I need help changing puppy food!?

Question

My mom recently bought my 3 month old puppy a different brand of puppy chow (from Purina puppy chow to Dad's puppy chow). From changing from puppy to adult food I know you need to do it gradually, but do you have to do the same while changing between puppy chows?

Answer 1

I'm the PetSmart associate Matt spoke of, so instead of burning gas to get to a pet store and find out here's the lowdown:

ANY time you change the food -- either from brand-to-brand or from puppy-to-adult, follow this feeding advice.

Change the food over a period of ten days, breaking it down as follows:

Days 1-3: Mix 75% Old with 25% New
Days 4-6: Mix 50% Old with 50% New
Days 7-9: Mix 25% Old with 75% New
Day 10: Feed 100% New

Following this schedule should help reduce any risk of an upset stomach. Puppies in particular have extremely sensitive stomachs, so it's important not to rush it. If the puppy is having trouble after mixing the food and switching over, perhaps Dad's isn't right for his little tummy. Chances are, everything will work out just fine!

On a side note: Feeding your pup advanced nutrition style foods (more or less, anything you DONT find in every grocery store) is both good for him, and it will help YOU by reducing the amount of waste he produces by giving him more nutrients in a smaller portion of food. He eats less, you buy less. He eats less, you scoop poop less often! Good deal!

Hope this helps!

Answer 2

well, when you change your puppys diet at all it could cause you puppy to have an upset tummy. Gradually change your puppies food, add the new puppy food little by little untill finally you have all the new kind of puppy food. It's great to start your puppy off on a real high quality food, high in protein and calcium, but not so high in fiber and fat. Puupies are very intergetic and will need a high quality food to keep up with them, and fat in dog food is like sugar to people, it's them all hyper and then sends them crashing at the end of the day, plus it isn't a healthy way for the puppy to add weight to grow. In my honest opinion I've tried all types of food, and this is just my opinion, Purinan 1 is a great puppy food, so is Iams and Science Diet, and i know they are expensive but won't you rather spend a little extra on dog food and not so much on expensive vet bills. That how I look at it, I hope that you have fun with your new puppy.

Answer 3

Yes, this is true of any food changes.
Without the proper changing of foods, the puppy is likely to get an upset stomach and diarrhea.
There are much better foods out there than Puppy Chow too!

Answer 4

Is there any chance at all that you could get a better brand of food?
Puppy chow and Dad's are full of terrible ingredients - in fact, these are some of the worst foods out there. Please consider switching to a better kind of food:
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com
And no matter what food you're feeding - you do need to make a gradual change so that your dog's tum doesn't completely freak out.

Answer 5

It's a good idea to do this gradually as well. If you don't you will probably notice your puppy's stomach is upset and more gassy (believe me you WILL notice). Try mixing half and half at first and see how your puppy does. If that's OK you can gradually add more of the new food and less of the old.

Good luck!

Answer 6

yes, change the food very slowly for puppies too. Just add a few kibbles the first day (remove the same number of the current brand) and a few more the next, etc, until the puppy is tolerating the new food. You may see looser stools during the transition.

Answer 7

Yes you need to begin slowly mixing the food. Most pet stores have associates that know the proper way to change animal's food. I know for a fact that associates at Petsmart know how. My fiance works there. And I agree that those are not the best dog foods to feed your dog.

Answer 8

the anwer is in the question. Gradually. Every meal you gfeed your puppy, gradually put in a little bit of the new food with the old food. after about a week of doing that, you can put a little more of the new food. after a few weeks, you'll have mixed the new food with the old and the new food will become the old food after a while.

Answer 9

well they say too, because a rapid change in diet (even brands) can upset your dog's stomach, but I've never done that when I changed foods for my dog. They just get a little gassy is all sometimes.

Answer 10

If your going to change the dog food mind forking over a little teeny bit more for a higher grade food such as Canidae. It is like the same price as many "crap" dog foods. Please feed your dog better food. Would you like eating by products and grains you couldn't even digest?

Just a suggestion