We gave her the same amount as the previous one. When she eats she always wolfs it down quick. We have a problem with her eating well for a couple of weeks, then she starts to leave it untouched until the next day. After a couple of times a week of doing this I start to worry. Don't know if she gets tired of the food or is just quirky on her appetite. But when she does eat she eats with a healthy appetite. I suggested to DH that maybe we should add some canned food to make it more palatable but he doesn't want to start doing that.

What kind of food was she eating and what kind did you switch to? Also, you do know whenever you switch dog foods you do this slowly mixing the old with the new, small amount of the new first and gradually adding more until you are at all new food. Switching cold turkey can cause stomach distress.....

We switched from Taste of the Wild to 4Health. And no, we didn't know you should switch gradually.

My dog eats the same way.....eats well for a while, then may eat nothing one day. He's healthy otherwise so I started giving him canned food on those off days. He loves it of course, so our feeding schedule now is about every 2 days he gets 1/2 can of food for one of his 2 daily feedings. My dog is only 22 lbs so the amount you feed will depend on your dog's size.

If the new food is of significantly higher quality than the old one, the dog likely doesn't need as much of it, yet may need more water just to wash it down. Cheap food has so much filler in it so more is required to provide enough nutrients. I am surprised how little kibble it takes for my 45 pounder to maintain her weight - meal-for-meal it is likely no more expensive than the supermarket crap.

I always just assumed that my dogs drank water after eating because the food is, after all, dry. Kind of like when I eat something that is dry, it makes me want to drink something.
But if the dog is gorging on water, I too would be concerned.

I am not familiar with 4Health, actually have never heard of it. Where is it on the dogfood rating scale? We feed TOTW. How is your dog now, has the thirst decreased somewhat? It could just have been from the sudden switch in the foods since they should be switched gradually and not all at once. Or maybe just the indgredients in the new food made your dog thirsty. I would just keep an eye on her. I am thankful that all three of my girls are good eaters for the most part...

Well she is back on TOTW, a different flavor, and she's eating it so far. But this usually happens then after a week or so she starts leaving it until the next day a couple times a week. I'm probably over-concerned about it. But the 4Health had a pretty high rating, 4 stars on petfoodtalk. We bought it at Tractor Supply. I won't give it to her again due to the excessive amount of water she always drank right after. Maybe nothing wrong with it but she doesn't do that with TOTW.

Generally, when a dog is not accustomed to a single food, there is no need to do the gradual switch-over to a new brand. We have always switched back and forth every bag or two between several of the super-premium brands and never do any gradual switching. Our philosophy is just like for our own food - a variety of food decreases the likelihood of nutritional deficiencies. Different brands, different formulations also decrease the liklihood that any recall or food accident will have an adverse effect on our dogs because they are never on one particular food for long.

I could not agree more with you, Nancy! Feeding a single brand and type of food was a marketting invention of the dogfood cos, but it is not healthy for pets or any animal. Back when I used to feed commercial petfoods I varied the brands from week to week, and fed a mixture of wet and dry. Since the petfood poisoning debacle of 2007 I have home cooked for my pets, using a variety of meats (except for Miss Picky Cat who will eat only chicken). What one meat or brand/type of commercial petfood lacks, another will likely have. Except for koala bears, no animal in the wild eats a steady diet of just one food. Variety is key to good nutrition, for humans and pets alike.

My goldens are one year old and eat a high cost dry food,,,but I am concerned that they are drinking too much water....the bowl is never empty...they pee a lot which is understandable but I wonder if the dry food might be the cause...should a mix dry with wet????