How often do you change your dog's food?

chigirl

chigirl

Member
Mar 20, 2006
2,495
1
#1
My dog is almost 5 and has a good appetite but I was thinking that it has been awhile since she has had new food. If you do change your dog's food, how often do you do it? Do you stick with the same brand? We currently do Nutro Natural Choice with lamb and I thought of changing it to chicken or even getting her adult food.

If this question has been asked before, I apologize. Search function is disabled.

Thanks.
 
#2
Hi, Chigirl!

I have two Chihuahuas who I keep on the same kibble (Organix by Castor and Pollux) all the time.

Some dogs have really sensitive digestive systems and changing kibble upsets their stomachs.

My personal advice is to find a great high quality kibble and just stick to it, unless your dog has 'special needs' (weight loss, etc)

Hope that helps! :smile:
 
#5
My dog has been on the same food forever. I have had to change it in the past, but the vet warned to do it gradually by mixing since it can bother their stomach to change foods. It's really best just to keep them on the same food.
 
#6
Thanks for the responses. I just feel bad as she has been eating the same stuff for almost 4 years. I thought it might be fun for her to change it up. Her stomach is not at all sensitive. Then again, she is healthy and eats her food everyday so it is probably best to keep the status quo.

Did any of you change to adult formula? I think she may be too young for that but I do remember my parents feeding our dogs "senior" food.
 
#7
I have read the opposite, change food often. If dogs eat the same food they might develop an allergy to that protein is the theory. That was hard to do for my dogs though. I did change kibble every few bags and I did do it very gradually. I kept the bags in a plastic tote and bring a cannister holding about three days worth of food into the house. To change I would scoop one new, three old the first time, one to two, one to one, two to one, three to one and then all new. Even that slowly my dogs would have softer stools as soon as the mix was one to two. Every time!

Now I am homecooking for them. They adore that! If I up the meat content to 5 ounces from 4 ounces a day they get upset tummies. For treats I have to give cheese or meat sandwiches rather than just the high protein cheese or meat. Who said dogs are carnivores?
 
#9
My three dogs have been eating the same thing forever. I'm afraid to change b/c they might get upset stomachs. One of them has irritable bowel syndrome so she's delicate.

They eat Science Diet Sensitive Stomach Crunchies and Hill's ID canned food that I get at the vet's office.
 
#10
boxermom said:
If it ain't broke, don't fix it. No need to change if my dog feels and looks healthy.
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ITA!:yes:

My dog self-feeds on dry food only, as he smelled terrible from wet food. He's been on the same one for about 4 years as well, but he gets treats (cheese/apple) pretty often, and it doesn't seen to bother him... after all, they only drink water and we don't feel sorry for not giving them juice or fizzy drinks LOL
 
#11
I change my dogs food every bag which is about once a month. I rotate between 3 different kinds so she ends up repeating the same food 4 times a year. She has a stomach of steel so the switching isn't hard for her. I try to change up the main source of protein with each bag so she doesn't become allergic to anything.
 
#12
the only time I change my dog's food is if her age requires it...for example when my last dog turned 7 I switched her to the senior formula of what I'd been giving her. And now Elphaba is a puppy and when she turns 1 I'll change her to the adult. Other than that, if they eat their food well and there are no bad side effects I don't think there's a good reason to change it.
 
#13
Zophie said:
My dog has been on the same food forever. I have had to change it in the past, but the vet warned to do it gradually by mixing since it can bother their stomach to change foods. It's really best just to keep them on the same food.
Click to expand...

Same with my dog. We have fed him Science Diet ever since we got him as an 8 week old puppy. The only thing we've changed is when he got older, we moved him from the puppy version to the adult version. If you have to change you need to do it gradually by mixing it, at first you need to mix more of the old with less of the new, then get to a point where it's less of the old and more of the new. It's better to keep them on the same if you can though. Same goes for cats.
 
#14
I agree with the others, there is no need to change it up. When I changed Kobe's food we went from Purina Beneful to a higher grade Royal Canin Yorkie Formula. Now if I change it again, It will be to Royal Canin small breed senior formula. But yorkies live to about 12-14 years. So he has a while.
 
#15
ellacoach said:
It's better to keep them on the same if you can though. Same goes for cats.
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I'm not sure about cats but this isn't always true. Here's one article about it and I've read many more that say the same thing.

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/how-often-should-i-change-foods.html
"Change your dog’s food

Once you have selected a good quality dog food, that’s all you need to feed, right? Not really. You should vary your dog’s food periodically. There are many good reasons for this:

_ Dogs (actually all mammals) are designed to consume a range of different foods, and to obtain differing vitamins and minerals from each. They are not designed to eat “only chicken” or “only lamb” or any other food item for eternity. Changing foods, importantly the contents of those foods, every so often helps to give them the variety their bodies were designed to thrive on.

_ There is no one dog food in existence that “has it all”. And remember, the feeding trials that foods go through only last for six months (and not all foods are even trialled). Changing foods periodically helps to ensure that no dietary deficiencies or excesses build up over time.

_ Variety is the spice of life. Who wants to eat the same food day in and day out? Could you do it? For months or years? Feeding your dog something different helps to ensure that he does not become bored and frustrated with his food. This will not make your dog picky - we are talking about periodic changes here, not serving up something different or adding goodies to tempt him every time he doesn’t like his dinner.
And most importantly of all:

_ It helps to avoid the development of allergies. In a few extreme cases, you (or your dog) may be instantly and violently allergic to something. But that is a few extreme cases only - the vast majority of allergies are things that build up over time and with constant exposure. The surest way to develop an allergy to chicken, for example, is to consume it daily for an extended period. It is no coincidence that the most common allergens are things that have commonly been used in dog foods for many years. The (modern) advice given by nutritionists is that feeding a wide variety of different foods, preferably from a young age, can help to avoid the development of allergies in the first place (that's the advice given for humans too).

Common signs of allergies are itchy skin, red itchy paws, chewing paws, yeast infections, ear infections, and skin infections that may respond to antibiotics but reappear as soon as the antibiotics are discontinued.

That all adds up to changing the food you feed every once in a while. That means changing to a food with different main ingredients. There is very little benefit to switching from one chicken/rice food to another, for example. If you have been feeding a food with chicken as the main ingredient, then it is far better that the next food is based on lamb, or turkey, or fish, or beef, etc and that the other main ingredients are also varied."
 
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