# Switching foods "cold turkey?"



## SydTheSpaniel (Feb 12, 2011)

My breeder feeds Diamond Naturals puppy food, and I wanted to buy a small bag to transition and wean Lunetta off of it gradually. But, Petco and the hollistic pet store I usually buy food at, doesn't carry it. The lady at the Hollistic place said they used to carry it but have since discontinued the brand because it's not very high quality. So I bought a small bag of NurtiSource Puppy formula. Would it be all right to just switch the foods without transitioning? I've tried it with Sydney before, but she has such a sensitive stomach, that she can't handle it well. Would it be the same way with the puppy, or is it safe to try it? Or, where might I find it that might be near me? My breeder lives in a completely different part of the state and gets her food at a feed store.


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

It probably would be OK to switch cold turkey. Might be a bit of loose stools but not anything horrible. 

If you do want to find some, look for a Tractor Supply Co or Menard's. Some Ace Hardware stores, too.


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## SydTheSpaniel (Feb 12, 2011)

Willowy said:


> It probably would be OK to switch cold turkey. Might be a bit of loose stools but not anything horrible.
> 
> If you do want to find some, look for a Tractor Supply Co or Menard's. Some Ace Hardware stores, too.


Oh! We have all three of those, but I never thought to buy dog food there, haha. Well, good to know then, I think I'll try her on the NutriSource first and if she does horrible on it, then I'll go to one of those places and get the Diamond Naturals. Thanks!


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

LOL, I know. . .a tractor supply store? But now I love TSC---they have everything! I'd recommend TSC over Menards, because I know TSC has the full line of Diamond Naturals. Menard's might have just a few formulas.


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## jnite (Jan 18, 2009)

Whenever I've gotten a new puppy that was on crap food, i've always switched them cold turkey and never had a problem. My bullmastiff/malamute was on Happy hound (never heard of it before) they even gave me some to switch with, well when I saw the pile and smelled the stink he left behind on that food there was noooo switching slowly....


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## lil_fuzzy (Aug 16, 2010)

I've always switched cold turkey, every time I've switched food. Never had an issue with it.

I don't even know what Obi ate at in foster care, I never asked and she never told me. I just started him on a puppy food I considered decent, and he was fine on it.


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## SydTheSpaniel (Feb 12, 2011)

That's what I'm thinking. I guess I was just paranoid because Sydney's always had an issue when I switch her foods in the past, she has such a sensitive stomach. Obviously that doesn't mean the puppy will be the same way - but that's just me being paranoid. LOL I'm going to put her on the food of my choice and go from there.


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## Abbylynn (Jul 7, 2011)

Leah was eating Purina Puppy Chow before I had her. I switched cold turkey to what I considered a better puppy food. She had a tad of the runs ... but also had Coccidia which presents itself in the same way.


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## Miss Bugs (Jul 4, 2011)

the only time I don't switch cold turkey is with a shelter dog, purely because I think they are undergoing enough stress between ending up in a small cage at the shelter, pumped with vaccines and spayed before coming home then all of a sudden being in a new home, I feel all that is enough stress on their body at once without throwing a cold turkey food change in as well!


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## Gina_1978 (Jun 3, 2012)

I always switch cold turkey too.
Mine were both on a cheap supermarket brand of puppy kibble when I brought them home from the breeders,so I switched them cold turkey over to RC..in all fairness I thought it was the best back then.They did fine.
Then I read more about RC,HATED it,and found Acana,so when they were 6 months old,I switched them to that cold turkey too.
Milo has a super sensitive tummy,and even _he_ only had lose stools and maybe gas for the first day,then he was fine.No probs what so ever.


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## TheSeaWithin (Sep 6, 2011)

I think it depends on the dog. When I brought Poppy home from the shelter she was sent home with Science Diet. I wanted to feed her Acana, so I began with the typical transition. After one meal, she started only eating the Acana and spitting out the Science Diet! I pretty much did a cold turkey switch straight to Acana and she was fine. My dog growing up was very sensitive to food switches... so it just depends on their digestive system!


