# Puppy to adult dog food



## jwayne (Nov 15, 2009)

I see a lot of post that recommend changing from puppy food to adult food once the pup reaches six month old however; I don't understand why you would do that. If your going to feed kibble, it seems like you would follow the recommendations of the the company.


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## ZAYDA (Apr 22, 2010)

The rule of thumb is feed your puppy LBP formula until age 1-1 1/2 and then start them on adult .


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## GSD_Xander (Nov 27, 2010)

I've always heard that you should keep them on it until they're 1 1/2 or so like Zayda said but my vet said to switch over to 50/50 puppy/adult food at 6 months. 

So - IDK. I know I'm keeping Xander on it until at least 6 months and probably a little longer then I'll do the 50/50 thing for a few months then full on adult food.


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## Lucy Dog (Aug 10, 2008)

Some people never feed a large breed puppy food. I've fed adult food since i got Lucy at 9 weeks. 

As long as calcium percentages of the adult food aren't too high, an adult food is fine to feed to a puppy. Most adult foods are rated for all life stages anyway (puppy/adult/senior).

The key to picking a quality food is knowing how to read the label and not to go by what the dog food companies are telling you. Personally, I don't trust 90% of them on the market and would never feed them to my dogs.


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## Konotashi (Jan 11, 2010)

A lot of companies market age specific diets to get you to buy them to make profit, plain and simple. That's why I don't go off of what the companies recommend, usually. Some food companies make breed specific foods. But face it, a boxer doesn't need a significant difference in their diet than a GSD. It's marketing.


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## WarrantsWifey (Dec 18, 2010)

Our breeder/vet suggested that we change our guy from puppy to adult food at 6 months of age because they don't need all that extra calcium that comes in puppy food.


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## Lucy Dog (Aug 10, 2008)

WarrantsWifey said:


> Our breeder/vet suggested that we change our guy from puppy to adult food at 6 months of age because they don't need all that extra calcium that comes in puppy food.


So why do they need that calcium up to 6 months then? This is the time when they grow the most rapidly. I'd think those first 6 months is when calcium should be minimized the most and even more reason to be on an adult food with lower calcium amounts. For large breed dogs, slow growth is the best kind of growth.


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## WarrantsWifey (Dec 18, 2010)

I'm not 100% sure. Thats just what she recommended and since she is a vet and she is the breeder. I really rely on her knowledge and I also read up on the things but she hasn't led me astray yet.


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## Konotashi (Jan 11, 2010)

WarrantsWifey said:


> Our breeder/vet suggested that we change our guy from puppy to adult food at 6 months of age because they don't need all that extra calcium that comes in puppy food.


I think you have it backwards. You don't want the excess calcium BEFORE that age because it can make them grow too fast and cause issues with their bones and such. Large breed puppy food has less of it so they can grow slower.


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## Lucy Dog (Aug 10, 2008)

WarrantsWifey said:


> I'm not 100% sure. Thats just what she recommended and since she is a vet and she is the breeder. I really rely on her knowledge and I also read up on the things but she hasn't led me astray yet.


What puppy food are you feeding?

Not saying anything about your particular vet/breeder, just vets in general, but most don't know squat about dog nutrition. Kind of mind boggling when you think about it, but it's true. Just look at the crap brands most (mine included) sell in their offices - science diet - one of the worst foods on the market.


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

The way i do it and the way we've done it since we brought Riley home was they get puppy food until they're a year to 18 months old and then we start transitioning them to adult food. Its really about what YOU as THEIR owner prefer but its always been recommended to me by a number of people thats one of the best ways to go depending on breed. Larger breeds i was always told need the puppy food longer than smaller breeds. Its all about what YOU feel is how YOU want to do it. I've known people (though i dont agree) who fed puppy food the entire life of their dog. I've known people who have never even heard of puppy food. all about preference.


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## WarrantsWifey (Dec 18, 2010)

He is on Blue Buffalo Large Breed Puppy.... <3


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## Lucy Dog (Aug 10, 2008)

KZoppa said:


> The way i do it and the way we've done it since we brought Riley home was they get puppy food until they're a year to 18 months old and then we start transitioning them to adult food. *Its really about what YOU as THEIR owner prefer* but its always been recommended to me by a number of people thats one of the best ways to go depending on breed. Larger breeds i was always told need the puppy food longer than smaller breeds. *Its all about what YOU feel is how YOU want to do it*. I've known people (though i dont agree) who fed puppy food the entire life of their dog. I've known people who have never even heard of puppy food. all about preference.


