labsrule Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 (edited) As the title suggests I am interested in the opinions of Breeders on the ages they recommend their puppy buyers to swap their pups from puppy food to adult food and the reasons why you recommend the age you do. I have always followed breeders' recommendations on this and for my current Labrador youngster when he was a pup, I started transitioning him over to adult food at 4months as per his breeder's recommendation and this age was also my vet's recommendation as well. I believe there is general confusion by puppy buyers as to the age that they should swap their pups over to adult food as they may be told one thing by their breeders if they brought their pup from a breeder and the manufacturer's instruction on the dry food seems to be a standard 12months and their vet may also have a differing opinion. I will always follow breeder's advice on this issue and particularly so in the case of my current youngster's breeder who has been breeding Labradors for over 30 years, so his advice and opinion I would take over my vet if my vet's advice and opinion was different, which in this case it was not, as they both recommended to start swapping over to adult food at 4months. My 3 previous Lab pups have been swapped over to adult food from 4-6months, so I have never had a lab pup on puppy food for longer than 6months. Puppy buyers of pups from pet shops, byb's and puppyfarmers will probably not receive the correct advice if in fact any advice, so they would probably be more likely to adhere to the dryfood manufacturer's recommendations or recommendations from family/friends. I have placed this topic in general rather than in the Breeder's forum as I believe it will be helpful for other puppy owners who do not read the Breeder's forum. Edited November 21, 2010 by labsrule Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpikesPuppy Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 I believe there are many variables including individual puppy's needs, the variety of food being used, budget etc. With my Border Terrier puppies, I recommended people purchase a 3kg bag of Eagle Pack small breed puppy (what they were weaned onto) and once that ran out, transition to either Original or Natural. The Chicken and rice holistic is supposedly suited to all life stages for small and medium breeds so I also suggested if the preferred to purchase the largest bag first off this would be fine too. Our smooth collie was reared on Eagle Pack Power. She was transitioned to Natural at maybe 7 months because I was finding it made my male's coat greasy and it seemed a bit rich for her. If Power didn't have the negative (for these 2 dogs, my Border bitch was fine) we probably would have just kept using it as it's the most economical EP formula. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WreckitWhippet Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 What I recommend depends on the person buying the puppy, what they are going to feed and their experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussielover Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 Mindy will be on puppy food until 12-14 months old as per Guide Dogs instructions. I always thought you swap over to adult food when the dog had stopped growing? Apparently puppy food has a different calcium:phosphate ratio? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra777 Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 (edited) What I recommend depends on the person buying the puppy, what they are going to feed and their experience. Pretty much this. I don't use a lot of commercial but realise that some puppy buyers will. Depends on the dog a lot, different dogs of the same breed and even the same litter grow at different rates. IMO once the growth plates are closed puppyhood is pretty much over (in a growth sense obviously!) and a heavy quick maturing dog need quite different treatment to a lean, active slow maturer Edited November 21, 2010 by Sandra777 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
labsrule Posted November 21, 2010 Author Share Posted November 21, 2010 What I recommend depends on the person buying the puppy, what they are going to feed and their experience. Thats interesting. So when you say it depends on the person buying the puppy, do you mean that if a person experienced in your breed buys one of your puppies, then you would leave it up to them to decide when to swap them over if all or part of their pup's diet was going to be dry food. With regards to what they are going to feed, do you mean raw vs dry food or does it depend on the quality of the dry food i.e. supermarket brands vs premium/super premium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oakway Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 Mine are usually on aldult from 3 months of age. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WreckitWhippet Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 What I recommend depends on the person buying the puppy, what they are going to feed and their experience. Thats interesting. So when you say it depends on the person buying the puppy, do you mean that if a person experienced in your breed buys one of your puppies, then you would leave it up to them to decide when to swap them over if all or part of their pup's diet was going to be dry food. With regards to what they are going to feed, do you mean raw vs dry food or does it depend on the quality of the dry food i.e. supermarket brands vs premium/super premium. Yep it depends on their experience with the breed, feeding raw and the quality of the food. 2 of the current buyers wanted to go all raw. one feeding top of the range premium dry and meat on the bone, they are using an adult dry. Their raw is the major component of the diet, they also know what they are looking for with feet, pasterns, growth and development. There are a couple who are just starting out, they are using a premium dry, a little meat and will be staying on their puppy dry longer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheridan Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 What my first wheaten's (and Grumpy's) breeder recommended was to change over when he stopped eating the puppy food. I can't recall how old he was now but at one point he just went off the food. Weaned him onto adult and we were away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TsarsMum Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 wow im amazed how young people change them over. I did my old boy at 18months to 2 years (rotti) my pup now is a smaller size he is only a med size dog. i was thinking about the 12/18 month mark? