Feeding your dog is a crucial step in keeping a pet. Your dog needs a balanced diet. Therefore, it is necessary to choose the food that is as rich as possible in vitamins and minerals. If it is necessary to switch to another feed, attention should be paid to this issue.
Animals, like humans, are prone to indigestion. Therefore, you need to gradually transfer the dog to another food. The dog must be transferred to a new food within a period of at least ten days.
This is due to the fact that in the body of a dog, as in the body of every animal, there are beneficial bacteria that are involved in the process of digesting food. With a sharp change in diet, the number of bacteria changes dramatically, and they do not bring the desired benefits. The result is indigestion, diarrhea, vomiting, gas or constipation.
Transfer scheme to a new feed
The dog must be trained to feed in 10-12 days. This period must be divided into 4 parts - 2-3 days each.
For the first 2-3 days, prepare a one-time feed rate as follows: mix 75% of the old feed with 25% of the new feed. In the second 2-3 days, prepare a one-time feed rate in the proportion of 50% old and 50% new feed. In the next 2-3 days - 25% old and 75% new. The final stage is the presence of 100% new feed in the diet. If, in the process of transferring from one food to another, the dog's state and stool have not changed, continue to feed according to the scheme. Otherwise, the new feed should be discarded and a different one should be chosen.
If the dog is reluctant to eat food on the first day, reduce the proportion of new food. Let's say increase the feed volume not by 25%, but by 20 or 10%. Thus, the period for transferring to a new feed should be divided not by 4, but by 5-10 parts. It is also advisable to increase the transfer period itself so that the dog gets used to the taste and smell of the new food.
Varieties of feed
Each food is targeted to a specific breed of dog and contains micro and macronutrients to support your pet's health.
For example, each manufacturer in its assortment has food for puppies, sterile, lactating and elderly animals.
This is due to the fact that at a certain period of life, an animal needs a different set of vitamins and minerals to increase the activity or maintain a particular organ or system, for example, to maintain the function of the liver or genitourinary system.
By their appearance, feeds are divided into dry - moisture content less than 14% (granulated feed, biscuits, croquettes, etc.), semi-dry (cooked meat with preservatives) and feed with a high moisture content - frozen and canned meat products.
