do dogs get bored with a certain food as humans would?

[oxocube]

I ask because when my puppy came home I bought a giant 15kg bag of a premium dog food for large breed puppies. My dog eats it, always finishes the food in her bowl but now her food is running out and need to buy a new bag. The brand I am feeding her only has one flavour (lamb and rice for anyone interested ) but i think she might be getting pretty sick of it. I could buy another premium puppy food in chicken flavour but it would mean changing brands.

So .... 2 questions really. Does it make a big difference if I switch between say Royal Canin and Hill's Science Plan. Could it upset my puppy's tummy? And question 2, do dogs recognise different flavours in their food as we do? Or is it just me giving my puppy human traits?

Sorry should add she has some other foods too such as some veggies, a little rice or pasta and occasionally fish or raw meat but these are in small amounts and only supplements.

My dog has had the same food for 2 yrs. He still eats it happily. But he does love it when he gets a bit of tuna stirred in or some left over vegetables!

Changing foods can upset their tum so is better done gradually.

Dunno oxo . I'm awash with dog food thinkings and internet reading and tbh on most of the dog food threads people just stick to one form of kibble if it suits their dog.

I'm slowly introducing barf and so far Elsie will gobble up her kibble with exactly the same gusto as she does the raw meat - not sure what I was expecting really, but maybe a note saying 'I love my raw meat and smaller turds' would have been nice.

I only read yesterday if you are introducing a new food do the 1st 2 days 2/3rds old kibble, 1/3 new kibble. Next 2 days do half and half and last 2 days 2/3rds new and 1/3 old.

I don't think so, although I have tried one brand my dogs hated. Mine love their current food and have been on it for ages, they are always keen to eat it, one prefers it to BARF/raw. I never give them any 'extras' at all, they just get one gravy bone at bedtime. (mean doggy Mummy icon needed)I use some of their daily kibble ration for training and they work well for it, although I do very occasionally use cheese or chicken if they ar edoing something difficult.

I think a lot of dogs are overfed, tbh, and that is why they get fussy about food. Dogs are scavengers and opportunistic eaters by nature, they are 'programmed' to eat anything.

I think its just me being a bit precious TBH. Phoebe will eat anything - all my cats and my 2 dogs have always eaten whatever I gave them be it treats like scraps of fresh meat, salmon or prawns or a can of Felix! Actually Phoebe's preferred food at the moment is semi-dried cow poo so really I don't know why I'm bothering with this thread

I think with the cats, its because I've always had more than 1 at a time so they have competition for food. I wonder if one premium food is going to be pretty much the same as another?

What is your current food Midori? Might not be able to get it here in Holland though

Slubber, I love the idea of Elsie leaving you a thank you note Manners Maketh Man (and dog!!)

Hills is awful and I would never give to my dogs after researching it on the net. The previous two did actually have it and I felt bad when I realised how awful it was.

Oh no ... tell me your worst. Its what Phoebe has had since we got her 10 weeks ago

It was also the one which came with the puppy pack from the vets

If you go here you'll see all the dry foods categorised.

Hills doesn't feature in any of the top sections.

It's mainly a North American-oriented site so some UK premium brands don't feature, so it can be hard to find high-rated foods in the UK. We now use Orijen most of the time, with Arden Grange as a change from time to time (because i think they can get a bit bored).

I am currently using Jollyes own brand after noticing it contained 40% chicken, more than most premium brands, and was half the cost! My preferred option would be raw, but for various reasons it's not possible.

James Wellbeloved is fairly decent, and comes in a range of flavours too, same for Burns. James Wellbeloved also do a wet food which you can add to the dry kibble if you want a change for the dog.

oxo - maybe the doggy equivalent of a thank you note is the smaller, firmer stools

thanks for the link abr1de! Not sure if I can buy any of the foods you mention midori. Will have a look in the pet shops and online .....

WE have used JW as well in between the Orijen.

No dogs do not get bored of eating the same food everyday.

lol @ minimu - so what are your feelings about doggy chocolate then?

Now doggy chocolate do you really know what is in it............!!??!!

I have no idea what is in it I presume it's not chocolate though.

Oxocube - it sounds as if your dog and mine would get on well! My lab is a connoisseur (blimey - had to think hard how to spell that) of various different sorts of poo - rabbit poo, sheep poo, cow poo, horse poo and her own poo. During the very cold weather, she seemed to enjoy the poopsicles that her poo became when left out overnight.

We have fed various different sorts of kibble during her first year - sticking mainly to the better brands (though I confess, I assumed Science diet was a good brand , but choosing on the basis of cost (whatever was on special offer).

She certainly never minded switching brands, and it never gave her any digestive problems, but equally I'm sure she wouldn't have minded if we'd stuck to the same brand the whole time - she is a typical labrador who will eat anything and everything - definitely not picky or discerning at all!!

The thing to do would be to have a friend you can swap half-bags with. I have never managed this!