Puppy Food

Comments

• tobyshiba

  September 2008 edited November -1

  I've been told to switch when your dog generally starts to get 'fat' off of the food. If you notice her gaining extra weight, it would be good to swtich to adult food.
  
  Toby is about 9 months old and is on adult food now, with no issues in the transition.
• kwyld

  September 2008 edited November -1

  6 months is fine for a Shiba. If I had a large or giant breed, I might consider feeding puppy food up until 1 year of age.
• dlroberts

  September 2008 edited November -1

  One approach is to read the label on your puppy food. The feeding guidelines will tell you when you should switch to adult food based on age and weight. I have actually been engaged in a prolonged email discussion with Joey's breeder about puppy food. Her opinion is to feed solely puppy food for 10 months and then slowly mix in adult food over a 2 month transition period. I have Joey on an "all life stages" food which has been the source of our disagreement. To add to the confusion, Joey's vet is of the opinion that post-speuter, puppies should be put on adult food.
  
  Ultimately, I don't think there is one right answer to this. What it comes down to is what your Shiba is doing well on and what you are comfortable with. As long as you continue to feed a high quality food, I don't think you will cause any harm. Now, if you are dealing with a large breed dog, then there are some additional considerations to make.
• LoveMyMylie

  September 2008 edited November -1

  She's on Wellness: Just for puppy right now and has been for a few months, and before that she was on Merrick: puppy plate since the day I brought her home. I won't feed her anything but high quality food! I wouldn't say that she's been putting on any "fat" she's very lean... Unfortunately I can't find anything on the Wellness bag or the website that suggests when to switch her.
• dlroberts

  September 2008 edited November -1

  According to the feeding guidelines the food you are feeding Mylie can be fed up to a year. By contrast, if you look at the feeding guidelines for something like Orijen, you can see there are situations where they suggest transitioning to an adult food earlier.
  
  As I understand it, the main advantage of feeding puppy food is to give their body the nutrition it needs to sustain a healthy growth period. If you give them extra nutrition after they've finished growing (e.g. continue to feed Mylie puppy food) I don't think you'll hurt anything except maybe cause her to gain a bit of un-needed weight. On the other hand, if you take puppy food away from a dog while they are still growing, you could potentially negatively affect their growth (this would be like transitioning an Akita to adult food at 5 months).