[OrangeDog]

Curious to get others thoughts on puppy food vs. adult dog food.

What age to YOU swich from one to the other?
Do you use puppy food at all?

The food I feed has the following ratios:

puppy 28/12
adult 24/14 & 22/12

[Todd]

the most obvious answer is that puppy food has quite a few more calories and fat then adult food. I would always feed a puppy puppy food for they need more calories and fat while growing. When to switch from puppy to adult depends on the size of the dog. As a general rule of thumb, I'd feed toy to medium breed dogs puppy food until they're 1 year old, and large to giant breeds puppy until they're 2.

[OrangeDog]

I have always made the change at 12 months but was curious to see what others do.

[Todd]

Originally Posted by OrangeDog

I have always made the change at 12 months but was curious to see what others do.

that's what most people do but current research is starting to show that large to giant breed dogs are still growing until 2 years old.

[OrangeDog]

that is true... but they also say large breeds should not have a large amount of protein so it's a catch in a way

[Lunareclipse]

Buster's breeder told me that for my saints, feed puppt foood for 6 months. At 6 months feed part puppy food and part adult food. If saints get too much protien, they can grow out of proportion. They can grow longer legs than their breed calls for. Poor Luna has deer legs. The best person to talk to about what to feed a large breed dog is a breeder that breeds champions. They will tell you what is best to feed your dog to keep him at optimum health.

[OrangeDog]

having bred a few champions myself I always recommend to my puppy adopters to feed puppy food until 10-12 months old, so far that has worked well for me but it's always nice to see what others do with their dogs... I believe in always collecting information.

[Yogi]

Generally for me, puppy food for first 7 months until adult teeth are in then gradual switch to adult with a mix for a couple months.
In small breeds, full maturity is not met til approx 2 years where in larger breeds it is generally 3 years for full growth and development.
I agree, too much puppy food can create issues.
My pups are weaned initially blending puppy chow with goats milk then heated. I will do this til approx 6 to 7 weeks then start solid puppy chow with goats milk for approx week before eliminating the goats milk. It has worked great for years and especially in my small breeds, they are more solid, heavier and larger than most in my breeds for their age.

[Lara's mom]

Lara ate a mixture of puppy kibble and my homemade canine cuisine until she was nine months old. At that point, he Doctor recommended that I gradually switch her over to the adult kibble.

Lance on the other hand is proving to be a bit of a challenge. He also gets mom's homemade canine cuisine but he won't touch his puppy kibble unless I mix in some of the adult dogs food. Apparently, the kibble in their bowls is somehow superior to the kibble in his bowl even though it's the same brand.