Best Ways To Help Transition Your Dog To A New Food
Lately we have had several questions from pet guardians wishing to know the best ways to help transition their beloved doggies to a healthier diet.
Here are some helpful ways to start and make the transition easier for both your pet and for you.
The first bit of advice we will offer is to do this gradually.
By gradually, we mean plan to do this over at ‘least a two week time period ‘ in order to give your dog’s taste buds and digestive system time to acclimate.
You should stick with the food she is currently eating as the basis of her diet, and slowly phase in bits of the new food, until finally when you reach the end of the two week time frame, your pup is eating only the new food and doing well.
In this example, we’re going to use the word ‘kibble’- (We are not advocating, nor dis-advocating kibble)
Let’s Say your pup eats 2 cups of premium kibble per day; ideally split between the morning meal and her evening meal. * Remember, we shared with you that dogs are creatures of habit, so try to keep their mealtimes around the same time each day.
You will want to start the transition by leaving out a quarter cup of her current food, and mixing in a quarter cup of her new food over the first few days, and if she is doing well and not experiencing issues like vomiting, diarrhea, bloating, excessive itching, things along those lines, then Continue to phase in a 1/4 (quarter) Cup of her new food while simultaneously phasing out a quarter cup of her current food, until Finally at two weeks time you are feeding her only her new food and she is doing well.
Remembering that unlike humans, dogs have very short digestive tracts, so they are very sensitive to anything new. Some of the higher evolved breeds like the herding breeds are well known to being Highly Sensitive in pretty much every good sense of the word; including their digestive systems. Those old ‘limited beliefs’ that dogs can eat pretty much any and everything and be healthy are not true. You are doing your best to ensure that YOU eat the most highly nutritious foods available to you so that you will function at your optimum BEST and you will want to do the same for your puppy/dog family member.
The key is to take things slow, make sure your pup is doing well with their transition, and as always, if you have any questions and wish further advice feel free to [Contact Us], here for a more in depth consultation.
