Can I Give Adult Orijin To 18week Old?

[Gerda the Schnauzer]

Hiya,

Gerda (standard schnauzer) is 18 weeks, and gets a raw chicken wing at nights, and chicken/beef roll in the mornings, both with dry food too. At the moment we are using Supercoat, because it is what the breeder was using and I have been hunting for Orijin for ages. I found a supplier, who said they would order the puppy food in, but they only had adult when we got there (quite a drive). We bought it anyway, we'll need it one day... I was just hoping that we could start the switch over now, as it isn't her whole diet. Is it way too early?? What age??

Thanks for any advice

[Nekhbet]

if you bought the bag will it expire by the time she is needing it?!? Dry foods can still go rancid because of the oils inside so check the expiry date - you shoudlnt be using it for about 12-18 months!

ETA speak to your breeder about using Orijen and if the diet will be suitable for a giant schnauzer it may be too high in protein for their liking

Edited October 21, 2008 by Nekhbet

[Gerda the Schnauzer]

Thanks Nekhbet, she is only a standard, so not a giant I'll check the dates... Aug 09, so might work out?

[Rysup]

I put my puppies onto adult dry food from a young age. I dont use Orijin though.

[Nekhbet]

ahhh so sorry I have giant schnauzer on the brain for some reason

yeah that should be fine to store as long as you keep it somewhere away from rodents and constant heat

[CBL]

I have wondered this. Oscar actually prefers the adult food and so I have to separate them so they each eat their own food (Patch likes the puppy food). Sometimes I can't keep them separate and so they with eat out of each others bowls.

[Gerda the Schnauzer]

Hmmm... can't decide. I just figured that if the difference is protein amounts etc then having a bunch of chicken wings kind of negates that argument. There's no carbs to worry about, and she only ever gets the toast my children toss her (grr!) and what is in the chicken roll (VIP) that the breeder gave her too.

Does anyone know the changes to other parts of her diet that would be needed to give her the adult dry food?

[ness]

I put my BC pup onto the adult version. I compared the difference between both formulations and it was really very negligible in the end.

[becks]

Normally I would think a standard would be around 8- 10 months before switching. With giants it is about 10 - 12 months and with minis about 6 - 8 months. It depends on the dog and whether they are keeping the weight on properly if you switch to early

[Gerda the Schnauzer]

Thanks,

Becks - thankyou! I can try to get enough puppy food to last until then, and my bag will still be in date, phew. She is getting itchy skin though, so wanted to cut out the wheat... oh well, might be something else anyway!

Ness - I should have a good look really, I guess I just don't understand it all very well LOL.

thanks

[Dogsfevr]

ours stay permantly on puppy,adults aswell

[Gerda the Schnauzer]

Can I ask why??

[Guest june.andnovas]

Adult dry is much better than puppy dry as puppy contains a high amount of protien and calcuim ... which can cause bone problems later on. If your pup is also getting chicken wings and bones in general they are already getting a good amount of protien and calcuim.

I read the ingredients of all RC dry food (sure was fun!!!) and found the german shepherd adult to be the best. Contains no wheat and about 20% protien. Puppy and adult actually contain the same foods, puppy dry contains more fillers I have found.

I personally would never feed another pup puppy dry food. Adult all the way. Puppy food is a term of marketing.

[schnauzer_luv]

I've just switched Lola onto adult orijen (not quite 6 months) MS. She started packing weight on on the puppy formula so when we got to the end of the bag I took her off it. She is doing fine on the adult formula, and comparing the two bags, the ratios of protein to fruit and veg aren't THAT different in the two products. The ingredients are identical in both it's just the proportions that vary slightly. I wouldn't worry about feeding her adult orijen GTS...it's high protein food as it is, so while it is slightly lower than the puppy formula, it's still higher than most other foods on the market. Try her on it and see how she goes, 1 bag isn't going to harm her either way, as long as the food agrees with her tummy.

[Sagittarian]

It's very easy to get caught up in protein levels as a means of choosing a food. So often I hear that such and such a food is too high, too low or just right for a pup. Having raised giant breed pups on protein levels from around 20% through to around 40%, my experience is that protein levels alone are not a "bad guy", nor an indicator of the quality of a food. Calories, calcium and climbing are my 3 things - monitoring calories to provide steady growth, correct calcium to phosphorus levels for a large breed, and avoiding stressing growing joints by permitting excess activity, particularly jumping and climbing.

What a lot of people forget is that a well designed puppy food contains a level of calcium designed for a growing body. That, to me, is not marketing. It is about giving the average puppy owner a relatively simple way of raising a pup without too many mistakes. Of course there are those of us who choose to feed adult food to pups, or choose to add additional meat or bones, and so on - but the ones who do it successfully generally have a lot more experience than the average pet owner.

JMO

Sags

Edited October 24, 2008 by Sagittarian

[CBL]

I've just switched Lola onto adult orijen (not quite 6 months) MS. She started packing weight on on the puppy formula so when we got to the end of the bag I took her off it. She is doing fine on the adult formula, and comparing the two bags, the ratios of protein to fruit and veg aren't THAT different in the two products. The ingredients are identical in both it's just the proportions that vary slightly. I wouldn't worry about feeding her adult orijen GTS...it's high protein food as it is, so while it is slightly lower than the puppy formula, it's still higher than most other foods on the market. Try her on it and see how she goes, 1 bag isn't going to harm her either way, as long as the food agrees with her tummy.

I might switch Oscar over to adult orijen permanently then - he definitely prefers it.