When is the right time to change my 9 month old dog's food?

Question

I want to know if we still need to feed her the puppy food (ALPO) or change it to adult food?

Answer 1

The time is now. Change her to a high quality food.

Puppy food is actually bad for puppies.

Explanation as to why puppy food is BAD for puppies, especially large breed pups: It contains WAY MORE protein than needed. It causes rapid growth, rapid growth then leads to future bone and joint problems. Feeding a high quality all stages food will promote a more desired slow growth, and thus lessen the chances of bone and joint problems later. Puppies should grow up slowly, not spring up like weeds.

In my opinion "puppy" foods should only be fed to pregnant and lactating dogs who actually can use all that extra protein and calcium.

Nothing you find at a grocery store is going to be a good food. High quality foods can be found at large pet store chains, or online. A couple of foods I like are Nutro Natural, Innova, Innova Evo and Cannidae.

There are other high quality dog foods. Here's how to spot them:

A high quality food will have little or no fillers such as corn, wheat or soy. These aren't very digestable for dogs, and are common food related allergens. Since you were seeing corn meal in the first few ingredients, those are not high quality foods. Foods list ingredients by content, with the ingredient it contains most of at the top.

A high quality food will not contain BHT, BHA or Ethoxyquin, these are all chemical preservatives that have been linked to cancer.

A high quality food will not contain by-products of any kind. Meat meals are ok as long as the source of the meat is listed, such as Chicken Meal.

A high quality diet should have meat as at least the first ingredient., and be made from human grade ingredients. Foods that don't use human grade ingredients often get their ingredients from less than desirable sources, such as meat from animals that were diseased, or euthanized.

There is another diet option other than dog food. Some people choose to feed a raw diet. This involves feeding the dog raw meaty bones and organ meat. However it is not as simple as throwing a couple chicken bones in a bowl everyday. If you wish to feed this type of diet, do lots and lots of research first. Switching to this diet without knowing what your doing can lead to nutritional problems for your dog. I'll give you some links as a starting point in research if you are interested in this type of diet.

http://www.willowglen.com/barf.htm.........

http://www.bestfrisbeedogs.com/diets.htm...

http://www.rawlearning.com/rawfaq.html.....

http://www.rawfed.com/myths/index.html.....

http://www.rawdogranch.com

What's Really In Pet Food
http://www.api4animals.org/facts?p=359&m...

Answer 2

Blue Buffalo has been recalled, so stay away from it at this time. Feeding home cooked for a dog can work very well and solve some intestinal and allergy problems, however it isn't easy to get the correct nutritional balance, so unless you calculate vitamin, mineral,protein,and carbohydrates for your size dog, I would not attempt it without professional guidance. Get some beef broth, no salt, de fatted, warm it and add it to a good quality kibble (not pedigree) that has NO corn, wheat, soy, or by-products, and only one protein source listed first on the ingredient label. Put it down and leave it for 10 minutes, unless she is actively eating. If she refuses it, pick it up and save it in the refrigerator until next mealtime. Do not feed anything else, no treats, nothing but plain water until she is due to eat again. Only save the food for one more feeding, then toss it and start over. No healthy dog has ever starved to death when food is available, but sometimes you have to train them with a hardened heart. Been there and done that 3 times, and I know it isn't fun, however it will work and both of you will be happier in the long run. This may take several days, so don't give up.

Answer 3

First of all I would stay away from Alpo. Get her some quality food like Nutro or Eukanuba. Grocery store brands don't offer much nutrition.
Gradually ween her from the old food. Normally I would say that you should wait until she's a year, but since she's not getting good nutrition now, just make the switch gradually. Trust me, you will notice how much better she looks and feels once she's eating good stuff!

Answer 4

Depends on the breed. I have large breed dogs so it was around this time I started to switch them over to adult food. Alpo isn't the best food to give a dog.
I love Nutro foods and they come in many breed specific types.
The best person to ask is your vet.

Answer 5

You should be the one to decide your puppy's growth pattern.. If they grow too fast then you could have some joint problems. Alpo and Purina products have a lot of fat in them and so puppies grow a bit too fast for some people.

I like to watch mine very carefully. If I take them off puppy food prior to that year period then I will supplement with raw egg & plain yogurt (the fat free has more calcium).

The growth of my dogs is one of my upmost concerns as I train in dog sports.
The growth of your dog should be yours too = just because you want the best for your growing puppy.

GOOD LUCK
(hope this helps)

Answer 6

You may want to read the bag of the dog food on when to change to the adult food. Also when changing the food, I would say to try to mix both together... half a serving each... To get the dog used to the new food....

Answer 7

There should be a label on the back says "FOR ALL PUPPIES UNDER 12 MONTHS" or something.
But if you do change it, change it gradually maybe mix the adult food with the puppy food.

Answer 8

last dog changed him at about a year - try getting him a better quality food than ALPO ...though

Answer 9

I should say on the bag, but if I remember correctly it was 12-14 months. My dogs 12 so its hard to remember when we switched her over.