[BCpitt428]

I've been feeding my 6/mo pit the same food for the last 3 months ( Orijen puppy) and its doing wonders for his overall health, but I heard somewhere that switching your dogs food every once in a while is a good just to change it up a little bit. Does it matter if I switch to a different kind of food and if so when or how often do I change it up a bit?

Cheers.

 

[cEElint]

IMO.. if he's doing good on it.. dont change it..

 

[performanceknls]

There is some speculation that changing the dogs food can help them not develop food allergies. But it is just that speculation not hard fact. Switching diets often can cause a picky eater or an upset tummy. One thing you can do is if you feed a chicken based food from orijen and you want to switch to the lamb then that is fine but do not do it too often. (that is just an example) People who switch brands all the time can cause a tummy upset or pickyness. (lol I think I just made that word up) I have fed the same food for over 10 years to my kennel and they have done great with no food allergies. Now there is a possibility of a dog developing food allergies at a later time but I would not blame the food.

This is one of those things that you will hear opinions on both sides. It's up to you to take that info and decide what is best for you and the dog.

 

[FrostFell]

In MY experience, and this is just my experience, mind you, is that either never switch, or switch often (every week or every couple days rotate between like 5 bags you have, and every time you buy a new bag, buy something different). Dogs are, infact ALL living things are (with lower life form exceptions) designed to eat a wide variety of things. LImiting your dog to 5 ingredients will cause his body to think t here are only 5 ingredients in all the world-- so when you randomly mix it up and introduce something else, he will have tummy issues.

Either never do it, or do it on a weekly basis to keep his system able to recognize and handle different protein and starch sources. I used to, when I worked at a feed store, bring home 8 bags of kibble at a time, and fed everyone randomly from a different bag every day, along with (healthy) table scraps like meat, fat, veggies or fruit, or fish. Even when one of my idiots got into the trash and ate an entire 8 lb tray of rotting and green pork chops, he didnt even have a fart.

You dont eat the same dish every day for your entire life, do you?

 

[DirtyD]

if you are going to switch I would just switch to another flavor of the origin puppy if there is any. personally I would not switch the puppy but I would rotate an adult.

 

[Blue_Nose_Bella]

From what I have learned dogs need a variety of protein sources and benefit from being on a rotated feed. However, the more exotic meats such as lamb, venison, salmon, duck, etc. Should be left out in a rotation in case your dog ever becomes allergic to another protein source such as beef, chicken, or turkey. In the wild they would get a variety of protein sources so as long as you aren't constantly switching it up I think variety is great for a dog. My girl enjoys it

 

[BCpitt428]

Thanks for all the feedback everyone

 

[angelbaby]

I wouldnt switch brands id stay with orijen especially if its working for your dog, you might want to switch up the variety , we used to go between the 6 fish and the red meat { the red meat put alot more weight on our dogs for some reason so we would try and feed that during our more active months and the fish in the winter , but see how your dog is on them}

edit: just read its a 6 mo puppy, I dont believe they have variety for puppy food, but you will be switching to adult soon so maybe when you do that you can try the differnt ones