What if I preferred to feed my dog pedigree or puppy chow dog food? Does that make it the healthiest and best diet for them? It might be healthiest for my bank account and most convenient to get, but it's definitely not best for my dogs health.

Same goes for if I listened to what my vets told me and had me feed them the science diet they push in their office. If I never did my own research and just went by what my vet told me, science diet would probably be my preference, but it's a horrible diet to feed to a dog. I had to figure that out on my own. 

To me, it's all about what is best for your dogs. There is no perfect dog food out there, but there's things to avoid. For large breed puppies, it's high calcium amounts. For dogs in general, it's by-products, fillers, ingredients that cause allergies.


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## Lucy Dog (Aug 10, 2008)

WarrantsWifey said:


> He is on Blue Buffalo Large Breed Puppy.... <3


I'd be careful with Blue Buffalo. They do have quality ingredients, but for some reason, they refuse to give their maximum calcium percentages. I'd personally be hesitant of feeding this brand to a puppy.

http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/diet-nutrition/145562-blue-buffalo-what-they-hiding.html

http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/chat-room/147432-would-you-sell-blue-buffalo.html


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

Lucy Dog said:


> What if I preferred to feed my dog pedigree or puppy chow dog food? Does that make it the healthiest and best diet for them? It might be healthiest for my bank account and most convenient to get, but it's definitely not best for my dogs health.
> 
> Same goes for if I listened to what my vets told me and had me feed them the science diet they push in their office. If I never did my own research and just went by what my vet told me, science diet would probably be my preference, but it's a horrible diet to feed to a dog. I had to figure that out on my own.
> 
> To me, it's all about what is best for your dogs. There is no perfect dog food out there, but there's things to avoid. For large breed puppies, it's high calcium amounts. For dogs in general, it's by-products, fillers, ingredients that cause allergies.


 
i wasnt refering to what they feel is best to feed brand wise. I was refering to when they want to switch them over from puppy to adult. And i take offense simply because i've fed my dogs purina puppy chow. Until recently, my dogs ate purina brand grocery store bought cheapo food because it was in our budget and they were getting fed and hadnt had any problems until we moved out to NC. I've never liked science diet so no contest there. Honestly if i had to go back to feeding purina because that was in our budget and the current brand we feed isnt at the time, then at least my dogs are fed. I'm now spending twice as much on less than what we were getting when i fed purina. Does that make me a bad owner? perhaps in the eyes of many but at least i'm not letting them starve or starving them and then dumping them. Would i feed walmart brand food? h*ll no. I think some credit should be given for that.


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## Konotashi (Jan 11, 2010)

It depends. Whatever works for you and your dogs. I say get a high quality food that you can afford and are willing to pay for that your dog does well on. 

Raw and Orijen are renowned as best for dogs, but some people don't have the means to do raw, and some can't afford Orijen. To go off of 'what's best for dogs' is unrealistic, to me.


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## WarrantsWifey (Dec 18, 2010)

Well we had Killian on Science Diet and also tried Nutro, he had diarrhea for over 5 weeks after numerous test and things, we finally got him on Blue Buffalo and the diarrhea stopped. I was thinking of maybe trying that call of the wild one. I'm not sure if thats what it was called. I'm not interested in doing raw yet, since I don't know much about it and I have two dogs that are both food sensitive. I guess I should read more about a raw diet.


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## Lucy Dog (Aug 10, 2008)

KZoppa said:


> i wasnt refering to what they feel is best to feed brand wise. I was refering to when they want to switch them over from puppy to adult. And i take offense simply because i've fed my dogs purina puppy chow. Until recently, my dogs ate purina brand grocery store bought cheapo food because it was in our budget and they were getting fed and hadnt had any problems until we moved out to NC. I've never liked science diet so no contest there. Honestly if i had to go back to feeding purina because that was in our budget and the current brand we feed isnt at the time, then at least my dogs are fed. I'm now spending twice as much on less than what we were getting when i fed purina. Does that make me a bad owner? perhaps in the eyes of many but at least i'm not letting them starve or starving them and then dumping them. Would i feed walmart brand food? h*ll no. I think some credit should be given for that.


No matter what you feed, I definitely don't think you're a bad owner. Well, maybe if you fed ol roy I would... . 

A budget is completely understandable, but there are some decent foods out there for people on a budget. I know the costco near me sells 45 pounds of a pretty good food (their kirkland brand) for like $22. That's probably cheaper than most of the junk brands out there.

My point is it's not just about your own preference and convenience. It's about what's best for the dog with what you've got to spend. The crap the most vets or grocery stores sell is just not what's best for a dogs diet, preference to feed or not. Just my $.02 though.


