# Switching food...ok to change right



## Mrs. Ashley (May 4, 2012)

*Switching food...ok to change right now?*

Right now I have my puppy on a bland diet of white rice and chicken broth due to diarrhea. She's been eating Kirkland brand chicken puppy food, but she has had problems with random episodes of diarrhea for the last few months. I thought it was because of teething. But, it's happened again and she's done teething. I was wanting to switch her to the grain free Natures Domain salmon and sweet
Potato formula to see of that would help with the tummy issues. My question is would it be ok to just start feeding her the Natures Domain slowly while she's on the bland diet or do I still need to mix it with her puppy food? I took a stool sample to the vet today for testing also to see of theres another issue. 

She is 7 months old and around 60 lbs right now. 

Thanks for the help!


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

how old is your pup? how long have you been feeding
Kirkland (chicken puppy food)? if i were feeding my dog
chicken broth it wouldn't have salt in it.


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## Mrs. Ashley (May 4, 2012)

She's 7 months old and has been on the puppy food since I brought her home at 8 weeks. The broth is low sodium and I only put about a tablespoon on the rice. She's still been drinking plenty of water. 

Both dog foods are Kirkland (Costco) brand. Not sure if that will matter or not.


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

maybe your dog needs to be seen by a Vet.


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## rooandtree (May 13, 2012)

i too use kirklands and i have to make sure not to over feed...if mine eat too much they get diarrhea. We did tons of research and believe that its one of best foods for less money. i also had my puppy on adult food at a few months from advice i got on here and vet


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## Mrs. Ashley (May 4, 2012)

My dog has been seen by a vet multiple times, and I called them every time she would get an episode of diarrhea. Plus, I was just there today with my other dog and talked to them about this specific problem with her. They have a stool sample they are testing. If they want me to bring her in, I will. 

My question was about whether it is ok to switch food straight from the rice or do I still need to slowly wean her off of the puppy food?


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## Elaine (Sep 10, 2006)

As she's not on the puppy food right now because you are feeding rice and broth, it's not a problem to slowly switch to the new kibble directly from the rice and broth. 

Ok, I've got to say that I have never heard of feeding rice and broth. Chicken or burger and rice, but not broth.


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## Midnight12 (Jan 6, 2012)

You could check with the vet but if she already been off the other food I would slowly start adding the new one to her bland diet


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## Mrs. Ashley (May 4, 2012)

rooandtree said:


> i too use kirklands and i have to make sure not to over feed...if mine eat too much they get diarrhea. We did tons of research and believe that its one of best foods for less money. i also had my puppy on adult food at a few months from advice i got on here and vet


I followed the chart on the back of the food bag. I was giving her 3 cups a day (1 cup 3X day), but then moved her to 4 cups a day (1.5 cups in morning and night, 1 cup midday) which was recommended according to her weight. Could that be too much or sound about right? You can feel her ribs, but not see them. She's not over or under weight. She is supposed to be mixed with English Mastiff, so she's going to be a big girl if so.  Right now she's about 60 lbs. 

I also did research on food and talked to the vet and the costco food was recommended. The vet wanted me to keep her on the puppy formula until she was at least a year old, but the Natures Domain is an all life stages food and also highly rated, so I wanted to switch her to it. I'm switching my Jack Russell to it as well, so I figured I could switch them at the same time. 

Sorry for rambling.


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## Mrs. Ashley (May 4, 2012)

Elaine said:


> As she's not on the puppy food right now because you are feeding rice and broth, it's not a problem to slowly switch to the new kibble directly from the rice and broth.
> 
> Ok, I've got to say that I have never heard of feeding rice and broth. Chicken or burger and rice, but not broth.


Well I didn't have any chicken defrosted, so I just put a little broth in there for flavor. Usually I add cottage cheese, plain yogurt, or pumpkin. I gave her pumpkin yesterday with her rice, but didnt want to overdo it. I know it can cause problems if you feed too much.


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## Mrs. Ashley (May 4, 2012)

Last time I used the water that I boiled the chicken in over her rice, but I didn't have any defrosted this time. I didn't think that little bit of low sodium broth would hurt anything. Is it terrible for dogs to have it?


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## Midnight12 (Jan 6, 2012)

You can also use hambuger boiled in rice and don't think that little bit of broth would hurt but when my dog is on a bland diet, I want them to have meat too.


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## Elaine (Sep 10, 2006)

Even the low sodium broth can be irritating and if you are wanting to go bland, this isn't the way to do it. Your dog didn't have a problem with it so it's not the end of the world. 

You can always put the frozen chicken the microwave.


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## Mrs. Ashley (May 4, 2012)

Well today was the first full day on the what I thought was bland enough food, so I'll make sure to go to the store tomorrow between work and class and get some chicken or hamburger and plain yogurt for her. Today was an abnormally busy day and I didn't have time to go to the store, but of course that seems to be my dog's perfect timing to get sick. I swear my dogs plan this out to maximize my worrying/stress.  

And yes I realize you can defrost chicken in the microwave, but I buy big family packs and there's no way it would fit in my small microwave to defrost. And of course my husband was working out of town today and wouldn't be able to be all manly and slice through frozen chicken for me. Next time I'll ration some out into small baggies for bland dog food emergencies.


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## Elaine (Sep 10, 2006)

Remember that yogurt is not bland and a lot of dogs can't handle anything dairy. If you are going bland, stick to bland - cooked and well drained chicken or burger and rice - and don't try to add other things to it which can defeat the purpose of going bland.


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## Mrs. Ashley (May 4, 2012)

Is hamburger, chicken, and rice all that's considered bland? The vet is the one that told me to feed plain yogurt, cottage cheese, and pumpkin as well as the rice and chicken.


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## Elaine (Sep 10, 2006)

Some people will use well cooked and mashed potato in place of the rice. Any meat can be used so long as it's low fat, cooked, and the fat drained off. Chicken and burger are the most readily available for most folks.

Some dogs are more sensitive than others and adding more things to a bland diet defeats the purpose. Your dog can do just fine on chicken/burger and rice for several days until you get his system back on track. 

When I've needed to go bland, I don't want to mess around and want things firmed up as fast as possible. I would really hate to have that delayed because I put in other things only to find out it wasn't working.


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