# TOTW: Switching flavor but not brand



## giandaliajr (Nov 24, 2012)

We originally had Berkeley on TOTW puppy High Prairie formula but are switching to Pacific Stream just because he hasn't been as excited to eat as he usually is. 

My question is, should we ween him off the old flavor? I was looking at the ingredients and there are really only a handful of different ones, mainly fish instead of beef. 

Let me know if you have changed flavors within a brand of food and what you did. Thanks!


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## MilesMom (Jun 21, 2012)

We switch between the 2 puppy flavors each time we buy a bag and we don't wean, the owner of the pet store told us that because it's the same brand the dog should not have trouble. They were out of puppy one time and we bought an adult flavor, and Miles tolerated that too without any trouble. We just switched Chase from the breeder food onto TOTW High Prairie so next month will be Pacific Stream!


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## KB87 (Jan 30, 2012)

We use TOTW too and switch up flavors on our boy as well. The rule of hand that I was told was that if the first 3-5 ingredients are the same (other than the protein) then you should be A-OK to just switch. Our boy has a sensitive stomach and we can just switch between the two without any issues.


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## redrover (Mar 17, 2011)

I have had a different experience, but with Acana rather than TOTW. I cannot just switch between flavors, otherwise we definitely get some tummy troubles. They don't last very long, but it is an issue. I haven't switched since--it was an emergency since the store was out of his regular flavor and wouldn't get any for a while--so I'm not sure how he would handle it as an adult versus when he was a puppy.


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## datacan (May 15, 2011)

The way I see it, it's not only the flavor, the ingredients are different. 
I tried many brands and stuck to those that yielded best poop consistency, volume, smell...  
We switched cold turkey ???. I believe if the food is compatible it won't take weeks to adjust to. 
Later we got into prebiotic enzymes (as per Rudy's suggestions) with excellent results. 

In order to retain muscle mass the dog needs to be fed about 33% protein. That is too rich for most Vs. prebiotics/probiotics help.


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## giandaliajr (Nov 24, 2012)

Thanks for the input! 

datacan, this is the first i have heard about the 33% protein to retain muscle mass. I would imagine it has to do more with grams of protein versus actual percentage of food, but i suppose the 33% might be the optimum ratio. Let me know where you got that number from. The TOTW puppy pacific stream is 27% and the high prairie was 28%. Which is actually why i ended up going with TOTW since it had a lower content/ easier to have normal stools. Since we live in the city, its not very pleasant when his food doesn't agree with him.


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