Specman

How long did everyone keep there dog on puppy food? Max is coming up on 10 months and it seems the traditional wisdom is 1 year.

Also for those of you feeding kibble do you rotate the type of food you give? I was at the specially dog store and they made that recommendation for the heath of your dog. I am starting to research to the switchover to adult food and would like any input.

sophiebonita

That's funny cause I always have feeding issues w my picky pup and the dog food specialty store people said 'keep her on one food only and leave it out til she eats it!' Well I'm not letting my dog go w/o food for over a day which is what happened.

A little off-topic rant sorry. I'm currently feeding an 'all life stages' kibble w/ my natures variety premade raw which is also supposed to be for all life stages. Many people including my vet and breeder say puppy food til 1 year but I think a food for all life stages is good. If you're not comfortable switching to an 'adult' food yet, maybe consider an 'all life stages' food? I'm doing Orijen 6 Fish right now w the raw and my puppy's doing great. She is 4 mos old. Hope this was helpful.

EDIT: I didn't address the rotation thing. I'm a firm believer in it. I just can't stomach the thought of my dog eating one food for life day in day out. I use kibble, premade raw, raw meaty bones, I've used canned... Anything to make it interesting and palatable.

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My babies

My babies r picky eaters. But I do switch kibble brands after finishing each bag. I figured its good cuz if there's a problem with one brand then my babies aren't on that brand long term. They seem to like Acana the best. I think for the next bag I might buy a different flavored Acana kibble. It was so hard to find a brand that they can semi like.

outwest

I switch flavors every bag, although I stick with the same brand food. I also used some canned with the kibble for extra flavor and switch the cans to different flavors and brands. It works for us. If your puppy is doing well on puppy food, it doesn't hurt to stick with it for a year. My vet recommended 6 months with a puppy food for my standard, but I switched him to all stages because he is growing so fast. He looks healthy. I think minis are recommended for a year (they grow slower).

hunny518

My breeder recommended having her switched to adult foot by 12 weeks. He said the protein in the puppy food was too high and could cause over developed bones. I followed his advice and I feel Aria has been developing beautifully. I just now recently switched her from Innova ( what the breeder ha her on) to natures variety Instinct.

My vet also backed up my breeders theory on switching to adult food so quickly because she is a large breed.

I was very offended and irritated a couple weeks ago when I went into my speciality pet food store and was trying to decide on what to switch her too. I love this pet store because they are so knowledgeable and helpful. BUT I've moved in the last few months and I'm closer to their other location where I'm not to familiar to the ladies working there. When I was asking questions about the foods I somewhere mentioned what my breeder suggested about switching to adult and the lady was appalled and started making snarky comments about my breeder. I finally said that I know my breeder and his background very well, I know he is highly educated when it comes to his dogs and puppies health. Needless to say, I did not choose the food she was recommending to me.haha.

I know she was alluding to the fact she thought my breeder was an idiot and probably thought he was a backyard breeder or something. I could tell she doesn't think too highly of breeders. Working in the pet industry myself, I know where she is coming fro. I hear all too often, "I want to breed her once before I get her spayed because she is so cute and will have cute babies" it makes me cringe! I also see way too many dogs with skin issues ear and eye issues and deformities because their breeders are not for quality.


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hunny518

But I also know that with the right research and educating ourselves we can find some amazing breeders who put so much time and money into their breeding to produce the best of their breeds.


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sarahmurphy

We are in the same brand, different flavors camp here. We started switching at about 8 months, and mixed the puppy food in with the adult variety for our standard.

But we are also free feeders and give people food (in addition to the wins from counter surfing, which are generally things we'd never just give the dog - raw chops, a cake - yes, a whole Enteman's lemon cake..., butter - sticks of butter....wrapper and all...usually followed by an "interesting" poop....)

We know people whose dogs have died from bloat after one bout of people food after never having had it, so we are careful to give a little here and there, because we go too many places to be sure the dog NEVER gets people food.... We have no idea if this will help, but we figure it's probably not going to hurt...

So, take our advice here for what it's worth... (I feel a little like those hippie moms who let their kids eat one food for the 2-3 weeks they want only that - oh, wait - I was one of those moms... My son ate Broccoli and mashed potatoes for a few weeks one year. He ate only cheerios for a few weeks, then moved on to fish, then shredded wheat, back to broccoli and bananas....) By the way, my husband and I are the only ones here who struggle with weight....

sarah

Indiana

Ha,ha sarahmurphy I love your posts! I can never make my kids eat something they don't want to, that's the hippie in me. Although I try to keep everything in the house healthy so if they want something else, chances are it's also healthy. I do the same with my dogs, although ironically they eat EVERYTHING. I give them people food on purpose, like their favorite chicken with vegetables and gravy, when I make it for the family (I'm a vegetarian but I don't expect that of the kids or dogs, lol). But other than that, I rotate high-quality dog foods but slowly, like maybe two different foods a year, because it takes so long for their digestive systems to make the switch. Specman, I only fed puppy food for 4 months because they were growing so fast; they are a bit oversized for females at 24 and 26 inches high.