The Great Dane Lady, Linda Arndt, has more than 38 years of experience as a canine nutritional consultant and breeder. In our Great Dane Lady Approved series, Linda will talk about her research and work with Precise. You can explore Linda’s website at GreatDaneLady.com.
Thinking about switching to Precise Pet Products? There a few things you need to know in order to make a safe feeding transition for your pup with any new food. Many complications can occur when transitioning your furry friend to a new formula, so it is important to be aware of your pet’s sensitivity to the switch.
For puppies: If you have a puppy less than six months of age, the change needs to occur quickly due to their sensitive growth patterns. This transition should occur over three meals or less using Precise, Precise Plus or Precise Holistic Complete. I prefer to start with a mixture of 50 percent old food and 50 percent new food. Additionally, sprinkling probiotics on the top of the food can smooth this transition. I recommend BakPakPlus, 4 in 1 Probiotics or Filling N The Wholes.
For adults: The adult transition process can occur over a longer time span since they experience more steady growth patterns. Adult dogs can take two to three days to move over to the new food entirely. Start with a mix of 25 percent new food and 75 percent old food. Probiotics can also help make the transition smoother for your adult pet, just as for puppies.
I raise Whippets and mini Dachshunds.
I am worried about puppy loose stool in the whippets. It seems that all I tried except for Iams yellow back makes the stool really loose.
I was wondering if the presice holistic puppy food would be better than the duck/turkey mix (from puppy to adult) for me to try.
I use a light dog food for my dachshunds and since they sell only senior ,is that the same.???
Hi Anne – Please submit your question to our Ask Our Vet section, and Dr. Lisa Drapela would be happy to answer your question regarding your pet’s health! Click here to submit your question: http://precisepet.com/pet-zone/ask-our-vet/
Thanks,
The Dish Editors
Hi there,
I find the post on transitioning food for puppies very interesting. Everywhere I read, it seems recommended to change as slowly as possible. Can you explain why you recommend to switch puppies quickly due to “sensitive growth patterns”. Looking forward to a switch to Precise.
Thanks, Renee
Hi Renee -
Here is a response to your question from Linda Arndt, the Great Dane Lady! Thanks for your comment and for choosing Precise!
Hi Renee –
Large and giant breeds grow very quickly from birth to 6 months of age. At times you can see a significant difference within 24-26 hours time so changing foods can be tricky with these dogs. Because of this problem it is best not to stretch out the transitioning period on very young puppies 8 weeks – 20 weeks of age because it can throw them into developmental orthopedic conditions such as Hypertrophic Osteodystrophy (HOD) or Pano like symptoms. This faster smooth transition tends to avoid these problems but probiotics are needed to do this type of change.
Each dog food company uses difference vitamin/mineral premixes on the foods and because they can be an enormous difference in the “quality” from brand to brand, it is important not to stretch out the transition past 3 meals. By mixing different foods (adult & puppy) or brands of foods you are sacrificing the integrity of the better quality diet. This can be very problematic and cause a drastic growth spurt or inferior minerals that tie up other quality minerals needed for development.
As long as you use a high quality multiple bacteria based probiotic product combined with digestive enzymes, the transition very easy in these early ages, often better than a mature dog, which may take a little longer. Recommended probiotics are ProBio Pac or BakPakPlus or 4 in 1 Probiotic from http://www.firstchoicenaturals.com – these ease the transition.
- Linda Arndt