in

How to Safely Change Dog Foods?

Changing Food

As your dog gets older, it’s very important to try and change his dog food. Yes, the food you’re offering him right now might not suit his nutritional requirements. It makes a lot of sense to change the dog food from time to time. Also, there are foods that can make your pet sick, which is why you want to see how he enjoys his current meals. If needed, you can change the dog food now and then see what results might appear based on that change alone.

Why do you need to change your dog’s food?

The primary reason would be any food sensitivity. In case your pet is dealing with an itchy skin or stomach problems, then food can be the main culprit.  Also, the age of your pet is just as important. As we mentioned earlier, nutrimental requirements change based on a pet’s age. On top of that, smaller dog breeds need their food changed even more often when compared to larger pets. If your pet is 7 years old, then you need to make another dog food change. You will have to buy some pet food specifically created for the older pets.

Making gradual dog food changes

As we mentioned already, what you want to do is to go for some gradual dog food changes. Thankfully, you can do all of it in a week or less. However, you need a good plan to make it work. And here are all the steps that you need to take, showing how much of your old dog food and new dog food you need to have per day.

  • During the first day you want to have 25% new food and 75% old food
  • Then you shift to 30% new food and 70% old food for the second day
  • The first day requires you to have a 50-50 dog food ratio between the old and new food
  • The fourth day is where you have 30% old food and 70% new food
  • Day 5 will need you go to with 15-20% old dog food and 80 to 85% new dog food
  • During the last, 6th day, you should have 90 to 95% new dog food and only a little bit of the older food
  • Starting with the 7th day, it’s possible to feed your pet only new food.

Things to consider

Since your dog is shifting his diet, you need to pay attention to how he feels. Pets need a lot of water during this process. Also, gas levels should be low, otherwise lots of gas will signal that your pet’s food is not digested very well. The feces should remain normal. A runny stool will show that your pet deals with dehydration and the new food isn’t adopted that well.

Of course, if things get out of hand you may want to call the vet. But for the most part switching to a new diet should be a very simple thing to do. We recommend you to take your time and stick to the percentages listed above every day. In case your pet has certain health issues, you need to contact the vet and he will let you know what custom dieting schedule he needs. Either way, shifting to a new dog food can be a great thing, and it’s recommended. However, you need patience to make everything work!

Puppy Feeding

Puppy Feeding Guideline

Dangerous foods

Important: These Foods Can Kill Your Dog