The Right Way to Change Your Dog's Diet

During the span of your dog's life, there may be several times when you need to change your dog's diet.  It's important to change your dog's food properly to ease your pet through the transition. 

There could be many reasons why it becomes necessary to alter your dog's diet.  A puppy, for example, will graduate from milk during nursing to dog food.  Your mature dog may need to transition to a dog food specifically designed for senior dogs.  Health issues may be yet another cause to change foods.  

Be sure to consult with your vet about any major change to your dog's diet, and consider all of your options.  Once you have made a decision, you will need to make the change gradually over time.  Do not stop feeding one type of food on Sunday evening and begin a totally different regimen on Monday morning.  Such a drastic change will likely cause some digestive upset and diarrhea. 

The correct way to switch your dog's diet will take several days.  It is best to transition over a period of two weeks, gradually reducing the amount of the original food and slowly increasing the food for the new diet.  As an example, if you normally feed your dog a diet of 3 and 1/2 cups of kibble each day, you will only want to change the diet at the rate of 1/4 cup every day. And keep in mind that if you feed your dog twice  a day, divide the amount in half at each feeding.

On day 1 of the change you would feed your dog 3 and 1/4 cup of the original kibble and 1/4 cup of the new dog diet.  This total amount should be divided between the number of meals fed during the day.  On day 2 you would feed 3 cups of the original diet and 1/2 cup of the new food.  By day 14, your dog's diet will have been completely changed over to the new food. 

This gradual process may seem very slow, but it is the best way to ensure a smooth transition.  A dog's diet is not like our diet which varies on a daily basis. Your dog will do best on a consistent diet.  Do not change brands or feeding schedules frequently.

Once you find a dog food that works well to promote the health of your pet, it is best to stay with it.  In fact, you should ideally allow several weeks, and preferably months, on a new diet before assessing the results.  This is true unless you are otherwise advised by your veterinarian.  Of course, some instances may arise when this is not plausible. 

Your vet can best instruct you on when and why to alter your dog's diet.  Unless your vet tells you otherwise,  the proper method for changing your dog's diet takes time.  This gradual change will minimize stress and change to your dog's system and digestive tract.  Whenever a diet is working well for your dog, it is best to leave it alone.  Consistency is an important key to maintain your dog's health.