[Kayla]

Can I mixed dry and wet food or too much? Austrian Shepherd breed Dog, around 40 to 50 pounds and around 1 year old. Slowly changing him to Pure Balance Dog food because the last two brands made him sick.

[crazy4cats]

Hi Kayla-
I always mix something in with my dog’s kibble. I have two golden labs. Both male and about 80 pounds. Every morning they get a few heaping Tbs of canned with their kibble. In the afternoon, they get either eggs, sardines, dehydrated or fresh meat with their dry food. I don’t think that dry kibble is the best to feed regardless of how many stars it gets. However, it is convenient and budget friendly. I do believe that a premium canned food is healthier, but also much more expensive. Especially with two large dogs. And oh yes, four medium cats! Good luck and welcome to DFA!

[Naturella]

Kayla – I am loving all your posts and questions!

I think from my reading this is how it goes, best to worst:
Balanced raw
Freeze-dried/air-dried balanced raw
Balanced dehydrated
Canned
High-quality kibble
Low-quality kibble

Even the best kibble is in the bottom as far as “good” for dogs. As C4C said, if you can, go ahead and mix kibble and canned for each meal; heck, throw a few teaspoons of water in there too. Kibble can lead to a constant state of low-level dehydration, so making it wet is better, plus it is supposed to help with nutrient absorption.

That said, I feed kibble – I never go below 4-star foods and I rotate brands and protein with every bag now. Thank goodness my guy is small, so foods last him a while. But, I supplement with a heaping teaspoon of raw, organic, unrefined, cold-pressed coconut oil every other day or so (Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday at breakfast), 2 heaping teaspoons of plain yoghurt/plain kefir Monday and Friday at breakfast, a raw egg once/week (Wednesday at breakfast), a half can of sardines in water once/week (Saturday at breakfast), and a raw meaty bone once/week (Sunday for dinner always – no other food for that meal). Also, for all meals that do not include the above additives (the dinner meals), I add 1-2 teaspoons of The Honest Kitchen (THK) dehydrated food and I add water to make it soupy. Sometimes I would use canned, and still add a tad more water. And I just got green tripe from Big Dog Natural (BDN; air-dried), so you add that and water to the kibble, let it rehydrate as with THK, and serve. So far so good, Bruno is happy, lean, and healthy. 🙂

Please let us know if you have any other questions! 🙂

P.S. If you have a Costco membership, they have the best prices on good coconut oil, as well as cheap, good food – Kirkland Signature brand is 4-star and $26/40lbs (4.5 stars for Puppy and Mature dog, and small breed), and Nature’s Domain (grain-free) is 3.5 stars and $30/35lbs!

• This reply was modified 10 years, 1 month ago by Naturella.

[Kayla]

I am thinking about, if Dexter does really well with the Pure Balance kibble that I will buy some Pure Balance can food and mixed some in it. How will I know how much to mix in? He eats 3 cups of kibble.

[Kayla]

Thanks for the great tips! I will sure to use them. However, how will I transition these great tips and not upset his tummy? I have no idea how he will handle it. Right now, I am doing half old and half new for 2 weeks and then after that new food completely.

[Kayla]

Is there a better way to wean him off old to new food?

[Kayla]

I live in an apartment with carpet! And I know, if you don’t have a transitional period…some dogs will have episodes.. trying to not get Dexter sick because he couldn’t handle it cold turkey. He’s already had few incidents in the apartment because of the old food. I just don’t want to risk quitting him cold turkey.

[Susan]

Hi Kayla, when you start a new kibble the first 2 days you add 1/4 cup of the new kibble to their old kibble & remember to takeaway 1/4 of the old kibble cause ur adding a 1/4 of the new, then on the 3 day you add 1/2 cup of new for 2 days see how their poos are going if poos are good then on the 5 day you add 3/4 of a cup of the new for 2 days then on the 7th day you add all new food but I do this over 2 weeks just in case, if poos look sloppy stop increasing the new kibble for a couple of days stay on the same amount that you have been adding…..
also when you add the wet tin food you have to take away about 1/4 to 1/3 cup of kibble some tin foods will tell you on the tin how much to add, you can even email the company you dont want them gaining too much weight..it depends on the brand of the tin food how much to add, I’d just do it by eye. I think you takeaway a 1/3 cup of kibble then add 1/2 tin of wet…

[crazy4cats]

Hi Kayla-
For sure you want to make these changes gradually. I have incorporated all these add-ins as I’ve been learning, over about a two year period! I feed my dogs by calories. I calculate most canned foods at about 400 calories. So about 100 calories per quarter of can. I also compute dry at about 400 calories per cup. So 1/4 cup less dry food for 1/4 of a can. Obviously not all canned and dry have the same calories, but to make it simple, I just took an average. I also use the Pure Balance canned food. We especially like the stews. Good questions! Keep up the good,work!

