My dog eats canned food and I buy different brands to give her variety.But someone told me that you are supposd to give the same brand all the time,because giving different brands all the time is bad for them.
Is this true?

yes, once the type of food has been decided, you should not change back and forth. Pick one type (or types) and one brand and stick with it. Changing from different types or brands of dog food can upset the dog's system and lead to vomiting or diarrhea.

Hello, I'm glad I was lookin around and I spotted your question, Im also very curious about what you asked because I for one feed my doggie different kinds of doggie food so heres hopeing I haven't been doing something wrong that could cause my baby any harm....hopeing to come back and hear a update soon...great forum glad to be a part of it...

yes, once the type of food has been decided, you should not change back and forth. Pick one type (or types) and one brand and stick with it. Changing from different types or brands of dog food can upset the dog's system and lead to vomiting or diarrhea.

I completely agree with this. I have only changed brands a couple times because of research that I did. It lead to diarhea both times. So please stick to one brand.

If you want to give variety, why not try feeding raw? Google the terms 'BARF' 'RAW" and 'Prey model" diets.
I understand how you feel about wanting to give variety, i mean, i wouldn't want to eat the same thing day in day out, but i agree with the others. Although it won't cause permanent damage, your poor pooch could suffer with sickness and diarrhea which won't be very nice for him.
Dogs have sensitive stomachs and any change in diet should be transitional.

I heard that changing dog foods can make the dogs finicky and selective as to what they will and will not eat.

We recently tried a new type of dog food and both dogs ended up with diarrhea & were obviously not feeling good. They would lay around all day, and rarely barked, which is totally not normal for a hyperactive puppy & a husky mix that thinks he's a puppy. We switched them back to their usual food & they are back to normal, running all over the back yard & harassing the birds again.

I say dont switch....and if you must just dont make it a habbit. Most of the time you can compare the ingredients and try and stay close to the same. The percentages are important too. I also think dry food is better. The friction in the chewing helps clean the teeth

It is perfectly fine to rotate foods for variety. Many dogs are quite sensitive to food changes, however, and need to be changed gradually over several days or weeks. This does not mean that changing food is bad, it just means that the transition period can be troublesome for certain dogs. To combat loose stools, you can add a bit of canned pumpkin.

A lot of people feel there are benefits to giving your dog a varied diet. Making sure your dog gets balance over time from many healthy food sources can be a great way of ensuring that your dog does not suffer from nutritional deficiencies, for example. A lot of dogs also just plain like variety, just as many humans do. Not wanting to eat chicken and rice every day for the rest of your life doesn't make you a finnicky eater, it just makes you normal.

Kibble does not clean dogs' teeth any more than eating cereal cleans yours. Most dogs don't chew food kibble anyway; it is not what their teeth are designed to do. Canned is actually considered healthier by many due to the water inclusion and different processing.

Originally Posted by cymk

Kibble does not clean dogs' teeth any more than eating cereal cleans yours. Most dogs don't chew food kibble anyway; it is not what their teeth are designed to do. Canned is actually considered healthier by many due to the water inclusion and different processing.

Cymk has a point, the only way that you are going to clean your dogs teeth is to do it manually a couple of times a week or feed raw, the bones bring their gnashers up a lovely pearly white!!

[beks]

I was actually just talking to a dog food company person the otherday and they were telling me about switching dog foods and everything, it is best not to, but if u have to do it slowly, i guess like add a bit of the new food to the old food, till there is no old food left, easyer on there system. Before i knew this where our dog is new to us we didn;t know what he was eating before so we bought a couple different kinds.. purina dog chow seems to be his favorite...

Originally Posted by cymk

Kibble does not clean dogs' teeth any more than eating cereal cleans yours. Most dogs don't chew food kibble anyway; it is not what their teeth are designed to do. Canned is actually considered healthier by many due to the water inclusion and different processing.

Our vet actually told us that dry food was better for our dogs' teeth. He never actually said that it cleans them, just that it was better for the teeth. So I'm not sure how its supposed to be better... Where did you hear that canned food is supposed to be healthier??

