The Benefits of Rotational Feeding for Dogs

What is Rotational Feeding?

Rotational feeding is the practice of regularly changing up what you feed your dog. This can include both the type of food you feed (raw, kibble, dehydrate, canned, etc.) and the protein that you're feeding. This type of feeding has becoming increasingly popular over the past several years as a more holistic approach has been taken in pet care in general.

How Can Rotating Proteins Benefit Dogs?

Rotating your dog's food can have several benefits to dogs including:

• Introducing more vitamins & minerals to their diet - Foods and proteins all contain different vitamins, minerals, and amino acids. Rotational feeding will allow you to introduce more beneficial ingredients into your dog's diet.
• Keeping your dog interested in meal time - Dogs can get bored with meals over time if they keep getting the same thing. Rotating out foods can keep your dog interested and looking forward to their next mealtime.
• Lowering the risk of allergy development - Food allergies can sometimes result from eating the same thing for long periods of time. Rotational feeding removes this risk.

How to Start Rotational Feeding

It is important when rotating proteins and foods to make sure you do it properly to avoid upsetting your pet's stomach. The biggest thing to keep in mind is that dog's need to gradually change from one diet to the next. 

Rotational feeding doesn't necessarily mean that you switch their food from one day to the next, but it can mean switching their food or protein every few weeks or months. When transitioning from one food to the next, be sure to do so over the course of a week or two. Gradually mix in more and more of the new food over time until your dog is completely transitioned.

If you currently feed a base mix diet, switching out the protein on a more regular basis can be a more frequent change for them to make more easily.