What is the best way to introduce a new food to your dogs?

[Caitlin S]

My dogs (almost 2 and 9) were just not happy with their old food, even though it was pretty good quality, as dog foods go. They were throwing up even after a long time to acclimate to it. Now we've started them on either lamb and rice or chicken and rice (I don't live at home, so I can't check right now), which is supposed to generally irritate dogs less and is good quality. From what I've heard, they were fed a mixture of old and new and vomited many times. What should we do to prevent this? Should we change the ratio? We will see a vet if necessary, but I want to try fixing this without their help first.

Thanks!

 

[Fallow]

The general rule is to switch the food gradually over a 10 day period. Have 1/4 of the new food in with the old for the first few days, then move to 1/2 and 1/2, then gradually move it up to completely new food by the tenth day. It's hard for me to say otherwise why your dogs are vomiting because I don't know what brands of food they're on. Lamb, rice, fish, or potato food is your best bet, though. You should probably talk to your vet before you do anything more, because your vet would know best.
It's possible if your food isn't high quality, then they're probably getting sick off of the fillers (corn, wheat, soy, sorghum) and byproducts a lot of lower quality foods have (Iams, Alpo, Chef Michaels, Beneful, Dog Chow, Pedigree). Try a brand like Organix or Blue Buffalo, which unfortunately are a lot more expensive. But they don't have any byproducts or fillers, and you'll actually find your dogs will poop and eat less because their bodies are getting more from the food. If you can afford it, I'd try Blue Buffalo's Basics, which is specially made for dogs with your problem, as they have less ingredients to cause problems.

 

[Fluffy]

To prevent them from throwing up, do not continue using this new food mixed with old food. Dog food has preservatives in it, so mixing two different types is not a good idea. You should try pedigree lite, it's good for your dogs' health and it tastes less strong to the dogs.

 

[Frances]

Read this informative article from The Whole Dog Journal about dog foods:
http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/news/Best-Dry-Dog-Foods-2011-20188-1.html

And for those that have an opinion and/or interest in the subject of dog food, it would be a good read for you as well.

 

[J Alves]

Vet time. They should not be throwing up.

 

[Lizzie]

Some dogs vomit after meals because they have digestive problems, or mega-esophagus, not because the food is in any way bad or bad for them. You should have your vet check them out. Sometimes feeding them lots of very small meals may help.

It is interesting to note that the dog is an animal that can pretty much vomit at will. When your dogs vomit up their regular food, do they at least sometimes get something nicer? That would sort of train them to vomit after meals. You may be looking at a *learned* behavior.

Changing to a new food is done gradually, over a minimum of 4 days. Each day, some of the new food replaces a portion of the old food (weigh or measure to be accurate) until on the last day, only the new food is served.

Set out the food outdoors or someplace where it doesn't matter if the dogs vomit. Walk away, don't stand there watching and waiting to see if they bring it back up..yuck! If the dogs vomit, leave it, don't say a word and give them nothing else. IF there is nothing medically wrong with the dogs, in 4 days you will have two"cured" (of this disgusting habit) dogs.