# When should I stop feeding puppy food?



## lahcart (Jan 19, 2007)

What's the best age to stop feeding puppy food? Miss Celie is 4 months old. Is that too soon? She has been on Nutro and Royal Canin. I got some free samples of Wellness Puppy food today, but she doesn't seem that impressed with it. She is just not eating like she used to.


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## Scoobydoo (May 26, 2005)

> What's the best age to stop feeding puppy food? Miss Celie is 4 months old. Is that too soon? She has been on Nutro and Royal Canin. I got some free samples of Wellness Puppy food today, but she doesn't seem that impressed with it. She is just not eating like she used to.[/B]


You should keep her on puppy food for at least 12 months. I asked my vet the very same question and her advice was 12 months. The best thing is to find a puppy food that Miss Celie likes and stick with it till she is around a year old. Puppy food is designed to sustain them through their growing time and is usually enriched for healthy growth. If the Nutro and Royal Cannin are puppy formulas and she was eating them well I would stay with them and not switch her as this can create a fussy eater. Even though Koko is 7 months and has finished teething I still moisten his dry puppy kibble and feed him twice a day, morning and evening, and he loves his food.


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## camfan (Oct 30, 2006)

> What's the best age to stop feeding puppy food? Miss Celie is 4 months old. Is that too soon? She has been on Nutro and Royal Canin. I got some free samples of Wellness Puppy food today, but she doesn't seem that impressed with it. She is just not eating like she used to.[/B]


I've heard conflicting advice--some say what Janet said--12 months (including my vet) and I've heard others say whenever they seem to be on the right path to having a well established diet and are a healthy weight, etc. Ollie's breeder said to get him off puppy food ASAP because he is already so big and I think she was afraid of him getting overweight already (he's only 5 months & 8 lbs!). I've basically heard it all I think!

I used to feed Chicken Soup brand (currently switching over until I run out) and if you put the puppy & adult side by side the ONLY difference is a higher fat content in the puppy food (which Ollie doesn't need) and VERY minute differences in just a few of the vitamins--of which were not officially recognized to be essential to a dog's diet. So I really don't see the difference. Right now Ollie is getting a mixture of Chicken Soup puppy AND adult and some Natural Balance (which is for both puppies and adults) thrown in (I'm switching to NB). I guess you just have to go by what your vet says as he/she knows your dog and what their nutritional & growth needs are...


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## Julie718 (Feb 17, 2006)

I stopped feeding Tango puppy food around 8-9 months. He was pretty much full grown and I didn't want him to end up overweight.


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## Deanna (Jan 14, 2005)

You might try a food that is an all ages food like Natural Balance. 

Good luck!


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## 3Maltmom (May 23, 2005)

I believe there are many foods, which are "All Stage", in other words, it's the same food from puppy to adult.

DVP has such a choice, along with many others. I keep my Seniors, Puppy fosters, and the rest of the kids, all on the same diet. It has worked out very well for us.


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## camfan (Oct 30, 2006)

> You might try a food that is an all ages food like Natural Balance.
> 
> Good luck!
> 
> ...


That's another thing I like about NB--it's for all ages so I don't have to guess, lol.

I will say, though, that it's alot crunchier than the Chicken Soup kibbles were--and almost twice the size as the adult Chicken Food. Good thing Ollie could care less and would eat ANYTHING!!







Oh, and I love how the NB smells--I wouldn't mind eating it myself LOL!!


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## lahcart (Jan 19, 2007)

I'm thinking about trying the NB sweet potato and fish.


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## wagirl98665 (Jan 5, 2006)

I would say a year is good because they really do need all the extra nutrition that's in puppy food while they're still growing. I had 3 puppies in a row so 2 of mine were on puppy food longer then a year, but they're all grown up now.


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## Deanna (Jan 14, 2005)

> I'm thinking about trying the NB sweet potato and fish.[/B]



That's what my two eat. A lot of people here feed the NB duck and potato, but Wilson found the duck too rich, so I switched to the fish and sweet potato. Like camfan said it is a lot harder than other food-, so when Molly ws teething and lost a lot of teeth at once I had to softened it with warm water. But I think that just added to the appeal of it! The hard crunchy food is good for them, because it keeps their teeth healthy and strong. 

My two get just dry kibble in the mornings and at night they get dry kibble with 1 tsp of the canned mixed in.


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## I found nemo (Feb 23, 2006)

I fed adult food to Nemo at 9 months.
I think 4 months is to soon, but 9 months is fine to start them on adult..IMO
I think weight too is a factor, Nemo was like 8 pds at 8 months







so the puppy food
was putting extra weight on him. He is now a healthy 10 pds








I think if your puppy is not enough weight at 9 months then I would feed till 12 months.
NB is a great food by the way..
ANDREA~


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## dr.jaimie (Mar 23, 2004)

4mo is a little too early.. i would wait til at least after her spay ( and she wont grow much more after that) and switch to an all stages food, which is what i did with pix b/c it was too hard feeding my two different foods


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## I found nemo (Feb 23, 2006)

> 4mo is a little too early.. i would wait til at least after her spay ( and she wont grow much more after that) and switch to an all stages food, which is what i did with pix b/c it was too hard feeding my two different foods[/B]


Really ..After her spay she wont grow much after that? How can you tell, what I mean is, is there something about them that you can tell which puppy will stop growing at a certain age or which one wont? 
I mean Nemo grew way







much after his Neutering at 7 months.
I have heard some Malts grow till 2yrs old, I mean I dont know if that is true or not.
Nemo I think has stopped finally at a year and a half..
ANDREA~


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## puppymom (Jun 13, 2005)

My Vet believes that puppy food should be stopped at around 6 months. He feels that the protein content is too high and that they don't need that much protein. He explained it to me some time ago so I have forgotten the details but it had to do with too much protein in the diet actually causing overgrowth of bones.


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## Joey's Mom2 (Aug 24, 2004)

I agree--I do hear conflicting advice. But someone told me that a good rule of thumb is a month or two after they stop growing. Fendi's been 6 pounds since she was 6 months. (She's 8 months now) And we were going to switch her to adult, but opted for Canidae All Stages.



> My Vet believes that puppy food should be stopped at around 6 months. He feels that the protein content is too high and that they don't need that much protein. He explained it to me some time ago so I have forgotten the details but it had to do with too much protein in the diet actually causing overgrowth of bones.[/B]


Puppymom I absolutely agree with you 100% about the protein. That is why I'd much rather watch Fendi's growth rate instead of giving a generic timeline. Although I now feed her Canidae All Stages, Crude Protein level is at 24%--much less than the 32% puppy food she used to be on. So this way, I can be sure that she's not getting too much protein.


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## puppymom (Jun 13, 2005)

> I agree--I do hear conflicting advice. But someone told me that a good rule of thumb is a month or two after they stop growing. Fendi's been 6 pounds since she was 6 months. (She's 8 months now) And we were going to switch her to adult, but opted for Canidae All Stages.
> 
> 
> Puppymom I absolutely agree with you 100% about the protein. That is why I'd much rather watch Fendi's growth rate instead of giving a generic timeline. Although I now feed her Canidae All Stages, Crude Protein level is at 24%--much less than the 32% puppy food she used to be on. So this way, I can be sure that she's not getting too much protein.[/B]



22-24% is what my Vet recommends.


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