changing dog foods every few months

Question
I already posted a question but have a few others. I hope
this is ok. I understand the concept for changing foods
for dogs and this makes sense to me. Is this actually good?
should puppies also be changed? what about foods with over
40% protein, is this ok for pups? is it true if meat is
listed as a main ingredient the water needs to be removed
to make the food. 80% meat becomes 20% after the water is
removed which would move it down the list? does this mean
meat meal is actually better? does it affect a dog to go
from a food with 45% protein to one with 25% protein and then back again? Do you know anything about Artemis?
Am i thinking too much about this?  sorry for all the questions.
thank you very much.

Answer
Hi Tim,

I've been ill the past few days and had forgotten to set myself On Vacation, I am still relatively new here - so my apologies for missing these questions.

In point form:

1) Some dogs do very well with rotated food brands. It's always an individual matter. I believe in using fresh foods as much as possible, but when you cannot, I like to use diffferent brands. Personally I have had dogs do well as long as you keep the overall nutrient content similar - others that can cope with dramatic shifts in those levels but need specific ingredients. Something I've seen work is to incorporate a protein -focused food like Orijen into the daily diet - so the owner would feed , for exmaple, 2/3 Canidae and 1/3 Orijen. You need to keep notes and see what works and what doesn't.

2) I much prefer to stabilize puppies on one diet and adjust it as they grow, rather than switch them around a lot. After 12 - 16 months you can start switching and see if that works.

3) Foods with a higher than 40% protein content on a DM basis are NOT, in my opinion, appropriate for puppies.

4) Meal vs meat is controversial. If the brand is a quality one, then yes, meal maybe preferable. If it's a cheapo brand or a poser brand like IAMs or Purina, I'd avoid it anyway. Meal just refers to meat with the water removed, yes.
Here is a good explanation:
http://www.canidae.com/ingredients/meatvmeal.html

However, AAFCO allows for a wide range of interpretation here:

" Meat Meal - the rendered product from mammal tissues, exclusive of blood, hair, hoof, horn, hide trimmings, manure, stomach and rumen contents except in such amounts as may occur unavoidably in good processing practices. "

So I'd be relying on the reputation and calibre of any company using this term.


5) Some dogs can move around from high to moderate nutrient content without a great deal of stress - others cannot. I prefer, instead of radical switches, to just use 1/4 - 1/3 of the diet high protein all the time. This maintains a steady nutrient level and avoids the excesses of the protein focused foods, while adding in *some* of their benefits.

6 )Artemis, as with a lot of even the truly premium foods, has some pros and cons. A LOT of marketing here - but some good points as well. If you're asking would I personally use this food with my own dogs? No, I wouldn't. For one thing I don't believe in feeidng gluten to dogs on a daily basis so any food with barley and oatmeal has a mark against it. If I used a single protein food it wouldn't be chicken (looking at the adult food here). However, this doesn't mena it can't be a good choice for someone else. For me, the Canidae line is still the best, and I am experimenting with Timberwolf Organics.

I hope this helps a little. And no, youre not worrying too much, you're educating yourself, which is always so nice to see.
Catherine