Is it ok to switch cold turkey?

[wtjham]

I am getting two lab puppies on Sunday and they will be 7 weeks old. For some reason the breeder has them on some really bad Pedigree dog food that it makes my stomach sick to think about feeding my dogs. I was planning on switching gradually, but am now thinking about going cold turkey. Is that every ok to do or should I still try to gradually do it? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi wtjham –

A healthy dog should be able to switch foods cold turkey with minimal digestive upset. All three of my dogs eat a homemade raw diet and get something different at each meal, none have any issues. When my oldest dog used to eat kibble I switched to a new brand at the end of each bag (about every 3 weeks) and rotated through different canned food toppers daily with no issues. My newest pup (just turned 7 months old) came to me at 8 weeks on Pro Plan – I switched her to raw cold turkey and she had no problems. To decrease the chances that your pups experience digestive upset you may want to mix in a spoonful of plain canned pumpkin and give a probiotic supplement during the first week or so of the switch. Good luck and congrats on the new pups!

[Melissaandcrew]

Hi there-

While I switch my adult dogs “cold turkey” from one food to another, I personally would not switch a 7 week old this way. They are babies and their digestive systems are much more fragile imo. They are going to have enough stress of leaving the litter, new environment etc. For me, unless there was a pressing medical reason to switch, I would opt for at least a week to completely switch them over.

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