Our dogs seem to be always hungry, something very normal considering the excellent sense of smell they possess. Feeding them with good feed is a great way to show them our love and invest in their health and longevity.
But eating for months and months the same type of feed, causes them to get tired or not eat it with the same taste as at the beginning. Let’s imagine for a moment that we also eat the same for months…. we would end up very tired.
Making a change of feed every four or five months is a very healthy practice, both to prevent them from getting tired of the feed and to offer them diversity in the ingredients that make it up. On a personal level every four or five months I always change my mind with my dogs and the results are excellent. We are going to explain how a feed change should be made to prevent our dog from having digestive problems or loose stools.
Why make a change of feed every few months?
Making a change in the variety of feed that we give you every few months is not mandatory but it is highly recommended for our dog to eat happily. We can choose between other feed of the same brand or vary between different brands as long as it is quality food for our dog.
The recommendable thing is to maintain the quality, that is to say, not to change our dog’s feed just to give it a cheaper or worse quality one. We must maintain a high level of quality in all the feed we give it.
The main reasons why we recommend varying are:
- To prevent our dog from getting tired of always eating the same
- To offer you a varied diet, changing the source of protein in each feed
- To keep you healthier and happier
When we change our feed, it is advisable to also change the source of animal protein so that our dog has a varied diet. If for example you are now eating a chicken-based feed, we can make the change for one of fish, lamb or beef.
There are people who vary in feed throughout the day, giving their dogs one type of feed in the morning and a different type of feed throughout the day. We prefer not to mix it like this although it is just as healthy.
How to make a change from feed to feed correctly?
The digestive system of our dogs is generally a little sensitive, so when we want to change the feed it is recommended to do it gradually. In this way we will prevent a sudden change from causing diarrhea or digestive problems.
The most common way of doing it is progressively over six days, which would look like this:
- 1st and 2nd day: The total daily amount of food for our dog will be 75% of his old feed and 25% of the new feed that we want to introduce.
- 3rd and 4th day: The total daily amount of food for our dog will be 50% of his old feed and 50% of the new feed that we want to introduce.
- 5th and 6th day: The total daily amount of food for our dog will be 25% of its old feed and 75% of the new feed that we want to introduce.
- 7th day onwards: Everything our dog eats will be new, I think.
If we make the change with a feed from the same company, for example if we change from an Acana chicken feed to a Lamb feed from Acana, sometimes our dogs tolerate slightly more abrupt changes.
How to make a change from feed to dehydrated food?
Such a sudden feeding change requires a progressive adaptation, to avoid that our dog suffers from digestive problems such as diarrhea.
Dog food is a dry product that causes our dogs to drink a lot of water after eating. However, dehydrated food must be hydrated before serving, so our dogs eat a moist food and will not drink as much water afterwards.
There are those who prefer feed and those who prefer dehydrated food, both are good options to feed our dogs and only by trying them will we know which one suits them best. If you do not know any dehydrated food company you can look at this one that we recommend for its quality: Naku page, dehydrated dog food.
The way to make the change is the same as the previous one, progressively over a few days:
- 1st and 2nd day: The total daily amount of our dog’s food will be 75% of his old feed and 25% of the dehydrated food (obviously already hydrated) that we want to introduce.
- 3rd and 4th day: The total daily amount of our dog’s food will be 50% of his old feed and 50% of the dehydrated food (obviously already hydrated) that we want to introduce.
- 5th and 6th day: The total daily amount of our dog’s food will be 25% of his old feed and 75% of the dehydrated food (obviously already hydrated) that we want to introduce.
- 7th day onwards: Everything our dog eats will be new, I think.
The change from dehydrated food to feed would be done in reverse, always respecting these deadlines to avoid problems.
How to make a change from feed to Barf diet?
The Barf diet consists of feeding our dogs with raw meat or, failing that, a little cooked, also using other ingredients that are also 100% natural to complete their diet. You can get a lot of information about this type of diet here: BARF natural food.
There are many opinions here since there are cases like mine in which when I make a change of feed to Barf there is no problem, whether I do it progressively or not. Although there are also cases in which a sudden change does not sit well with them.
So it is best to start with a progressive adaptation but without mixing, that is, without using commercial feed and natural food in the same food.
We can do it by putting our dog feed for breakfast and lunch, and using a little meat and rice for dinner, for example. Repeating this for several days so that our dog’s stomach gets used to it.
Throughout the days we can decrease the feed intake and replace it with natural food, and incorporating new ingredients.
How to make the change of feed to a puppy so that it feels good?
Puppies are much more delicate than adults, and therefore we must be very careful when we make feed changes. Actually, if the feed you are taking suits you, it is advisable to keep it for at least six months, as long as it is of quality.
If we need to make a forced change of feed, we will do it very slowly to avoid digestive problems. In puppies, it is better to respect the source of protein they are eating, so if they eat a chicken feed, the new feed must also be made up of chicken.
We will make the change very smoothly and if we notice diarrhea or health changes, we will suspend the change immediately. The most recommended way to do it is like this:
- 1st and 2nd day: The total daily amount of food for our dog will be 90% of his old feed and 10% of the new feed that we want to introduce.
- 3rd and 4th day: The total daily amount of food for our dog will be 80% of its old feed and 20% of the new feed that we want to introduce.
- 5th and 6th day: The total daily amount of food for our dog will be 60% of its old feed and 40% of the new feed that we want to introduce.
- 7th and 8th day: The total daily amount of food for our dog will be 40% of his old feed and 60% of the new feed that we want to introduce.
- 9th and 10th day: The total daily amount of food for our dog will be 20% of his old feed and 80% of the new feed that we want to introduce.
- 11th day onwards: Everything our puppy eats will be new, I think.