Changing food

Discussion in 'Labrador Puppies' started by Debs, May 19, 2014.

  1. Debs

    Debs Registered Users

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    Good morning all!

    I'm changing over Maisie's food from Pro Plan Robust Puppy to Arden Grange Large Puppy food. The recommended amount of food is completely different for each product, so how do I work out how much to give while changing over? Confused.com! ::)

    Pro plan recommended amounts for 11 week puppy is: 110-230 gms a day and Arden Grange is 250-400 gms a day. I have been feeding Maisie 180gms a day of Pro Plan.

    Any suggestion on how you would make the change over would be great!

    Many thanks.
     
  2. Jane Martin

    Jane Martin Registered Users

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    Re: Changing food

    Morning Debs! I have no idea, I just wanted to say "Have a good day"!
     
  3. Debs

    Debs Registered Users

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    Re: Changing food

    Morning Jane! Hope you had a good weekend!

    This food thing is so confusing!! x
     
  4. Jane Martin

    Jane Martin Registered Users

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    Re: Changing food

    If you take away 10 grams of your regular food, do you need to replace it with 20 of the new one?
     
  5. drjs@5

    drjs@5 Registered Users

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    Re: Changing food

    How I did it was by drawing up a little chart. I did it when Lilly was on 2 meals a day....a bit more haphazard before that.

    I replaced 1/3 of the old for 1/3 of the new at each step.
    So move to 120g ProPlan with 1/3 of the new food split over your meals for a few days.
    Then 60g Proplan with 2/3 of the new for another few days.
    Then all new.

    If you want to go slower you could do 3/4 old to 1/4 new, 1/2 & 1/2, 1/4 & 3/4 etc.
    I found it easier taking the whole days allowance of both foods, giving it a good mix, then dividing it into meals best for me.
    Aim to switch over in no less than 7 days but 14 days is nice and slow. I am more impatient.
    Puppies I think cope less well with changing over than older dogs.
    hope that helps.
     
  6. Debs

    Debs Registered Users

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    Re: Changing food

    Thanks Jane and Jacqui. Good idea to draw a chart up. Maths was never my strong point, so I think I was over thinking things a bit ::)
     
  7. Penny+Me

    Penny+Me Registered Users

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    Re: Changing food

    When I changed Penny's food over i did it like this:

    Day 1-2: Handful new, 100% old food
    Day 3-4: 25% new, 75% old
    Day 5-6: 50/50
    Day 7-8: 75% new, 25% old
    Day 9-10: 100% new, handful old

    Though are you asking about if your pup has (for example) 100g current food but the new food states she should have 120g?
     
  8. Debs

    Debs Registered Users

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    Re: Changing food

    Hi Lauren, thank for the info. Yes, I was wondering the best way to deal the fact that the new food is a higher amount than the old.
     
  9. Penny+Me

    Penny+Me Registered Users

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    Re: Changing food

    I'm not really too sure on that to be honest. In my experience with Arden grange (i feed it to my dog) you don't actually need to feed that much, and if I followed the guidelines on the bag my dog would be fat as a house!!

    Are the measurements for Arden grange higher than the pro plan? If so I would just feed the Arden grange at the measurement for the pro plan and see how you go.
    If it's the other way round I'm not sure how to approach it.... Maybe once 100% on the new food just cut back to the lower measurement?
     
  10. Debs

    Debs Registered Users

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    Re: Changing food

    Thanks Lauren, I did think that the Arden Grange amounts were quite high! I'll stick with a similar amount that I'm feeding now and see how we go. Confusing isn't it :eek:
     
  11. Penny+Me

    Penny+Me Registered Users

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    Re: Changing food

    It definitely is! I'm lucky in having worked in kennels for so long I can just look at a dog and know how much to feed it (not in grams though, just scoops lol) I think I'd be in a terrible state if I was working it out from scratch! I've never gone by the measurements on the bag - Penny gets half a scoop twice a day which is plenty.

    I know a lot of people on here feed less than the recommended amount and don't seem to have any problems!
     

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