[Wrangler11]

Quick question guys, I've been switching my puppies food from what she has been fed at the shelter. They gave me a small bag of what they have been feeding her and I've been mixing it with the new food. How long should I continue to do this before I take her off completely from her old food?

[tsorcus]

From what I understand you're meant to phase the new food in over a period of about a week, gradually decreasing the old stuff as you go along. I'm in the process of doing it with my guy at the moment and find that he's leaving the old food in the bowl, so I don't know how well that works...

[DobManiac]

Both of my dogs have sensitive stomachs, so I switched pretty slowly. I basically did 1/4 new food with 3/4 old food for about four or five days. Then I did half and half for five days, then went up to 3/4 new food and 1/4 old food for another five days. Like I said this was done very slowly. I would think with most dogs, about three days for each transition.

Originally Posted by tsorcus

I'm in the process of doing it with my guy at the moment and find that he's leaving the old food in the bowl, so I don't know how well that works...

If you are having a problem with the dog picking through the food, make sure it is mixed really well. If you are already doing that you might try wetting the food. But before you wet the food make sure neither brand contains citric acid. That can cause bloat.

[borzoimom]

I dont or haven't mixed foods. The reason is that this makes a new receipe. How I switched foods before was feed half what they use to eat of the old food at night. The next day on the morning feeding- give only half what they would eat of the new food. If all goes well during the day, the evening is 3/4 of the new food. Then am the next day full feeding what they would get. The reason for this is to allow the stomach to empty the old food, but giving enough to not make stomach acids from an empty stomach.