Views on feeding different varieties of same food?

[187882652]

Hello,

I'm wondering what the consensus is on feeding dogs different varieties of the same food day-to day?  I appreciate it is not recommended to generally change foods rapidly, instead using a gradual approach.

My 4 year old Border Collie is fed a mixture of Green Dog Grain Free Chicken dry kibble and Forthglade Duck wet food everyday.  I'm happy to keep the dry food the same long term.  Is it a bad idea to vary the wet food with different flavours day-to-day, e.g. Forthglade Duck, or Chicken, or Lamb etc; or is there no harm in this?

Thanks

[Dottie]

Hello and welcome to the forum. From what I have read it’s a good thing to provide variety. As long as the dog has a good digestive system then it should be alright to change the flavours of your wet food. When I fed dry food I used to top up as you are doing, sometimes using low carb wet food to balance the dry food which had above average carbs.

I also topped up with home cooked, high protein food eg chicken, fish, egg plus suitable cooked/mashed vegetables in order to create a bit more balance of nutrients and variety. Rodney Habib (Planet Paws) talks of adding fresh, “human food” to a dog’s diet here.

[Tinyplanets]

Personally I don't buy into the idea that dogs should eat the same thing day in and day out. Left to fend for themselves, they would not have a complete food available twice daily, so would need to eat a variety of things to get some balance. As Dottie says, as long as your dog has  good digestive function, they should be fine.