Food Change in Adult Doodle

[Rich, Sandy and Ollie]

Hi All,

I've been lurking here on DK for a bit, but now that we will be adopting a 2 year old Goldendoodle in less than 3 weeks, I thought I would finally join.

My first (of I'm sure many) question has to do with switching food.  I just found out that the organization we are getting Sandy from feeds her Purina ONE.  I want to switch her over to a better brand, most likely Acana, and I'm wondering if I need to make the switch as slowly as one would if she were a puppy.  As far as I know, she has no current digestive issues.  I've searched on the forum, but most of the information pertains to pups.  Any suggestions would be most welcome.

[F, Calla & Luca]

It generally is easier if you transition the food. You could start by diong a 3 to one rato of old to new, then half and half, then 3 to 1 new to old  and then all new. You could change the percentages every few days. My doodles love Acana.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I would still follow the feeding advice for new puppies: Wait two weeks before making any changes in her diet, even though that means you have to feed her crappy food. Ditto for treats. It will minimize any digestive issues that might be caused by the stress of such a huge life change, and it will give you a chance to see what "normal" is for her in terms of stool consistency and frequency, and to be sure that if there any digestive issues, they are not caused by the new food.

When you do begin to switch her over, check the recommended feeding amounts of both foods; you will most likely be feeding less of the Acana than the Purina. If her digestive system seems healthy and she has nice firm stools, it might be best to just go cold turkey rather than mixing the foods.

[Rich, Sandy and Ollie]

Okay, so whether I switch her cold turkey or not it sounds like I need at least a 2 week supply of the Purina ONE.  Thanks for the replies.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

When we got Clancy we bought a small bag of the decent (on our recommended list) grained food he had been on and began transitioning (as recommended) to  grain-free immediately.  I knew that he had already been checked and cleared for parasites etc. so we felt it was okay to begin the switch.  He did have some adjusting but he would have had that even if we had waited the two weeks.