At what age should I switch from Puppy food to Adult?

[Lescoop77]

At what age is it ok to switch from the puppy food to adult? Bodie just turned 6 months and he's still getting puppy food - I think with Pandy I switched when she turned a year old...but can't remember? Any suggestions?

[sammy101]

what breed is Bodie? Kodie,whom weighs 97lbs,was switched off puppy food at 6 months,and Lucy was switched at 5-6 months. I think 6 months is ok to switch to adult.

[lvpets2002]

They recomend Puppy food for your baby for the first whole year.. Your baby puppy or kitten is not considered an adult till one year of age..

[bckrazy]

I'm feeding my 9 week-old puppy adult food. He gets half Natural Balance (they only have adult formulas, no puppy food) and half adult Innova. If I were you, I would switch Bodie to adult now, a good all-ages formula like Canidae, Innova, Natural Balance, California Natural, etc. Especially since he's a large dog. If you actually look at the label, puppy food usually contains too much protein and sometimes even less calories than adult food.

[Jessika]

They recomend Puppy food for your baby for the first whole year.. Your baby puppy or kitten is not considered an adult till one year of age..

That's not necessarily true. Small breed dogs mature faster physically than large or giant breed dogs. Small breed dogs need to be fed a puppy food until about six months because they stop growing, physically, sooner than larger dogs. Some large or giant breed dogs don't stop growing until they are closer to two years in age!

All in all, I would consult with a vet you are comfortable with and trust the opinion of. Otherwise I would switch closer to 9 months or a year.

[BitsyNaceyDog]

I think it depends on both the dog and the food being fed. Some dogs grow at a good rate on puppy food and some grow too quickly on puppy food. If a dog is growing to quickly they should be switched to adult to slow down their growth. I think small dogs should generally be switched to adult food around 6 months. Larger dogs maybe 9 months to a year. If you're unsure though I'd suggest talking to your vet.

[Lescoop77]

Thanks for all your suggestions. Bodie is a Lab/Golden mix and currently weighs approx 45lbs at 6 months. I'm feeding him Nutro.

[PinkSunshine]

I agree with Jessika. Small breeds generally mature MUCH faster than large breeds. I'd say with a lab/golden mix, I'd wait closer to a year to switch.

[dragondawg]

Daisy dog - the greatest and smartest dog ever to live.

Daisy was of the same mix, and basically her weight was age in months *10. Thus at 3 months she was 30, at 5 months 50, etc. She looked like she was walking on stilts at 7 months, but was overweight at 1 yr of age at 90 lbs.

I switched her at about 2.5 months of age from Purina Puppy Chow (yuk) to Propet performance formula which was actually higher in protein and fat (30%/15%). By cutting the amount back I easily got her back down from the 90 lb range into the 70 range where she carried the weight well. At 3 yrs of age as her metabolism dropped a little, I switched her to Propet Maintenance forumula so that I could give her more in the way of quanity. In the Fall I would feed her 2.5 cups, and she would gain weight up to 80 lbs and stabilize. In the Spring I'd cut it back to 2-2.5 cups, and she would lose weight down to 74 lbs and stabilize. She stayed in that range for 10 yrs. Never had any hip or other related problems. A finely tuned eating machine.

The Lab in your dog will want to pig out and ask for more. They do a great job in pretending to be starving, and the result more often than not for Lab owners is "fat puppy". Both the Lab and Golden are prone to hip problems, so you do need to keep the weight down. Watch out around 9 months is when most of the skeletal growth will be completed, and the weight will start to pile on.

Some people believe it is best to slow down the growth of larger dogs by placing them on an adult formula at an earlier age (e.g. 6-7 months). Don't know if there have been any studies on this or not. But I essentially had my Daisy on a puppy like formula for 3 yrs.

P.S. Swimming is a great exercise for a Lab or Lab mix.

[wolfsoul]

My GSD puppy's death could have been prevented were he not fed puppy food. Puppy food contains alot of extra nutrients that aren't necessary. In the wild, do you see the wolves leave all of the fat for the pups, and grind up the bone to supply them with extra calcium? Of course not, the pups eat just as the adults do. They don't need "extra" vitamins and nutrients. These nutrients actually cause the puppies to grow too fast (especially large and giant breeds). You want the puppy to grow as slow as possible so that it can grow properly -- My 6 month old GSD puppy had to be put to sleep because his legs grew too fast for the rest of his body to catch up. The joints in his legs became terribly swollen from trying to keep his legs up and caused him alot of pain. He never would have been able to walk and he would have been in pain for the rest of his life. GSDs are one of the breeds especially suceptible to problems with puppy food. All breeds with bone/joint problems should avoid it, and goldens can be pretty bad for joint issues.

[k9krazee]

I've always switched my dogs over to adult food around 6 months and have never had any problems

[bckrazy]

I was just going to say what Wolfsoul said, isn't it better to switch large pups to adult food earlier, rather than small dogs? You do want him to grow as gradually as possible.

[Lescoop77]

You are right -I'm switching him this week over to adult. (Nurtro) He's 6 months this month. Thank you all for your advice - very well taken!

[Vela]

I never fed puppy food to my puppy, he has eaten an all life stages food since he was 10 weeks old, using Canidae. I later swtiched to adult Chicken Soup when it became available.

[Spiritwind]

I've never fed puppy food to my dogs very long at all... MAYBE to around 3 months of age they might get a good quality puppy food... or when weaning a litter, but usually by 3 months of age they are switched to a good quality adult food - which is Canidae. I tell the owners when they are taking their puppy home the samething as well. I usually don't let puppies (pet or show) go till atleast 12wks of age anyway, so they are typically already on adult food, but I tell them to keep feeding a good quality adult food (canidae if possible), don't put them on puppy food.

I have Collies of course, as adults usually weighing between 55-75lbs, so I don't want them to grow to fast and get to gangly looking.


Janna