Should I offer my dog variety?

There are advantages and disadvantages to both feeding one type of food or offering a variety. While some dogs do better with a simpler diet, others may benefit from a broader range of foods.

Traditionally, dogs were expected to eat what they were given and when, and that we shouldn’t pander to them. There were also fewer commercial feeds to choose from. Today, the evolving perspective on pet care reflects a deeper understanding of our dogs’ individual needs, helping us to make the right choices.

Advantages giving your dog a varied diet

Humans enjoy a varied diet, and our perspective is often such that our dogs will too.

Some dogs appear to genuinely enjoy a variety of flavours and textures, and offering a wider menu may help maintain interest at mealtimes.

Dogs who are not fed a restricted diet may be less likely to experience an adverse reaction if they eat something they’re not used to. This can be advantageous in certain situations such as running out of their regular food or somebody offering an unfamiliar treat while out and about.

When feeding a DIY raw or home-cooked diet, including a variety of different protein sources can help ensure the provision of all 10 essential amino acids at correct levels. Minor nutrient deficiencies may also balance out over time with ingredient variation. Commercial complete dog foods supply the right amount of every macro and micronutrient in every meal, so although variety is not therefore essential in this respect, it can still be advantageous because some dogs can assimilate some ingredients better than others.

Feeding a variety of ingredients might reduce the risk of food sensitivities developing. The basis of this thinking is that the more of an ingredient the dog eats, the higher the risk of an adverse reaction to it. This is because food allergies tend to arise after a reasonable period of exposure to a protein fed at a relatively high proportion.

Don’t let this lull you into a false sense of security though! Some very sensitive dogs might experience an adverse reaction to one or more ingredient regardless of how much or how little it is “diluted” by other ingredients.

Advantages of giving your dog a limited diet

If your dog is known to have a delicate digestion, it may be preferable to consistently feed a trusted product which is known to suit (providing it continues to be enjoyed and well tolerated). Chopping and changing (even when the diets are equally high quality) can upset a sensitive tummy, especially if the changes are made suddenly or several changes are made in a short time span. Introducing several new foods at the same or a similar time can also make it harder to identify the culprit if one or more is responsible for a digestive upset.

Weight control may be easier to manage. The simpler the diet, the simpler it is to keep tabs on portion control and the dog’s energy intake as well as factor in the calories in treats if fed.

Too much variety can turn a mildly discerning dog into a fussy eater who is very tricky to feed. If refusing meals becomes habitual, rather than continuing to change the diet every time the dog decides it no longer wants to eat a particular product, it can often be more effective to address the root cause of the inappetence and work to change the pattern of behaviour that leads up to difficulties at feeding times.

The more varied the diet; the harder it can be to identify the problematic ingredient/s if an adverse food reaction is suspected. Some owners opt to feed exotic protein sources by choice rather than necessity, but such ingredients might be best kept in reserve so that in the event of a food related problems arising in future, it will be easier to source a diet containing a protein (and ideally also a carbohydrate) source that the dog has not previously been exposed to.

Top tips for giving your dog variety

Whilst we don’t offer free samples, our canine kibbles are available in 2kg trial packs which are the ideal size to determine whether the new food suits your dog’s palate and digestion prior to committing to a larger bag.

We also produce our crunchy bite treats in several compatible varieties. These can make for a great tasting experience as the recipes are similar to those of the main diet kibble. If your dog likes the treats, there is a very high likelihood they will also like the corresponding diet.

Please note that the light crunchy bites are significantly higher in protein than the light chicken & rice dog food, and the salmon crunchy bites exclude chicken meal (whilst the salmon & rice diet includes it).

How to give your dog a varied menu

Introduce one new product at a time so that you can more easily detect if a certain food isn’t suiting quite as well as another.

A gradual introduction should only be necessary when a new product is fed for the first time. Once you know the products suit, you can then rotate them by meal, daily, weekly, monthly or however you see fit.

Don’t offer so much variety that if you did need to source a food with novel ingredients in the future you won’t find this an impossible task.

For dogs who are known to genuinely get a little bored with their food from time to time, you could try rotating three products that have been the best accepted. If you have identified a pattern to their behaviour, you may even be able to change the diet before your dog’s interest wanes. You can also take a feed off the menu for a short time – there may be more interest when it reappears after disappearing for a while!

All of the above can be applied to treats too.