# Transitioning foods



## PDXDeutschhund (Sep 22, 2010)

I understand the basic principles of transitioning from one dog food to another, but the puppy I will be picking up on Saturday has been eating crap food (one star quality). I want to start transitioning him to Orijen, but I've been told by some people that I shouldn't go directly from a low quality food to Orijen because of all the protein. Yet others have told me to transition him just like I would with any other food, and that it really makes no difference.

I don't know who to believe. 

I could go with a lower protein food at first, and then transition to Orijen in a couple months, but I don't want to do that unless I have to.

:help:


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## just another truck (Jun 7, 2010)

I believe the transistion is the transistion, slow and easy. I might suggest though you be ready for soft stools..It took me 3 different foods before I got to a 4 star rating that didnt cause the runs, I dont even want to go through that again..Good Luck!!


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## Zoeys mom (Jan 23, 2010)

Just go slow and expect some loose stools and terrible GAS at first. Buy a bag of the crap food and a bag of Orijen. For a pup I would put one cup of the crap food and 1/4 cup of Orijen in the bowl 3x a day for a week. Then the next week if puppy is finishing all that 1 cup of crap food and a 1/2 cup of Orijen 3x a day for another week. The third week I would do 3/4 cup crap food and 3/4 cup Orijen 3 x times a day, and then keep increasing the Orijen and reducing the crap food by 1/4 a cup each week until the pup is only on the Orijen


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## Cluemanti (Jun 25, 2010)

I did the same, very low quality to Orijen. Just give it a few days before you start the transition and make it slow!


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

whatever food you switch too make
sure it has the correct protein level. 
i always switched foods slowly except
for one time. i fed my dog a full meal
without switching slowly. he was fine.
from the time my dog was a year old maybe
1.5 yrs old i've been switching foods.
i normally have 2 or 3 brands of kibble on hand.
i also have several brands of can food on hand.
i also feed my dog, raw ground beef,
cooked chicken, rice, fresh fish, green veggies,
table scraps (depending).



PDXDeutschhund said:


> I could go with a lower protein food at first, and then transition to Orijen in a couple months, but I don't want to do that unless I have to.
> 
> :help:


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## PDXDeutschhund (Sep 22, 2010)

Thanks for the help guys. I went out and bought a huge bag of large breed Orijen. Hopefully he likes it.


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## FG167 (Sep 22, 2010)

I always let my puppies acclimate to the new home before I switched foods - and that differed depending on the puppy. Then transition slow. Some dogs do better/worse on more/less protein or grains/grain free - don't know until you try  Good luck!


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## PDXDeutschhund (Sep 22, 2010)

FG167 said:


> I always let my puppies acclimate to the new home before I switched foods - and that differed depending on the puppy. Then transition slow. Some dogs do better/worse on more/less protein or grains/grain free - don't know until you try  Good luck!


Well I'm thinking of throwing in some raw as well. I bought some Nature's Variety medallions that I want to feed to him once a day. We'll see how he does.


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## Miss Molly May (Feb 19, 2010)

PDXDeutschhund said:


> Thanks for the help guys. I went out and bought a huge bag of large breed Orijen. Hopefully he likes it.


Good choice!! my opinion When we changed Molly from Wellness to Orijen she would only eat the Orijen and spit out the Wellness so it wasn't much of a slow transition. She had the runs for 2 day then was fine


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## PDXDeutschhund (Sep 22, 2010)

Miss Molly May said:


> Good choice!! my opinion When we changed Molly from Wellness to Orijen she would only eat the Orijen and spit out the Wellness so it wasn't much of a slow transition. She had the runs for 2 day then was fine


I'm definitely expecting some soft stool, but we were planning on giving him some pumpkin and yogurt to try to combat it.


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## TitonsDad (Nov 9, 2009)

I would fast for 24 hours and then slowly start the new stuff. Another thing is to add an 1/8th cup of the new stuff at a time per day. 

For example, If you feed 2 cups a day:

Day 1: 1/8 new, 7/8 old x 2
Day 2: 1/4 new, 3/4 old x 2
Day 3: 1/2 new, 1/2 old x 2

etc. 

Different folks have different advice but this is what worked for me when I was going through Titon's digestive issues before finally settling on RAW.

-E


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## PDXDeutschhund (Sep 22, 2010)

TitonsDad said:


> I would fast for 24 hours and then slowly start the new stuff. Another thing is to add an 1/8th cup of the new stuff at a time per day.
> 
> For example, If you feed 2 cups a day:
> 
> ...


I would like to work towards raw, but I'm still doing research/learning about a raw diet.


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