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remarkabull Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 I've never fed puppy food for longer than 6-9 months. Includes breeds such as JRT and Dobermanns. I've been told by a number of people 'in the industry' that there is no real disadvantage to feeding regular or adult food instead of puppy food, as long as what you are feeding is either a premium dry or a well balanced raw diet. I stopped feeding my current Dobe puppy food when he was about 4 months old. He is growing beautifully, is well muscled and his breeders were extemely happy with how he is turning out the last time they saw him (about 6 weeks ago). I've never really understood the need for so many different options - puppy, lite, senior. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gayle. Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 I switched my latest puppy over to adult at around 6 months of age, purely because I switched to a better quality kibble and it's more convenient for me to have all the dogs on the same stuff. "Puppy" food is a relatively recent marketing tool, breeders and dog owners used to raise puppies on food that wasn't specifically made for puppies and most of them grew regardless. My puppy simply gets more food than the adult dogs. And I believe a top quality adult food is a much better diet than a cheap puppy kibble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lilli_star Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 My puppy simply gets more food than the adult dogs. And I believe a top quality adult food is a much better diet than a cheap puppy kibble. What if you already feed a top quality puppy kibble though? Ruby is almost 7 months old and I currently feed her RC Labrador Junior. I've just opened a 3kg bag, so I guess based on what's been posted so far, I should change to adult food when it's finished??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gayle. Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 My puppy simply gets more food than the adult dogs. And I believe a top quality adult food is a much better diet than a cheap puppy kibble. What if you already feed a top quality puppy kibble though? Ruby is almost 7 months old and I currently feed her RC Labrador Junior. I've just opened a 3kg bag, so I guess based on what's been posted so far, I should change to adult food when it's finished??? Just do what suits your dog, not what everyone else does. if the dog looks good, maintains a good weight and is healthy, then keep doing what you're doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Daisy Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 (edited) On my breeders recommendation and my own research I changed my Golden over to adult at 3 months with the dry food and kept up a good puppy can every second day till he was about 5 months (a couple of weeks ago). I want a slower growth from my puppy to help with his hips and adult food is lower in calories. There are a lot of differing opinions on diet and I think it really is an individual decision what you feed your dog. Edited November 21, 2010 by Crazy Daisy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mason_Gibbs Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 I swopped over to adult at 6 months... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancinbcs Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 In my breed they can stop growing in height any time from 6 - 18 months so I advise puppy buyers to switch when the dog starts to grow out rather than up. Once they start to gain weight and look more solid it is time to change, whatever age that happens to be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
labsrule Posted November 21, 2010 Author Share Posted November 21, 2010 My puppy simply gets more food than the adult dogs. And I believe a top quality adult food is a much better diet than a cheap puppy kibble. What if you already feed a top quality puppy kibble though? Ruby is almost 7 months old and I currently feed her RC Labrador Junior. I've just opened a 3kg bag, so I guess based on what's been posted so far, I should change to adult food when it's finished??? I would start transitioning her to adult food when you have approx a week's worth of the puppy food left so for a week you can combine both puppy food and adult and as the week progresses increase the quantity of the adult and decrease the quantity of the puppy food so that at the end of the week you can start her fully on the adult food. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
labsrule Posted November 21, 2010 Author Share Posted November 21, 2010 I believe there is concern about the higher protein content in puppy food than in adult food and this contributing to faster than desired growth rates, particularly in the larger breeds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissMonaro Posted November 22, 2010 Share Posted November 22, 2010 We also tell puppy buyers to switch them over between 4 to 5 months of age. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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