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## Chief502 (Dec 3, 2012)

I would have to agree that it pretty much depends on the dog. Just because your one dog has a sensitive tummy doesn't mean your puppy will too. All you can do is try and see what happens. I switched both Chief & Luke cold turkey. Chief did just fine. He was fed on Science Diet at the shelter, which is YUCKY IMO. I switched him to Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream and he's been doing really well on it. I changed flavors one week to High Prairie, but he didn't seem to do too well on the Bison. His poops weren't as solid as on the PS. They weren't runny or anything, just not as solid. So, I switched him back and he's been doing fine again. Luke was fed some kinda beef flavored puppy chow by his breeder and I immediately switched him to TOTW too. He is getting the High Prairie right now and seems to be doing fine on it. I would have gotten the PS puppy formula, but all my local pet store had was a 28 lb. bag and I didn't need that large of a bag for him.


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## SydTheSpaniel (Feb 12, 2011)

Chief502 said:


> I would have to agree that it pretty much depends on the dog. Just because your one dog has a sensitive tummy doesn't mean your puppy will too. All you can do is try and see what happens. I switched both Chief & Luke cold turkey. Chief did just fine. He was fed on Science Diet at the shelter, which is YUCKY IMO. I switched him to Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream and he's been doing really well on it. I changed flavors one week to High Prairie, but he didn't seem to do too well on the Bison. His poops weren't as solid as on the PS. They weren't runny or anything, just not as solid. So, I switched him back and he's been doing fine again. Luke was fed some kinda beef flavored puppy chow by his breeder and I immediately switched him to TOTW too. He is getting the High Prairie right now and seems to be doing fine on it. I would have gotten the PS puppy formula, but all my local pet store had was a 28 lb. bag and I didn't need that large of a bag for him.


Sydney's the same way with the Bison flavor, her stools were much softer when I had her try iy, but she does very well on all the other TOTW flavors. I originally wanted to put Lunetta on the puppy formula of TOTW but my local petstore didn't carry it, they told me, "TOTW is one of the lower quality foods we sell and we decided to discontinue the puppy formula since you can get higher quality for the same price or cheaper." 

Anyway! I decided to put Lunetta on NutriSource Puppy formula, she took to it pretty good, considering she scarfed it down like she was starving! LOL I also got a can of the wet food chicken and rice and mixed it a little to see if she'd like it better. She's had a couple of stools so far, they're soft but no diarrhea - my guess is they'll harden up once she settles down with everything. I was worried over nothing! 

Thanks for all of the advice!


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## Chief502 (Dec 3, 2012)

SydTheSpaniel said:


> Sydney's the same way with the Bison flavor, her stools were much softer when I had her try iy, but she does very well on all the other TOTW flavors. I originally wanted to put Lunetta on the puppy formula of TOTW but my local petstore didn't carry it, they told me, "TOTW is one of the lower quality foods we sell and we decided to discontinue the puppy formula since you can get higher quality for the same price or cheaper."
> 
> Anyway! I decided to put Lunetta on NutriSource Puppy formula, she took to it pretty good, considering she scarfed it down like she was starving! LOL I also got a can of the wet food chicken and rice and mixed it a little to see if she'd like it better. She's had a couple of stools so far, they're soft but no diarrhea - my guess is they'll harden up once she settles down with everything. I was worried over nothing!
> 
> Thanks for all of the advice!


It may have been you that had posted before in another thread about TOTW being lower quality, which kinda surprised me. I haven't tried the other flavors with Chief yet, but I may. He has a couple weeks left of the bag I just bought, so I may switch it up again for him. The only two flavors of the puppy formula my local pet store I go to only had the High Prairie and Pacific Stream formulas, but they only had the 28 lb bag of PS and I don't really need that big of a bag for Luke, lol. I'm taking Luke to the vet later today and may drop by another location to see if they have more of a variety of flavors. Because I also need to get more wet cat food and bird food anyhow. No harm in looking.


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