Effects of food changes???

Danny Nystrand

New member
Jan 5, 2012
27
1
Destin, Florida, United States
Bulldog(s) Names
Mighty Samson
I recently read somewhere that changing your dog's diet too much, particularly earlier in life, can cause allergies. Other than short term upset stomachs and digestive problems caused by a sudden switch when not gradually changing foods I've never heard of any long term negative effects like this before. In fact, I've also read that a change every once in a while can be a good thing (but then again, I'm not so sure about that either). Does anyone know if there's any validity to this? And while we're on the subject of dog foods causing long term negative effects, is there any validity to the notion of "all life stage" dog foods such as, lets say Taste of the Wild, causing hip and joint problems in English bulldogs later in life when fed to them as a puppy?
 
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JAKEISGREAT

.................
Mar 25, 2011
14,802
1,155
Southern California
Bulldog(s) Names
Jake
Hi! I am not a food expert..but I'm sure those more knowledgable people will chime in soon. My vet puts her Bully pups (and she has a lot in her practice) on all stage food as early as 10 weeks. Even sooner if they come home on a crappy food
like Iams..like my Jake did. She has all ages of Bullys in her practice and she is a pretty conservative vet. I agree with a slow change whenever you must switch. Sometimes you have to kiss a lot of frogs before you ind the correct food for your individual dog...I don't think careful switches done for the right reasons will hurt your dog..in my opinion! :up:
 

TessaAndSamson

New member
May 7, 2010
4,260
162
Southern California
Bulldog(s) Names
Samson
I've never seen anything to show me that any of those claims could be true. I have heard people say being on one protein too long could cause an allergy but for my Samson it's actually the exact opposite. He only does well on fish based foods (salmon is the best) and whenever I try another protein there is a bad reaction. He's 6 and I've experimented many times in his life. As for the other claim, pretty much EVERY food he has ever stayed on for any length of time has been an all life stages food and he has never had any issues mentioned because of it.
 

ChanelnBrutus

Snookie ain't got nuttin on me!
Feb 6, 2012
4,928
181
New Jersey
Bulldog(s) Names
Brutus (EBD 6/4/11), Chanel (Pitbull 12/23/06)
Brutus started all stages at 8 mnths and wish I did it sooner! I heard great things about starting it early b/c bullies develop differently than most breeds...Most breeds are fully grown by 12 mnths so they need more proetin to keep up whereas the bullies take longer 18-24 mnths...There are other member that will come along with great advice.
 

karenben

New member
Apr 18, 2011
1,056
88
uk
Bulldog(s) Names
Hilda
I recently read somewhere that changing your dog's diet too much, particularly earlier in life, can cause allergies. Other than short term upset stomachs and digestive problems caused by a sudden switch when not gradually changing foods I've never heard of any long term negative effects like this before. In fact, I've also read that a change every once in a while can be a good thing (but then again, I'm not so sure about that either). Does anyone know if there's any validity to this? And while we're on the subject of dog foods causing long term negative effects, is there any validity to the notion of "all life stage" dog foods such as, lets say Taste of the Wild, causing hip and joint problems in English bulldogs later in life when fed to them as a puppy?
most definatly not good to keep changing a kibble ,there could be so many ingredients that a dog can be allergic to and you dont want to risk a reaction,find the best you can afford and stick to it,karen
 
OP
Danny Nystrand

Danny Nystrand

New member
Jan 5, 2012
27
1
Destin, Florida, United States
Bulldog(s) Names
Mighty Samson
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #7
Thanks for the input everyone..... I asked about the allergies because my bully, Samson (TessaAndSamson ;) ), went through a tough time for a period of about 4-5 months with all kinds of allergic reactions until I went for the allergy test and found out the primary causes. In that time frame we made a few food changes that I'm sure were rough on him, and I recently read that claim. I'd hate to think that somehow all the changes we went through made it worse. And as for the hip and joint question, I started Samson on TOTW right away after getting him as the breeder had him on either Science Diet or Eukanuba (can't remember which 1 exactly). I later read that high protein "all life stage" kibbles can cause growth spurts that cause a bully or other large breed dog to not fully develop in their hips and joints leading to issues down the road. I was just curious of everyone's opinions on this. Samson now just turned 1 year old on April 15, we got to the bottom of his allergies, and he's doing much better. Our last quest now is finding that 1 dog food that we're both satisfied with that don't have the allergens that we need to avoid. I have him on California Natural now, but am not a fan and neither is he. I'm deciding now between Annameat Encore and Natural Planet Organic (I actually started a seperate post about this with only a few response). Does anyone have any info or experience with these foods?
 

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