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## WarrantsWifey (Dec 18, 2010)

KZoppa: All foods have to meet a minimum standard. Otherwise they can't sell it. Your dog is happy, healthy, then who gives a **** what your feeding them!! <3 Your pups are loved, and full. You've already beaten half this country in best owner award!! LOL!! So many dogs don't even get fed and wander the street. Don't let anybody make you feel bad. Everybody can do different things. You do your best and your dogs love you for it!!! <3


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## Lucy Dog (Aug 10, 2008)

WarrantsWifey said:


> Well we had Killian on Science Diet and also tried Nutro, he had diarrhea for over 5 weeks after numerous test and things, we finally got him on Blue Buffalo and the diarrhea stopped. I was thinking of maybe trying that *call of the wild one*. I'm not sure if thats what it was called. I'm not interested in doing raw yet, since I don't know much about it and I have two dogs that are both food sensitive. I guess I should read more about a raw diet.


Taste of the Wild has decent ingredients, but it has way too much calcium for a growing large breed puppy. I think the max calcium amount is somewhere in the 2+% range. Way too high for my comfort. I'd wait until at least 18-24 months to start with a food with that much calcium.


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## Konotashi (Jan 11, 2010)

Taste of the Wild is a good food (Ozzy gets it canned in some of his meals), but I wouldn't feed it to a growing GSD.


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## WarrantsWifey (Dec 18, 2010)

Okay. Well is there a dog food brand that works for most GSD puppies and their needs??


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## Konotashi (Jan 11, 2010)

Wellness LBP, Blue Buffalo LBP, Acana LBP, Orijen LBP, etc.


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## WarrantsWifey (Dec 18, 2010)

Okay, so he is good with the food he is on. Since he is on Blue Buffalo LBP. Just have to keep him on it longer than six months. Thanks!


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## Lucy Dog (Aug 10, 2008)

WarrantsWifey said:


> KZoppa: *All foods have to meet a minimum standard. Otherwise they can't sell it.* Your dog is happy, healthy, then who gives a **** what your feeding them!! <3 Your pups are loved, and full. You've already beaten half this country in best owner award!! LOL!! So many dogs don't even get fed and wander the street. Don't let anybody make you feel bad. Everybody can do different things. You do your best and your dogs love you for it!!! <3


Watch the video and let me know what you think about AAFCO's minimum standards in commercial dog foods. 

Try to watch the whole thing, but it really gets good around the 4:00 mark. Enjoy.


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

Lucy Dog said:


> No matter what you feed, I definitely don't think you're a bad owner. Well, maybe if you fed ol roy I would... .
> 
> A budget is completely understandable, but there are some decent foods out there for people on a budget. I know the costco near me sells 45 pounds of a pretty good food (their kirkland brand) for like $22. That's probably cheaper than most of the junk brands out there.
> 
> My point is it's not just about your own preference and convenience. It's about what's best for the dog with what you've got to spend. The crap the most vets or grocery stores sell is just not what's best for a dogs diet, preference to feed or not. Just my $.02 though.


 
i keep a small bag of Ol'Roy in my car simply because i regularly find strays and they're so skinny, they're thrilled for anything. If i'm able to catch them, i'll feed 4health that we have at home but if not, i'll just leave a good sized pile of Ol'Roy. Its better than nothing IMO but its what i can afford when i come across a stray. If there was a costco near me (very anxious to get to MD), i would probably drop down to feeding their brand simply because i wont be working when we change stations and it'll be a little tougher to keep feeding 4health (better believe i'll do my darndest though!). I at least try to feed the highest i can afford. We'll see what the future holds but as soon as Shasta turns one (depending on how she fills out/up the next couple months) she'll get switched to adult food. I'm hoping to stay with 4health though. Would buy the Sam's Club brand myself but Purina is better than that stuff....


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## WarrantsWifey (Dec 18, 2010)

Lucy Dog said:


> Watch the video and let me know what you think about AAFCO's minimum standards in commercial dog foods.
> 
> Try to watch the whole thing, but it really gets good around the 4:00 mark. Enjoy.
> 
> YouTube - Pet Food Horror - What's in the food? It's Soylent Green for Pets - Ingredients are dead pets


I'll catch up on it tomorrow and then reply. It's 0111 here so I'm gonna hit the sack, but I'll watch it tomorrow, the title has me interested!!


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## jwayne (Nov 15, 2009)

Thanks for all the feed back; I will keep her on LBP food until she turns 18 month.
I have her on Diamond Naturals and she is doing well, clear eyes, nice coat and firm stools. We tried Solid Gold and Blue Buffalo and could never get good results.


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