Mixing dog food brands

[Sari Schwartz]

I'm waiting to hear back from our vet, but I'm wondering if anyone mixes dog food brands. We bought a giant bag of Wellness Grain Free Adult for our 1 year old doodle, Milo, but he doesn't seem to be loving it, and has intermittent GI issues. The local organic pet food store suggested Annamaet Fish, so we tried a sample, and mixed some of it in with the Wellness and he loved it. So we've been mixing the brands for the last few days, but I'm worried that it's not good for him. Any thoughts?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Hi Sari, we have a very large, very active group here on Doodle Kisses called The Food Group, where we have lots and lots of information and discussion about this. Please join us: http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/thefoodgroup

[Lori, Winnie, Bob and Indie]

I've mixed different foods in the past in order to "use up" a bag. If his belly tolerates it, it really shouldn't be a problem in the short term. The only concern would be how long it will take to use the "giant" bag. In general, you would want to use an open bag within a month unless you freeze part of it. And, yes, as Karen said- come join the Food Group. LOTS of good info there!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Another concern would be the calorie content and calculating the feeding amounts of each food. And the GI issues, lol, which generally require an LID formula. And then we have the issue of the dog not "loving" their food and whether it's a good idea to cater to them on that. And the fact that it's preferable when you want to switch things up to change formulas within the same brand and line rather than introduce a different brand/line with a different macronutrient profile. Wellness CORE does have a fish formula. Yep, lots of info on all of this in TFG.