I feed dry science diet but will be gradually switching to chicken soup for dogs and puppies. I always thought science diet was the best because it is usually sold by vets but have found out through dog forums and a bit of research that it isnt. I free feed the dry (meaning it is available to them all the time) and give them variety by fixing them breakfast every morning which is the dry with a teaspoon or less of canned mixed in. I figure since it is such a small amount added to their regular food its not harmful to them and they love it. I used a variety of canned.

[beks]

for as long as i can remember with both my nanny's dogs she allways gave them hard food mixed with canned food, when we first got my dog i did that he wouldnt eat much of the dry stuff, but now he eats the dry kind alone, well anything u put in front of him is gone in a seccond.i allways herd that dry food was better for them, helped keep there teeth strong. but i don't see to much harm in mixing a bit of canned stuff with there hard stuff, they are still eating hard food that's good for there teeth

That's very true, while I was still looking for the best dogfood for my husky, he would vomit or have diarrhea everytime I change his food even if it was a gradual change of food

Originally Posted by topterrier

My dog eats canned food and I buy different brands to give her variety.But someone told me that you are supposd to give the same brand all the time,because giving different brands all the time is bad for them.
Is this true?

No - the only reason that is said is because a dog food company wants you to be "loyal" to their brand. It would be the same as if someone said to you - you can only eat brand pork, or chicken otherwise, you'll be ill.

I feed a variety of food to my dogs and will switch from one bag of food to another once one is finished, as well as feeding raw and table scraps. I've fed a variety for 20 years - and presently am feeding 9 dogs.

Dogs have survived for thousands of years eating a variety of foods - be it raw or processed (read cooked). There's no reason other than someone's corporate bottom line to say that a dog has to eat a certain kibble or only raw for their entire life.

BIS

thatss not really true. truly dogs can really eat ANYTHING!

It is fine to switch brands of food if YOUR dog can handle it. It's also ok to feed all canned if that is what you choose. It's not going to rot the dogs teetch or cause gum disease as long as you practice good oral hygiene on you dog, but that should be assumed with ANY food.

There is alot of current research that has been done, showing that rotating a dogs diet, helps to PREVENT acquired allergies to specific ingredients AND helps to fill nutritional gaps when (and if) one food is lacking.

The Whole Dog Journal recommends rotations every 3 or 4 months, but I use at least 2 or 3 foods (kibbles) at any one time. They also get raw, homecooked, canned, and canned fish (mackeral, sardines, or salmon). My dogs aren't picky and don't have any allergies. Their tummies are like IRON and rarely do I ever see any gastrointestinal upset with any of my 14 dogs.

FWIW, if you keep your dog on one type of food for a long time and suddenly switch, yes, you will probably see "issues", but you can add in some different foods from time to time to "harden" the tummy.
Some dogs, however, do have problems and switching can trigger terrible digestive upset, so it is wiser to keep them on a simple diet.

Feeding a better quality food is also a factor in your dogs ability to be able to handle dietary "switches" more easily. Lower quality foods have lower quality ingredients and this in itself, can cause problems. The ingredients in the better foods (Innova, Eagle Pack, California Natural, Timberwolf Organics, Natural Balance, Solid Gold, Pinnacle, etc) are more easily digested and don't have artificial colors or preservatives. Their proteins and fats are not as heavily processes and don't have some of the horrible "additives" that some of the lower quality foods have.

My view on dog food is somewhat different.

I am very careful with any processed dog food - most of them say 'not for human consumption". I think that if it is not fit for us then it is not fit for our pets.

Dogs do best on fresh food - meat and vegetables.

Do some research on what is in processed dog food and you might agree with me. They contain lots of chemicals and byproducts. There are a few products on the market that are OK, so choose one of these for the times that you do not have fresh food available.
It is also very worthwhile to give your dog a daily multivitamin supplement to help them keep healthy.

All the ebst
JAnet