Best way to switch foods (timeline)

[jenn D]

I want to switch the doodles food. What's the best method for switching food? I know to do it slowly by adding a bit of new food with the old but what percentages of old vs new and over what amount of time? My doodles have sensitive tummies.
Thanks for the help. :)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Can you give me the exact formulas? Also age and weight of the dogs. 

[jenn D]

Sure. Brisby age 1 year 2 months, 62 lbs. Jake 1 year 51 lbs. pickles 4 months 27 lbs. I'm moving from life's abundance to FROMMs (chicken a la veg). I figure it will be better for them. I tried Origen a while ago when it was just brisby and he did not like it and refused to eat. Heard FROMMs was good. Thanks.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Ordinarily i can look up the nutritional info on the foods for the purposes of figuring out feeding amounts during transition, but with L.A., the lack of transparency and nutritional info on-line makes that rough. Can you give me the calories per cup content and protein and fat percentages of the L.A.? I can get the info on Fromm from the website. 

[jenn D]

Sure 482 kcal/cup. Crude protein 26%, fat 16%. I can get whatever info off this last bag that I have if DK needs any of it before I pitch the bag. Probably the closest you are going to get regarding direct info.

[Kathy]

I too switched from LA,a few weeks ago and im sooooooo happy i did! My dogs are about yours in weight also!! Had nothing but problems with life abundance,,,One of the dogs were always vomiting 2 to 3 times a week!Like clockwork!!!That food is the worst,,not at all like they make it out to be! Switched to Acana (wild Prarie) No problems at all They look forward to meal times now!  I did the swich within 3 days,,and threw out a 25pd bag of LA,, they were fine,,no diareah either!!! Another thing About LA,,that food was never digested hours after they ate it,it came out the same way it went in ,,makes you wonder!!!!! Good Luck!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Okay, the Chicken a la Veg is considerably lower in calories/cup, at 395, so we can't just substitute equal amounts of one for the other. You're going to need to look at the day's worth of L.A. for each dog versus the day's worth of Fromm, and substitute based on a percentage. So for the first two days, try replacing one quarter of the daily amount of L.A. with one quarter of the daily amount for Fromm. Days 3 & 4, go to one half of the normal feeding amount for each. Days 5 & 6, go to three-quarters of the recommended amount of Fromm and one quarter L.A., and on day 7, provided there have been no digestive issues, you can go to 100% of the new food. You can also increase every three days instead of every two, if you are more comfortable with going slower. That would put you at 100% fromm on Day 10. But I would not draw it out longer than that. 

Fromm is a very good brand, but every dog reacts differently to various formulas. If you have problems, you might look at trying a grain free food with a higher protein content. Or possibly Acana's Chicken and Burbank Potato, which contains limited ingredients and might be a good choice for your guys. 

[jenn D]

Thanks Karen. I really appreciate it! :)