# Cold turkey switch or gradual?



## TSTrainer (Aug 6, 2015)

My new puppy was eating pro plan performance with the breeder, and I plan on feeding wellness core... I can't find the specific food she was eating and I already have the bag of wellness (I work at a natural pet store... We have like two flavors of pro plan for the die hards and I don't want spend money on purina at all!) 

Would it hurt to just start feeding wellness now? I got a couple of sample bags from the breeder but those will quickly run out. My roommate switches brands on her dogs all the time without issue, I am just wondering if it would be bad for the puppy aside from potential digestion issues. I know its possible she will have trouble.


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## Jen2010 (Feb 12, 2013)

I don't know if there will be any damage done, but be prepared for diarrhea if you switch cold turkey!


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## doodlebug124 (Oct 31, 2015)

Add a probiotic/digestive enzyme supplement and make sure not to over feed.


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## dagwall (Mar 17, 2011)

Depends on the dog is my understanding. Haven't dealt with puppies but the majority of the time I'm switching my foster dogs cold turkey from whatever they got at the shelter to whatever I'm currently feeding my own dog. I haven't ever had a real issue doing so but my sample set isn't huge either.


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## Shell (Oct 19, 2009)

It does depend on the dog, but I think it trends towards less of an issue when you switch between two foods that have fairly similar protein and fat contents (fat especially). Going from a food that is 12-14% fat to one that's 20-25% fat seems more likely to lead to digestive upset than just changing brands (especially if the animal protein source stays the same)

I switched my fosters cold-turkey since I either didn't know what they were eating or they were eating something a whole lot worse than Pro Plan. Never had any real problems. Kept canned pumpkin on hand just in case. With Chester and Eva, every bag is a cold turkey switch but they are used to it. Only a handful of times have I seen some minor digestive upset-- when they went to a 32/25 food they had some soft stools for a couple days and when they had a really cheap grocery store food when we were visiting friends and the wife had let the husband buy dog food that month without detailed instructions


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## Pomom (Apr 9, 2014)

I don't know if it might be different for puppies but I have had one dog that had to be switched very gradually over about a week, even from one formula to another within the same brand. Another dog was ok if I mixed for one day then went to the new on the second day. And the third dog can do cold turkey no problem.


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## Kingfisher (Jan 2, 2015)

My dog would have HORRIBLE digestive upset while switching foods as a youngster.

During this time, surprisingly enough, it was better just to go cold turkey. Even a tablespoon at a time of change between foods would result in a poosplosion. So it caused him less misery to switch cold turkey, deal with the day or two of digestive problems, and move on.

At about a year old I switched him to a completely raw diet. No, I'm not a "raw is the only way" feeder, but I was successfully able to reintroduce kibble after about 4 months on an all raw diet. I now can vary his diet significantly with kibble, veggies, and raw. It could have certainly be age related, but I wonder if he needed to get his system back in balance and do a reset of sorts.


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