Dog Food Switch

[Andrew Altman]

After skimming through many of the forums/group pages it seems as if this one of the most well informed and trusted sources of information around. Our two 13 week old puppies are still on the food that was fed to them by the breeder (royal canin maxi puppy.) Knowing we want to change foods to something much better I began down the black hole that is dog food. After some research I am more confused than ever about what food we should switch to. I have combed through the recommended list here on dk but still wonder what you suggest. Orijen is not readily available in Amarillo, Texas where we live and we prefer to have a food that is available both in town and online (in the event we need some same day etc...). What is your opinion on Wellness core puppy? Any information or guidance is greatly appreciated and I thank you for your time.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

It's a good idea to switch, as the food they are currently eating is truly awful. Full of by-products, corn, and fillers. And unless your pups are expected to top 80 or 90 lbs as adults, they don't need a large breed food, either.

Hopefully you've found our Recommended brands list. Wellness is one of the brands we recommend, and the CORE line, which is grain-free, is a good choice. It's very, very different from their current food, so there will be an adjustment period. I would not take more than 5-7 days to transition. The feeding amount will most likely be lower than their current food, so be careful not to overfeed. Be sure not to introduce any other new foods or treats until they've adjusted to the new food.

[Andrew Altman]

Thank you Karen I greatly appreciate your input. Do you think Solid Gold, Canidae, or Fromm are a better choice? Or are all of the recommended brands fairly equal? 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

It's really important when you think about foods to think in terms of formulas and not just brands. Every brand has dozens of different formulas, some with grains, some grain free, some limited ingredient, all with different protein sources and different nutritional profiles. So you can't really say Brand A is better than Brand B. You have to look at the specific formulas, and at the needs or issues of the individual dog. As a brand, I prefer Fromm to the others you've mentioned because they're a small family owned company. But they don't make a formula that works for my dog, and they don't offer a lot of choices for puppies. My dog might need an LID formula that utilizes duck as the protein, in which case Wellness would be a "better" choice of brand than Fromm simply because Fromm doesn't make a duck-based LID formula, lol. 

And any given dog may do better with one type of formula than another. With young puppies, you don't know until you try. 

For what it's worth, if I had a new puppy, I personally would start out with Orijen. If you want to talk "better" brands in terms of quality, manufacturing, and integrity, it simply doesn't get any better than Champion foods, makers of Orijen and Acana. But that still doesn't mean that it's going to be the right choice for every dog. We've had many puppies here in TFG who didn't do well with Orijen Puppy. 

Wellness Core is an excellent choice. I wouldn't second guess myself. :)

[Andrew Altman]

Thank you again Karen. This really makes a lot of sense and being so new to all of this I am overthinking everything and second guessing all decisions too. I think we will begin our switch soon. You said though that you recommend that it occur is 5-7 days total. I have seen other suggestions of 2-3 weeks. What is your schedule on switching, what percentage of old and what percentage of new food per feeding? 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

When you are going from a food full of by-products, grains and fillers to a grain-free food with a completely different macronutrient percentage, it really doesn't make any sense to feed both for weeks. You can't possibly get any idea of how the new food agrees with them when you're mixing it with garbage, lol. 

The transition is more complicated when there is such a huge difference in the foods, because the feeding amounts are most likely very different, so you can't just replace a percentage the old food with the same percentage of the new food. You have to calculate a day's worth of each food and then work from that. So the first couple of days, you feed three quarters of a day's worth of old food and one quarter of a day's worth of new food, and then of course, you have to divide that into 2 or 3 portions depending on whether you're feeding 2 or 3 meals per day. The next day or two, you feed half of a day's worth of old food and half of a day's worth of new food. By day 5, you should go to one quarter of a day's worth of old and three quarters of a day's worth of new, and by the 7th day, 100% of the new food. if at any point they try to pick out only the new food, go ahead and switch cold turkey. Expect some minor stomach issues and perhaps some gas until they've fully adjusted.