Pong just turned one...question ab food

[ccyang]

Hi everyone,

I have a mini dilemma that I hope you chow experts can help me....
Pong just turned one year old on Sept 21
Last time I checked...around 2months ago, his weight was around 64lbs.
Since we got him at around 6 weeks old, we always fed him Royal Canin medium size puppy food.
I read that once the puppy turns one year old, he has to start eating adult (medium size dog) food.

When I went to the pet store yesterday, the lady told me no....to keep feeding him puppy food for another 6 months (she didn't even see Pong and asked what category of dog size is a chow chow).

My question to you is how long should I keep feeding my baby puppy food? Or is it time to change to adult food?
Also, my second question is......is pong considered medium size, even though it says on the label medium size dogs is up to 55lbs only.

Hope you guys can help me with this....
Thank you, any advice is greatly appreciated!!!!

[Merlin]

Actually, it's just the opposite.
He should have been off puppy food months ago.
By 6 months dogs should get off puppy food.

[Victory]

Boy are you going to get all kinds of advice here on this one. I kept Dreamdancer on puppy food for a year, in fact every now and then I put him back on puppy food, Firesong too and she's almost 10, but my chows are very high energy and have a habit of being underweight. I try to feed them more, 3 cubs a day as opposed to 2-2.5 but they won't eat more so I have to feed them higher calories, and puppy food has higher calories.

At one year of age you can switch him to adult food, be aware though that although he's "grown" being a big male, (64lbs he's a big boy) he's still growing inside, and he'll add bone and muscle to his chest and hips and legs over the next 1-2 years. He'll most likely top out at around 70lbs or so. He will still qualify as a "medium" size dog, that range is so broad, from about 40lbs up to 75-80.

Ya know quite frankly I hate feeding chows, they are picky eaters, have allergies and they are in a weird weight class. And tomorrow I'm going to go and get my two 10 more pounds of their Merrick Wilderness blend

[kingalls]

You'll probably get a variety of advice...I kept my 2 on puppy formula until they were about year old.

[Merlin]

The reason ( and there is always a reason), to wean puppies off commerial dog foods at 6 months is because most if not many contain growth hormones and are geared towards promoting your dog to grow fast. This alone is a prime reason not to give these products to your dogs for any great length of time. There are some brand names that actually do advertise "slow growth" .

People need to learn to read packages and learn to fully understand what they are putting into their dogs when they subscribe to commercial foods.
Puppy food is just that.... food for babies and at 6 months your chow isn't really considered a little baby anymore, but to each his own.

Certainly an adult should never have puppy food. it's far too high in purines and can cause kidney/bladder problems.

[ccyang]

Hi again!
Thank u for the comments so far. I was already thinkin to start feeding him adult food. Considering that i just purchased a huge bag of puppy food, i think ill go buy another bag of adult formula.....and start blending the two. Or at least, change formula everyday so he has time to adjust to his new food.

I just dont want him to become overweight if i feed him puppy formula for too long. Also, i fear the opposite....pong not growin well if i switch him to adult food while hes still growin.

[Tsunami22]

I don't know what's right or wrong and I'm definitely no expert on the subject but, our vet recc'd that we stay on puppy food for a year and then switch over.

I've never heard anyone that recc'd staying on puppy food for a year and a half other than special circumstances (such as Victory's slightly underweight dogs).

You seem to have a pretty big boy so you could probably switch him over.

I don't mean to impose, and I hope I don't offend, but:

When I first got my pup and asked everyone else about different kinds of foods I was told that Royal Canin isn't that good. When I looked it up myself I was surprised that it wasn't recommended and that it was only a "2 star food" on a review site I go to.

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food ... all/page/1

So, I worried about it for awhile and searched and searched for a good puppy food that was within my price range. Some of the foods that are higher rated or that I was hearing highly about were just out of my price range. I haven't REALLY heard much about the food that I eventually chose but websites placed it really highly, the list of ingredients sounded good to me, and it was practically the same price as the Royal Canin. I switched to Blue buffalo large breed (so as not to make her grow too fast and cause possible bone or joint issues).

So, if you're going to be switching dog foods anyways, I'd recommend looking into different brands? Reviews and prices and what you want for your dog. Maybe Royal Canin *will* be best for you or maybe, like me, you'll realize that it's mostly just a really pretty bag that I wanted to buy.

[ccyang]

hi tsunami22,

thanx for your posting. Im not offended at all...In fact, Im very glad of how informative it is.
You know, the reason why we always fed my lil Pong Royal Canin...its because thats what the breeder suggested when we got him at 6weeks old. Considering that she claims shes been breeding chows for the past 20yrs and that Pong is our first chow, I took her advice. I did read some postings on this forum about what type of food other chow owners feed their babies, I read that a lot of you feed them Solid Gold. I live in Montreal (Quebec, Canada)...and I havent been able to find it. Also, I must admit that the reason why I stayed with Royal Canin....is because I kinda got scarred with some stories about how many chows got allergic reactions with different food types. And because Pong has always been great with Royal Canin, I played it safe. I guess youre right, I should check into changing brand coz Im already changing from puppy to adult food.
Do you live in Canada too?
Is there any chow owners living in Canada who may suggest some brands?

thanx again!!!!

[Judy Fox]

Our two girlies, Matilda and Maisie were 1 yr. old at the end of September and we started to give them their "Big Girl Food" on their birthday!! This is what our vet advised.

[ccyang]

Hi again....
So im undecided between orijen adult and solid gold wolf king. Based on dog food analysis' website mentionned previously...i bought orijen to try it out. Its supposed to be a 6* , love the no grain part....But im worried ab the high protein. As for solid gold, read its only a 4* and there is some grain and also might not have sufficient meat/protein. Also states that the ingredient used as fish preservative is used.
I know most of u seem to feed their babies solid gold, but do u think its a better choice even when comparing to orijen?
Ur comments are highly appreciated

[KAPIAS]

my rosebud is 10.5 years old(the love of my life,as well as her brothers) she has arthritis and has started being even more picky than ever! she eats, has eaten, purina pro plan with chicken and rice most of her life. now she won't eat it without some canned food. the vet tells me she shouldn't have any meat maybe a tablespoon a week. she is loosing weight and i am at a loss on what to do for her.would puppy food help?

thank you
kapias