[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi tracyx –

You should rotate foods and you should add fresh or canned toppers to dry food. Feeding the same food day after day is very unhealthy, all living things need variety. Switching will strengthen your dog’s digestive system. Another benefit of switching foods frequently is that if there is an issue with a food like an ingredient change and it doesn’t work for your dog, you’ll have lots of other go to options and if there is an issue such as recall due to contamination, your dog will be less likely to be affected if you don’t keep him on any one food for an extended period of time (often times the contaminants are in trace amounts and take months of feeding to build up to a toxic level). Dry food is the worst thing a dog can be fed, it’s not species-appropriate (it’s low in moisture and higher in carbs and protein than fresh meat based foods and canned foods). For this reason it’s a good idea to always top dry food with some quality canned food, a commercial frozen or freeze-dried raw food (rehydrated) or fresh cooked or raw meat. My three dogs eat a homemade raw diet and get something different at each meal. Prior to feeding raw I rotate kibble brands at the end of each bag (about every three weeks) and rotated canned toppers daily (I also added things like raw eggs, tinned sardines, plain yogurt, healthy table scraps, etc.). I know rotating hasn’t made my dogs picky, they’d gladly eat the same food day after day but I would never allow that. I do have hounds though – if you have a more picky dog topping with fresh or canned could make them picky towards just dry. I wouldn’t let the possibility of your dog being “picky,” however, deter you from feeding a healthier more species-appropriate diet. I personally feel that feeding a dog only dry food and feeding the same food continuously is one of the most unhealthy things an owner can do for their animal.