• This reply was modified 10 years, 1 month ago by crazy4cats.

[Dori]

Very good post Naturella and great plan for Bruno. Wow girl, you have come a long long way. Bruno has got to be one of the healthiest dogs around.

[Naturella]

Awwwh, Dori, thank you so much!!! I do try… I know kibble is not THE best, BUT it is what we will be doing for now. I always try to improve his diet and for now, I’ve found a balance that works for us. Learning never stops, and I love it that way, so I will keep working on it little by little. It has taken me about a year or so, but we have come a pretty long way, lol. So… thank you again, because you, and many other regular posters have a huge amount of input in Bruno’s current health! 🙂

As for Kayla – I was where you are now about a year ago. Do not worry, take your time, read what the lovely people on this forum can give you as an advice, and try things with Dexter. It is okay to try and not succeed every time, until you manage to find the balance that works for him.

As for transitions, Bruno can probably switch cold turkey now after so many rotations, but I still give him a week (2 days with 1/3 of new food added, 2 days with 1/2 new food added, 2 days with 2/3 new food added, and on day 7 is all new food). I always watch the stool though, and if something was to go too soft, I would go back to a previous point when his stool was good and keep him there for an extra 1-2 days, and then continue the switch with added plain canned pumpkin to the food. So far so good. He’s taking rotation pretty well.

As for adding canned, I guess you can do what C4C does and go by calories. I just kind of watch Bruno’s body condition – when he was on all kibble, he would get 1 full cup. Now he’s at about 1/2-3/4 cup depending on activity level (if he goes running, he get 3/4 cup/day, if not – 1/2), topped with the toppers mentioned in my previous post. I don’t use the big cans as he is so small, so I use a small can in 3 meals when I do use canned. So that is another way to determine how much to feed. He is also pretty good about food and sometimes, he will just eat one serving and be good. If he doesn’t eat his second serving within 15-20 min, I put it in the fridge for the next day. Works so far. 🙂

[Kayla]

Thank you for so much tips and advice!!! 🙂

Tonight, I went and bought some pure balance wet food to see if he likes it or not. I mixed one cup of his old food, and half of a cup of new food… and a very small spoonful of wet food and oh my goodness he ate it all up in a second. Even after he ate he was still licking the bowl to find more LOL!!! Now, I hope his tummy handles it well!!

I have done the half and half before with Dexter and he was fine! Last time, I did half old(shelter food) and half new food for 2 weeks and he did fine! So, I am doing it again… half old/half new for 2 weeks and add in a little bit of wet food! After two weeks, I will do half new and half wet or something. Not sure… haven’t thought that far a long yet!

[Kayla]

I have to admit, He was a little spoiled tonight. However tomorrow, I will try to measure it better? Any tips? He did well with half and half… but that was when I was feeding him 4 cups a day because he was underweight from the shelter. 2 in the morning and 2 at night, half old/half new for 2 weeks. How, since he is in the healthy weight range around 40 close to 50 pounds… I dropped it down to 3 cups! Should I still do 1 cup of old, 1/2 cup of new and a tiny spoonful of wet or what? I feed him twice daily…and would like to stick at 3 cups. I think 3 1/2 might be too much… although the back of the bag says 3 to 3 1/2 is fine.

[Kayla]

I don’t want to over feed him but I also want to incorporate wet food.

[Naturella]

Kayla, I guess you can try 3/4 cup old food, 1/2 cup new food, and 1/4 can of wet food. You can even put some extra lukewarm water in there and make mush/soupy consistency. 🙂

[Kayla]

I will try that 🙂 Thank you!!!

So far, no issues with his tummy! He is very happy and energetic… so energetic when I took him out for a walk, it was a run instead. He wanted to run, jump around and chase a rabbit LOL At least…we both got a workout. ha

Looks like the new food will suit him well, I hope so!! Thanks again for the tips and advice.

[Naturella]

You’re welcome! Glad he’s doing well so far! 🙂

[Author]

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