Can I change my dog’s food directly? Learn about the seven-day food change method

Nov 05,2023
4Min

Can dogs change their food directly?

The seven-day food change method should be followed
Dogs eating one kind of dog food for a long time will cause the digestive enzymes secreted by the gastrointestinal tract to be relatively different. Being single leads to so-called gastrointestinal sensitivity. It takes a process to adapt to new dog food. Frequent food changes or violent food changes are prone to diarrhea and other gastrointestinal problems. Therefore, when changing the dog's food, the seven-day food change method should be adopted. The principle is to slowly replace a certain proportion of the old dog food and slowly add a certain proportion of the new dog food, so that the dog's taste and stomach can adapt to the new dog food. There is a sufficient adaptation process, as follows:
The first day: 20% new food mixed with 80% old food
The third day: 50% new food mixed with 50% old food
The fifth day : 75% new food mixed with 25% old food
Day 7: New food completely replaces old food
During this period, closely observe the dog’s gastrointestinal condition, and appropriately feed some probiotic products to ease the food change zone The excitement comes.

How often should you change your dog’s food?

The recommendation given by the American Veterinary Medical Association is 3 months. Different flavors of the same brand or different brands are acceptable. However, in practice, this time can be appropriately expanded to 6 months. According to feedback from many pet owners, there is no big problem.

Will changing dog food make dogs picky eaters?

The main reasons why dogs are picky eaters are as follows: When a dog is not interested in a certain food, the owner immediately changes the dog to a different food. Another kind of food is more interesting to the dog. After repeated many times, the dog will understand that rejecting it can be rewarded with more delicious food, and rotating dog food every six months or so will not lead to this situation.
If everything is normal for your dog and he is in his prime, it is actually okay to eat several kinds of dog food at the same time. Dog food with different formulas can provide relatively balanced nutrition to the dog, but the premise is that the dog is familiar with it. The ingredients in these dog foods are non-allergenic.

Things to note when changing dog food

When choosing dog food, you must consider not only the age group and nutritional balance, but also the dog’s liking and whether it is allergic. If your dog's intestines and stomach were relatively fragile when he was young, or even experienced severe gastrointestinal infectious diseases such as parvovirus, then this will be a long screening process. Although the online evaluation has certain reference significance, it may not be suitable for my dog. To determine which dog is suitable for your dog, you still need to carry out personalized screening. The screening principles are as follows:
The dog’s feces are normal;
The body and weight are normal;
The skin and hair on the body are normal.
However, as the domestic dog food market has been exposed to various unqualified and unqualified brands, it is not an easy task to choose several suitable dog foods.
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