# When to change from puppy to adult food?



## MagsMom (Apr 13, 2011)

Hi folks...I have GSD mix pup who will be six months old on April 22. I want to transition her off of Iams puppy food and onto a Blue Buffalo food now & am unsure whether to buy a Blue Buffalo puppy food or a BB adult formula.

She's growing incredibly fast, about 33 pounds now and the vet thinks she'll easily hit 60 pounds.

Any suggestions? Thank you!

Sarah aka "MagsMom"


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## CLARKE-DUNCAN (Apr 8, 2011)

You should'nt have to feel the need to change a dogs diet, just for change's sake. But if you do change the dogs diet do it over the course of 7 days. So on day 1and2 feed a 1/4 of the new diet 3/4 of her old diet. Then on days 3and4 give her half and half. days 5and6 3/4 new to1/4 old diet finally day 7 you can give her 100% new diet! Just typed this out of my german shepherd bible book for you! hope it's of some use!


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## PaddyD (Jul 22, 2010)

You will probably get a lot of opinions on this. Mine is that she should be on a high quality Large Breed puppy food like Orijen LBP or Wellness Super Five mix LBP or one of the other grain-free LBP foods. IMHO


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## MagsMom (Apr 13, 2011)

(BTW, I'm changing from Iams to Blue Buffalo after a lot of research on dog food brands & I realize this is a hot topic. Making the change to a better quality food...)

However, to clarify, my biggest question is, when do I transition my pup from puppy to adult food? She hits 6 months old on 4/22. I feel there's a big difference between making the change at 7 months or making the change at 12 months and there's so much conflicting information out there I wanted to get some learned opinions!

Thanks again...


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## gsdraven (Jul 8, 2009)

Many people don't feed puppy food at all so you can switch now if that's what you are comfortable with.

Which BB line are you feeding? The thing to watch out for in adult (especially grain free) foods is the calcium: phosphurous ratio. I never remember what it should be though... I know it's been said a million times on the forum.


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

its all about when you wanna do it. some people never feed puppy food at all while others like myself wait until the pup is about a year old to switch while others still will wait until the dog is 2 years old and done growing. Its about what you're comfortable with.


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## Lucy Dog (Aug 10, 2008)

You never have to feed a LBP food to begin with. If it's working, there's no deadline to switch, but I'd just go straight for an adult or ALS formula.



gsdraven said:


> The thing to watch out for in adult (especially grain free) foods is the calcium: phosphurous ratio. I never remember what it should be though... I know it's been said a million times on the forum.


I wouldn't want to go much higher than 1.5% / 1% in the MAX calcium / phosph ratio.


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## ElvisP (May 19, 2010)

Elvis, my GSD, hits his first b-day on 4/15 and I just started transitioning him from Orijen LBP (which he did very well on) to Acana Pacifica. He seems to like it very much.


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