# Does one REALLY have to transition slowly?



## marialydia (Nov 23, 2013)

Always, well almost always, we transition from one brand of dry food to another, even one flavour to another within a brand, slowly over a week to 10 days.

Pericles has some crusting on his nose that an experienced vet thinks is likely an allergy. So after trying various flavours of Acana as that's what the dogs have been eating, with no real improvement, I am changing brand, and decided to go with Fromm which Pericles ate earlier with no problem. I also eliminated from their diet the yogurt as several vets have said the nose problem might be lactose intolerance. Also, no more canned food toppings for the moment, and no added probiotics. I have added fish oil every other meal and some chopped egg, and there is the fresh sweet potato which they love. (Jupiter will pretty much go along with whatever is being served.)

Well...this morning I offered a small bit of Fromm Four star kibble in my hand before putting it in the bowl, and Pericles gobbled it. Very unusual. I put 25% Fromm and 75% Acana in the bowl, with a bit of oil and sweet potato... he started to pick out Fromm. 

I searched in the forum and it seems that many dogs love the Fromm at first bite. What on earth do they put in it? 

In the end, Pericles, who is a pretty picky eater, just wanted the Fromm. I managed to get him to eat some of the Acana, but he wasn't happy about it. How important do you really think it is to transition slowly? Getting him to eat will be a bit of a struggle if we need to do it over a full week. And while he's no longer super skinny, he sure has no fat on him...

Meanwhile, Jupiter who has recovered well from his sprained wrist, but is not supposed to jump at all, just tried to jump at the Fromm bag which is on the table where I was reading it...


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## twyla (Apr 28, 2010)

I guess it depends if your dog gets digestive upset from changes, with Pia I just changed over completely and it helped at least with her soft stools, she has normal poops now.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

It depends on how their guts handle it! I think Lily and Javelin wouldn't have much trouble with an abrupt change, but Peeves sure would. He had horrible diarrhea off and on for many weeks when I changed brands, but GSD are a bit notorious for having sensitive tummies.


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## Viking Queen (Nov 12, 2014)

When Iris was a baby the breeder sent her home with not great food. I tried transitioning her. At 9 weeks old she carefully picked out the "bad" kibble and set it on the floor, one by one, then she ate the "good" stuff that was left in the bowl. Smart kid, and she didn't have any tummy issues with it either.

It really depends on the dog, as others have said.

VQ


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## JudyD (Feb 3, 2013)

Cast iron stomachs here. Neither of mine have ever had trouble because of an abrupt change from one kibble to another. I fed various flavors of Victor for months, then switched to Merrick for a while, then tried Fromm last month. Never bother to transition, just open the new bag and serve it up. When I stopped at the feed store yesterday, they were out of the grain-free Fromm, so I got two different flavors of Merrick again. If the past is predictive, the dogs won't mind a bit.


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## nifty (Aug 2, 2013)

I agree with everyone else - I think it depends on the dog. Some have "cast iron" constitutions while others have a little more sensitivity in digestion. My approach would be to start slowly and cautiously when the dog is young and then if all goes well, gradually try a slightly quicker transition. Watching the dog, I would then bring it up to the quickest that the dog can comfortably handle and no quicker.

Dulcie seems to be one of the "cast iron" poodles -- she is able to switch from food to food with relative ease. I started out very cautiously like everyone else and now at nearly 2 years old, she has shown what does and doesn't work for her. Switching flavors within brands requires no special delayed transition. Switching brands or forms of feeding (i.e. fresh raw or frozen raw or freeze dried raw, in our case) seems to be a simple matter of going half and half one day and then all new food by the next day. There have been a couple of notable exceptions where the new stuff has not agreed - but they have been very rare and usually the same protein (processed chicken - raw is no problem).


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## zooeysmom (Jan 3, 2014)

Out of our 4, Zooey is the only one who can handle food changes cold. The others have very sensitive stomachs and I would only do the gradual method.


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## Poodlebeguiled (May 27, 2013)

My raw fed dogs get something different every day...sometimes vastly different. I think kibbles are so similar to one another...it's all meat, a bunch of vegetable stuff and often cereal. So I don't know why it makes so much difference. I guess it does to some dogs or they wouldn't always recommend a gradual change. I never really did that much all these years of feeding kibble. ..I guess I did a few times but mostly I didn't think of it until the last minute so I just switched.


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## N2Mischief (Dec 3, 2012)

I just switch with mine, no transition. They don't have a problem.


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## marialydia (Nov 23, 2013)

This is all helpful, thanks. Jupiter has a cast-iron stomach as far as brands go -- he can't handle high fat content though; gets pancreatitis. Pericles has had a sensitive stomach in the past but as he matures it's getting better; I may try a more rapid transition since he loves this new kibble so much.


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## poofs (Jan 6, 2016)

marialydia said:


> I searched in the forum and it seems that many dogs love the Fromm at first bite. What on earth do they put in it?


I took a quick look at the label, if I had to guess I'd say it's the salt. Yum!


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## marialydia (Nov 23, 2013)

oh dear, poofs, that doesn't sound good...dogs don't need added salt, do they?


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## FireStorm (Nov 9, 2013)

I change foods with Hans periodically, and also feed him raw meat as snacks occasionally. I usually don't do much of a transition when I change foods. He's never shown any signs of upset tummy, so I don't see any reason to make the change gradual. I agree that it depends on the dog.


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## poofs (Jan 6, 2016)

marialydia said:


> oh dear, poofs, that doesn't sound good...dogs don't need added salt, do they?


Actually, Fromm's sodium % isn't really that high, if I'm reading the label right.
It's an ultra premium brand so I doubt they would add as much salt as your bargain brands. People would throw fits.

It does make me wonder if added salt has a different flavor profile than sodium that is found naturally in ingredients. Like, maybe they spray the salt on the kibble with the probiotics so dogs can immediate smell and taste it. I dunno, it's interesting though.


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## kayla_baxter (Jul 17, 2015)

I don't ever transition. I might have one day of slightly softer poop, but that's it. With 7 different dogs I've yet to have one that couldn't just switch cold turkey. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## JudyD (Feb 3, 2013)

Salt is a necessary dietary component, isn't it? I see that it's included in Merrick's list of ingredients, too.


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## poofs (Jan 6, 2016)

Salt is definitely an essential mineral required for life. But some companies use copious amounts because it is a cheap flavor enhancer.

I was looking on aafco earlier and they recommend .3% sodium or lower for dogs without any health issues.

Probably a little over isn't too bad, but when you start approaching 1%, that's no good.


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## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

I am sure it just depends on the dog. I always transition if switching to a new brand because I feel that it is the safer thing to do in regard to avoiding stomach upset. But if the dog is picking out the other food...there is only so much you can do.


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