puppies diet

Question
hi I have a 5 month old shit tzu x maltese puppy my problem is that he does not like dry food I have tried everything mixing dry with other food but to no avail  he likes human food he eats this down in no time  My question what do I do do I leave his dry food out for him or do I offer it to him and if he doesnt eat it I take it away from him till night time (I feed him 2 times a day).  I feel sorry for him if I don't give him anything but what do I do to overcome this problem  Is it ok to cook for him or not.

thank you for helping me

Answer
This is a common problem.  Yes you can cook for him, but it is extremely difficult for the average dog owner to make sure a dog is getting everything it needs for a complete diet and well balanced enough not to contain life shortening excess calories.  Besides, soft food does not give his teeth and jaws the exercise they need or scrape off the bad breath causing tartar.  He would much rather you spent the time throwing a ball for him.  The first step is to check his ribs, see http://www.puppychow.com/products/popup_body_condition.aspx

Most dogs that refuse to eat are over weight.  Likely he came from the breeder over weight and has manipulated you into giving him more of the tasty food than is good for him.  For now, continue the second meal.  You can drop it after 6 months if you want to.  Start with what the package of dry chow suggests.  If you are feeding a small breed puppy chow, you may want to switch to an adult chow not.  The calorie rich puppy chows are part of the agricultural get big fast, and are not the best for dogs in the long term.  do as you said, put the food down.  15 minutes is the usually suggested interval.  No more food and almost nothing in the way of treats until the next meal.  Adjust how much you are giving him until he eats it all, and checking his ribs shows proper body condition.  It will take will power on your part.  I had a Shepherd puppy go 3 days on a few nibbles.  she was fine, but I was a wreck.  

Stand your ground on this.  You may want to start obedience training.  Dogs see all the people and dogs in the household as a pack with each having their own rank in the pack and a top dog.  Life is much easier if the 2 legged pack members outrank the 4 legged ones.  You can learn to play the role of top dog by reading some books or going to a good obedience class. A good obedience class or book is about you being top dog, not about rewarding standard commands with a treat.