How long should you keep a puppy on puppy food?

Question

My puppies seem to be losing interest in their Eukanuba puppy food but will go crazy to try and get my grown dogs adult Eukanuba. How old should they be?

Answer 1

Puppy food is totally uneccessary, although a good marketing ploy for pet food manufacturers. It is to 'hot' for many puppies and can lead to structural problems. I have used it for the first month or so after weaning, under careful watch of the puppies development. It really isn't neccessary, I just really liked that particular food.

I even had an upper level employee of a pet food manufacturer admit this to me.

Answer 2

Switch her NOW to a higher quality puppy food! Purina is a low quality dog food! You can use, Chicken Soup for the Puppy Lover's Soul, diamond Puppy food, Nutra, and many others that are much better! When you do switch brands do not forget to do it gradually to prevent stomach upset and diarrhea. Use about 3/4 of the old brand mixed with 1/4 of the new for about 3 day. Then 50/50 the next few day and so on until you are just using the new brand of puppy food. Keep her on puppy food for at least a year! Good Luck and Congratulations! *;*

Answer 3

You should keep your puppy on puppy food for a year. They need the higher calories, calcium etc in the pup food.
I laughed at this question because my puppy does the same thing. The adult food smells a little different than the puppy food so they think they are getting something different. My puppy likes to steal a nibble from the older dog's dishes and then runs away with it like she's getting away with something.

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Answer 4

First of all puppy food isn't a marketing ploy but there is definitely a difference between feeding a low grade food like Eukanuba and a high quality puppy food like Innova.

There are a couple things to know. First, puppy food should generally be fed to small breed dogs until they are about 8-9mths old, med breed dogs until they are about 12-14mths old and large breed puppies can be as long as 24mths. This is to ensure that they have finished growing completely.

One of the interesting things about food that probably 99% of people do not realize is that almost ALL pet food companies put more calories, fat, protein, and carbs in their puppy foods then their adult formulas. This pushes the puppies to grow extremely fast and is one of leading reasons why large breed dogs have such huge problems with their joints and poor development.

Innova (Natura Pet Foods) is one of the only companies in the world that has acknowledged this harmful effect of food and actually produces their puppy food with less calories and fat and slightly more protien (for strong muscles) so that the puppies that eat their food grow at more gradual, healthy rate.

Ingredient wise, Innova is by far the best quality food on the market but it is for reasons like this that they are actually also the best company. They take it seriously the fact that the majority of pet food companies don't realize that they are the prime reason for the largest portion of illnesses in our animals.

So, my suggestion to you is to first find a higher quality puppy food, my first recommendation being Innova. If you can't find Innova, look for similar products like Wellness, Canidae, Solid Gold, Fromm, etc. Then go by the feeding chart guidelines for how long you should feed it to you dog.

Good luck!

Answer 5

The general rule is til they are a year old. Now, for smaller breeds, there are really at their full size at 8 -9 mos of age, so you could take them off then, larger breeds really need the extra calories that are in puppy food until they are 1 8 mos old, as they keep growing past the 1 year mark. Your puppies probably just want what the "big" dogs are getting - just like any other little kid that wants to sit at the adult table

Answer 6

First of all puppy food is not a marketing ploy. It is important to have your puppy on puppy food because it has the proper vitamins and nutrients a puppy needs to grow properly. Puppies and adult dogs need different nutrients.

It should say on the bag of food how long they should be on it. I feed my puppies, Iams Smart Puppy for large breeds and on the bag it says up to 24 months old. I think every brand is different. My brother feeds his dogs Iams too but his isn't for large dogs and on the bag it says up to 12 months old. I know the large breed dog food is supposed to slow down their growth so they don't grow too fast and end up with hip dysplasia or rickets.

Answer 7

Adult food won't hurt them but there are better brands than Eukanuba.
Our pets need quality pet food. Read the ingredients list and learn what the stuff on there is and what it does (or does not do) to/for our pets. A quick pet food 101. If the pet food contains corn/corn products or by products it is a poor quality food. Do not pay attention to advertising, they all say there food is great. Corn is a filler that can trigger skin problems. (allergies, skin problems, itching and excessive shedding) By products is anything from an animal not fit for human consumption, including cancerous tissue. Quality foods have meat as the first ingredient. California Natural, Solid Gold, Innova and Merrick are a few of the best brands available. If you want to learn more check out: http://www.sagekeep.com/petfood.htm www.api4animals.org/facts?p=359&more=1 http://animalark.eapps.com/animal/PetFoods.nsf/$$PetFoodsByRating?OpenForm

Answer 8

Most puppies can be changed to adult dog food between 9 months and one year. If they are still on the young side, try switching them to a different brand. But remember to do it slowly--a little more new to a little less old over the course of a week or so. Same goes for switching to adult, do it slowly.

Answer 9

depending the breed dog, sometimes has different needs per the puppy food aspects.
but on the norm, most puppies are not needing the puppy foods after 6 mos, and can go to adult dog foods. some professionals say even up to a year. but for nutrition needs - puppy food is needed for at least the 6 mos, to ensure proper digestion/bone/growth needs.

Answer 10

I am feeding my dogs (1 year) puppy food now, but when their bag runs out I'll start them on adult food. I would reccommend puppy food until a year just for their nutrients while they are growing.