Hey food rotaters

[Hillside]

How often do you rotate between foods and how many foods do you rotate?

I've noticed with Saga that by the time we reach about 30 pounds(which takes about a month and a half or so) of one food she starts to get sick of it and starts turning her nose up at it. She will eat it with gusto at the begining of the new food cycle to the point of licking her bowl clean. Well enough to make me think "Aha! I found the magic bullet!" Her food is only left down for about 15 minutes and she won't get it again until her next mealtime. Also, she self regulates the amount she eats, volumewise. She generally will only eat 2 1/2 cups a day, sometimes I can get her to eat 3 but more often than not she will leave that extra half cup in her bowl. She is on the Kirkland right now and she has lost a little bit of weight on it, so I was going to switch her anyways to something packed a bit more of a calorie punch. At least now I have narrowed down a pattern to her bitchiness.


We have already tried Innova, both puppy and regualr green bag, Canidae ( which made her coat nasty), Kirkland and I am going to try her on Pinnacle next,because maybe there IS a magic bullet out there somewhere, won't know til I try right?

 

[Brattina88]

How do you store your dog food? Is it possible that the food starts to go stale, or at least not as fresh, and that's why she seems to turn her nose to it?

In the past, I've rotated food every month, give or take. But, right now we're at a stand still - I'm trying to find one dog food that works well with them, since the Canidae has recently not worked out for them. . . frustrating

 

[Hillside]

It's in an airtight container, though perhaps this next round I will keep it in the bag in the container, hmmm.

Though with the Innova, she would turn her nose up at a brand new bag.

 

[elegy]

i'd wonder about the staleness factor too.

i don't have a method to my switchiness. sometimes i'll feed several bags in a row of the same food. sometimes i switch every bag. depends on my mood. my dogs are the antithesis of picky though. if i put it down, they'll eat it.

as far as brands, i generally switch between innova, nature's variety, canidae, and lately taste of the wild. i'm going to keep them on the totw for awhile right now because with luce on crate rest, we need the lower calories.

 

[Lilavati]

Since Sarama has an iron stomach, we rotate every meal. Once larger bag is breakfast, and two small bags are drawn on for dinner. But I think my system is not the norm. She thrives on it, but many dogs might get upset tummys. I rotate between various super premium foods . . . if they make it, and its high enough quality, we've probably used it. She does seem to prefer fish though!

 

[Hillside]

I'm not worried about Saga's tummy being upset, she seems to handle change pretty well since I've been forced to switch her cold turkey a couple times. I wonder if your method would work? Hmmmm.

 

[SpringerLover]

I have no method to my madness either. I switch whenever I feel like it really.

Bought a 40# bag of Fromm Salmon from a friend who gets breeder bags so... that's what they'll eat for however long it takes them to eat it.

Tis nice... I need to start seeing her more often, $32 for 40# of Fromm... sheesh!

 

[ihartgonzo]

I feed kibble as a supplement to Raw, but lately they've been getting it for one meal several days a week. Er... actually, I'm trying out Honest Kitchen right now, but for the past year+, they get at least a few kibble meals per week.

I usually buy the medium or small sized bags (5-20#) of 3-4 different kibbles that I like. Mainly Taste of the Wild, Timberwolf, Orijen, and Natural Balance. I would feed one for a couple of weeks, then maybe combine the rest of that with a new kibble, and just continue on. My boys seem to do best on fowl-based foods, but I incorperated red meat and fish formulas occasionally. Honestly, as far as you stick with premium foods, and mix them during each switch, I wouldn't expect Saga to have any problems. I think switching foods, particularly meat sources, is VERY beneficial (except for a dog with meat allergies, of course).

Pinnacle is a really nice food! I hope it works for Saga. Is your food container airtight? A month and a half is a while... maybe it is getting stale? I would buy smaller bags, or a high quality airtight container, if that is in question.