food/ treat question

Question
Ok so i finally got my 5month yr old chihuahua to eat hard puppy food.  With one small problem.. she'll only eat it out of my hand! I mean i guess thats better than nothing and at least shes eating but when i try to put the food from my hand into her bowl she just doesnt want anything to do with it. Im not sure what to do. Thats my first little problem.

My second question.
I bought purina beneful puppy for my puppy at first. She didn tlike it to much so i decided to switch to the food i was talking about above. But she seems to like the soft chews out of this food for treats. Is that ok to use peices from the purina for treats?? I heard giong back n forth between foods is bad. But in my scenario, is it really an issue??  

Answer
Wow, I have a couple of questions for you before I even attempt to answer this.

1) Why are you pushing kibble or hard food for this pup? It is very hard to digest for such a young pup and is not very nutritious at all. What was the breeder feeding your pup? Are you aware of all of the chemicals and preservatives in commercial foods? But if you are going to use commercial, how about a brand like Wellness for Puppies from the can with a little kibble on the side? Puppies need higher fat and calories. Again, pushing hard food is not something I would do with a pup or adult dog. I am passing along this info as it comes from my own animal nutritionist and just want you to know this.

2) Whatever made you chooose Beneful? The wonderful advertising? The colorful veggies they show? I need you to know that Beneful is the lowest rated of all of the dog foods on the markets. Their ingredients are cheap and it is nothing but a chemical nightmare. If nothing else PLEASE DO NOT FEED YOUR DOG THAT STUFF. It is horrible.

3)Again, what was the breeder feeding him? And yes, continually switching foods around will very likely cause your pooch some digestive problems and then you have real problems. I know, I did it anbd I am still dealing with two dogs with IBD and SIBO. You must not switch foods..find a HIGH END product (such as Wellness, Innova, Evo,Evangers,Wysong et al. and pick a canned puppy food) If you are not going to homecook (and only an expert in dog nutrition should home cook UNLESS one is working with an animal nutritionist)then you need to learn how to read LABELS ON CANS AND PACKAGES. The ingredients are CRITICAL TO YOUR DOG'S LONG TERM HEALTH meaning his liver and kidneys. A food likeBeneful is already stressing out his kidneys and liver and there will be a price to pay down the line.

Please research how to read dog labels and what to look for...for your puppies sake. You must start him out RIGHT or he will just be a problem waiting to happen. OK? If you would like the email of the gal who helped me with my two Yorkies (not a certified nutritionist but she might as well be. She believes in supplementation on all different levels and for my dogs she was a miracle worker) please let me know.

And since I am here I will also mention vaccines. Please read up on what your dog REALLY NEEDS AND LEARN TO ADVOCATE FOR YOUR PUP. I want you to read about TITERS BECAUSE after your dog has had all of the basic innoculations, he never needs boosters again--EVER. For example, if your pup is not going to be boarded or kenneled then do not let a vet talk you into bordatella. Do not let the vet EVER give your pup a 5 in 1 COMBO SHOT. You are just starting out so when I read that you are going to feed BENEFUL I knew that your dog knowledge might be limited and this is normal for most. Please do not take this as criticism..I am trying to help YOU help your pup from the get-go. Let me know if this helped or not!!! Susan