

[Adina P]

Puppies are able to chew solid foods well before they go to new homes. Wellness should be fine plain.

[Nancy Sunderland]

Thank you everyone, I'm so glad to learn this. My can opener just bit the twinkies, so I am trying to avoid as many canned foods as possible, LOL!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Your vet is a little confused, because there is no more meat in the canned version of any food than there is in the dry version of the same food. :-) 

There's nothing wrong with adding some canned food to your dog's diet if you want to, but as long as you're going to buy canned food, why not get a brand of canned food from our recommended list instead of Iams?