I got a new shih tzu puppy on Saturday she was 9 weeks old on Friday and when i picked her up from the breeder I asked about food and was told she will eat anything, dry, tinned etc. She did give me a tin of Sainburys puppy food and was told to give her the whole tin per day, over 5 small meals.

Now I want to put her on a complete dry puppy food eventually and my question is:
I know I have to gradually reduce one while offering the other, but how do i do this as if I mix the tinned stuff with the dry stuff, surely she would be getting more vitamins & nutrients etc than she should be (as they are both complete foods)
So would I for instance feed her 4 meals of tinned and one meal of dry and gradually increase the dry meals until she is completely off the tinned stuff over a period of time? If so how long a period?

Soz for all questions, she is my 1st pup and I want to get things right.

Can someone help

I would mix the two together, reducing the tinned food and increasing the complete each day.

If you mix complete with complete then there's no risk of unbalancing the diet. :) However I would keep her on what the breeder was feeding her for a fortnight after bringing her home. Is she KC registered? If so it's a requirement under the KC Code of Ethics that the breeder supplies a written diet sheet (see #8) to help the new owner.

To change a dog's diet, take it slowly. Work out roughly (it's not an exact science because all dogs differ in their actual requirements) how much per day of each food the dog should be given, and divide that into the number of meals (at 9 weeks most pups are on 4 meals a day). Then for the first few days give each meal as a mixture comprising three-quarters the current food and one-quarter the new food. The next few days give half-and-half; another few days of three-quarters the new food and one-quarter the old food before you make the final change to entirely the new food.

Hope this helps.
:)

No I am not going to change her diet yet, give her chance to settle in.

Yes she is KC registered and the diet sheet I got wasn't actually a diet sheet as such (well what I imagine to be one) Just says

Feeds - Your puppy has been weaned on pedigree puppy food canned and a dry puppy food i.e. pedigree puppy complete.

Week 1-2 Give him/her 5 meals a day (around 3/4 tin) [yet she told me a full tin] replace one meal with dry food and ensure there is always a bowl of clean water available.

Week 3-4 Try her with 2 dry meals a day as a replacement now, now with water again always available. as they are only puppies they will eat and eat if allowed.

Thats all that was on the diet sheet. And the breeder gave me 1 tin of sainsburys puppy food.

So because the breeder told me she will eat anything, asda, tesco, sainburys tinned puppy food. Also asda, tesco, sainburys dry puppy mix.

I am confused. I tried her on pedigree puppy food I got in pouches from the puppy pack, doesn't seem to like it as much. Likes the asda tinned puppy food though, oh and for her last meal i give her the pedigree puppy complete food which again was in puppy pack.

God its soo confusing.

Thanks Jeangenie, when i come to change over I will follow those guidances.