Rotating Foods?

The idea behind rotating is that no one food can truly be 100 percent complete and balanced to meet the exact needs of all dogs.  AAFCO gives ranges for the allowable/necessary amounts of most nutrients.  Brand A may be within the AAFCO guidelines for a certain nutrient, but on the very low side of the range.  And on another nutrient it may be within the range but on the very high side.  Over a long period of time, this might not be a very good thing.  The dog might not get enough of the first nutrient, and too much of the other one.

If you rotate with another food (or two or ten), it's very unlikely that they would all be on the low side of the same nutrients and on the high side of the same ones.  So the theory is that over time rotating helps avoid over- or under-supplementation.  It's no different than when human dieticians recommend that we eat a wide variety of foods.

Also, some believe that a dog who is rotated between foods with different protein and carb sources, so he isn't being exposed to the same ingredients month after month, year after year, is less likely to develop food allergies or intolerances.

I rarely ever rotated Dakota's food and now she doesn't tolerate food changes at all. I don't know for sure if that's related but I'm going to rotate my aussies foods to see if that happens with them. 

The Whole Dog Journal does recommend rotating a few times a year for the reasons already mentioned.  I do rotate Innova, Canidae and Blue, but seem to have been stuck on Blue for about six months now.  Their coats have never been better than they are on Blue and I do change up the flavors, but, I also homecook so they are getting plenty of variety from that too.

Pomeranian <3

Currently I can't find another brand that fits her perfectly. I can try other NB flavors and I don't think I'll have a problem. But let's say I did find another brand... do you think she'd be fine if I rotated food?? I'm always worried about the transition from one food to the next and I like how she's regulated.

Is rotating foods only good for dogs with minimum food related allergies?

One of my dogs has several food allergies and dozens of inhalant allergens.  He has been on desensitization shots for years for the inhalant allergies.  So I'm pretty sure he qualifies for the "extremely allergic" category.

I personally do believe that rotating foods with different protein/carb sources reduces his chances of developing more food allergies.  And so far it's worked.  He's almost eight years old and started having allergy issues right around a year old.  We had him tested and on desensitization shots by the time he was two.  As far as I can tell, he hasn't developed any additional allergies over the years.  Now, he has absolutely no trouble switching from one food to another, so I don't have to worry about digestive upsets.  With a dog with an easily upset tummy, you just have to weigh the risks versus benefits and decide what you think is best.  FWIW, an upset tummy is a sign of a food intolerance, not an allergy.  There's a big difference in the two although they are treated the same way -- avoid the offending food(s).  I don't know if being on the same food for extended periods of time predisposes a dog to developing new intolerances to some of the ingredients in the food.  Although I would guess that it would, just like allergies.

The other side of the coin is that you stick with one food until the dog actually develops a problem with one of the ingredients in it, and at that point you have lots of foods you can switch to that contain novel ingredients that the dog has never been exposed to before (so at least theoretically the dog shouldn't have an allergy/intolerance to).  I think both arguments have some merit.  You just have to decide which one you think makes the most sense.

 Ben has serious allergies and I rotate between as many protein sources as I can for him.  Since he's allergic to some common ones (poultry), this means I have to throw in some exotics (goat, beaver, and I'm talking to an ostrich farmer near Charlotte!).

I rotate for many reasons, the top being that it just seems more natural to vary the diet and I'm trying to prevent allergies.  I understand that some dogs already have severe allergies or other issues that make rotating worse.  I also rotate simply based on sales, prices, availability, and I just want to know which foods do work in case one or many become unavailable or an allergy develops. 

When I rotate foods of the same brand and line, I don't do a gradual switch.  For example, when I'm using the Nature's Variety Prairie foods (5 or 6 different choices), when one bag is done, we start another.  When I'm trying a new brand, I do a gradual change for a minimum of three days.  If I try a new brand I typically buy it well before the current bag is gone, so I can gradually throw in a little bit. 

 When I do rotate, I just rotate after a bag is done.  I transition into the new food each time as Crusher doesn't do so well with food switches so I wouldn't want to do it every day.  I am considering getting a bag of Acana and a bag of Orijen this time and mixing them together.

I rotate every bag for both reasons mentioned above and for the pure fact that I believe that it's unnatural for any animal to be on the same exact food for very long. Canned food gets switched every time the can's done. I don't have an allergy dog or a sensitive dog and  switch Maddi's food cold turkey every time. She's used to this routine and does well on it. However, I know of plenty of people who have to do the whole gradual switch thing because their dog can't handle cold turkey.

There are, unfortunately (I think) limited options for the allergy dogs when it come to dry food... Duck, Venison, and Fish... with only two companies that I know of that make allergy formulas.. Natural Balance and Wellness. The nice thing is that there are more options in canned and raw. Canned has a ton of options and NV raw, Primal and Oma's (amoung others) offer everything from beef and chicken to rabbit, venison, pheasant, and quail.

 I feed a large variety of foods,fresh,kibble,homecooked and raw.I rotate kibbles on a per day basis,for example tonight they'll get orijen with something fresh mixed in,tomorrow night they'll get innova,the following night EVO,and then i'll start again with orijen.

I rotate due to the 'boredom' issue of eating the same food day in day out,and also for the different ingredients and nutrient profiles.Plus i cant pick just ONE food  ';);" mce_href="BLOCKED SCRIPTinsertSmiley('';);" title="Stick out tongue - ">