Smart Switching: Why you should not feed your dog the same food all the time

Common sense tells us that only eating PB&J sandwiches and a multi vitamins for every meal isn’t going to cut it nutritionally. So why are we doing the same for our dogs?

Try this, Google the query “should you feed your dog the same food.” One of the top results was from WebMD’s pets entity and it advocates sticking with the same food, lest your dog get an upset tummy.

But dig a little deeper and you’ll see that there is hardly any scientifically proven benefit to sticking with one food. In fact, a growing body of everyday experimentation and plain common sense suggests that rotating your dog’s diet is actually a good thing. Who would have thunk it – dogs might not be biologically adapted to eat the exact same food at meal times every single day of their entire life?

The idea that you should find one food that “works” and feed nothing but that for meal times is a construct of the pet food industry. Food manufacturers are trying to lock in a predictable demand for their product. And the notion is backed up by scores of others who find it easier to say “just feed this,” instead of educating people on proper diet rotation for their pets.

The reality is, not one single dog food out there is likely perfect in every way. Association of American Feed Control Officials (or AAFCO), sets guidelines for what should go into dog food. Those guidelines specify appropriate ranges for things like vitamins, minerals, proteins, fats, etc. But those guidelines are usually defined as acceptable ranges for a nutrient and are specified as minimums and maximums. For example, the recommended minimum Vitamin E for an adult dog food is 500 IU/kg and the maximum is 3000 IU/KG. Other nutrients like Iron have a recommended minimum, but no recommended maximum.

That means that two AAFCO approved “nutritionally complete” adult maintenance dog foods can have vastly different nutrient profiles. So if you stick with the same food all day every day you could be giving your dog nutritional imbalance. By changing foods periodically, you can reduce the risk that any one nutritional imbalance will build up and compound into larger problems over time.

But won’t changing foods make my dog sick? Sure, if you make sudden and drastic changes to your dog’s diet he can get an upset tummy. We advocate rotating foods gradually, especially if you have never done it before. If you’re just starting out, try starting with just 25% of the new food and 75% of the old food and gradually incorporate more of the new and less of the old over the course of a week or two. Many dogs that have been fed a rotating diet long term can have an easier time with these transitions as they become adapted to it. So if it is your first time and things don’t go as smoothly as you’d like, don’t fret. It gets easier and easier the more you do it.

How do I decide what foods to rotate? We recommend finding foods with different primary protein sources – different meats. Start out by trying a wide variety of foods for your first few rotations. Sometimes with your particular dog, some foods my work better than others. Make sure you go by the ingredient label and not the front of the bag when establishing your choices. If your dog does get an upset tummy, don’t panic. Most of the time a soft or runny stool for a day or two in the transition is not the end of the world and will get better all on its own. If your dog does get sick on a food, don’t immediately assume it is the food or the main ingredient that is the culprit. It could be other environmental factors or possibly the makeup of that food as a whole (as opposed to a single ingredient) that isn’t jiving with your pup). Eventually you might find 3 to 6 different foods that work really well for your dog to use as the primary rotation. Once established you can still experiment with new options that come up just to keep things interesting.

When should I rotate foods? There is no right or wrong time to rotate. The two most common ways are 1) to transition into a new food as the old one runs out and 2) to alternate foods at each meal time. There are advantages to both ways and its really just about figuring out what works for you. The transition method means you only have to keep one bag of food at home at a time for the most part, so if space is limited this might be right for you. Alternating foods means you don’t really have to worry about transitions, you just scoop out of whichever bag suits your fancy that day – this might be good for families where multiple people are involved in feeding. Feel free to experiment and see which method you prefer. You can always make a change later.

My dog has a sensitive stomach and can only eat X, what should I do? The likelihood that your dog 100% truly can only eat one specific food is highly unlikely - like winning the lottery odds. Odds are you just had some bad luck with things you’ve tried in the past or your dog needs more time to process changes initially. Try adapting your approach accordingly by trying foods with similar secondary ingredients to what you re already feeding or giving transitions additional time. You can also supplement with a fiber source like canned pumpkin or a probiotic like those found in yogurt.

This may all sound a little complex at first, but it truly is super simple once you try it. There are plenty of other benefits to rotation feeding besides better long-term health for your dog. Like if you take your dog on vacation and forget his food – you will likely be able to easily find another food that suits him. Or if a manufacturer has a shortage or an ingredient change – you will easily be able to adapt to the updated ingredients or transition to other foods if needed. Other incidental benefits will certainly come up as you go along too. In short, for the health of your dog, we truly hope you’ll consider a rotating diet.