Switching from Puppy Food to Adult Food

LEO's mum · Post by **LEO's mum** » Mon Sep 25, 2006 7:50 pm

Our Baby Leonora will be 1yrs old come October 18th. She is now on Innova Puppy Kibbles. Her weight has been at 48-49-ish since she turned 6m/s. We weighed her yesterday and she was at 50.7lbs. Is it about time we switched to adult food? She has stopped gaining in weight but we think she is still "filling-in". It's interesting how different bits of body seems to grow at different times when in growth mode. I have been surfing the web and was wondering if Large Breed Puppy Formula would be good to bridge the gap till she is about 1.5~2yrs old. She likes the taste of Solid Gold WolfCub, but Innova Large Breed Puppy Formula looks good on paper, too. Have anyone got any experience with these foods? Also, I'd love to here your opinions on when to change over to adult food. Coat-wise, adult coat appearing on her tail & her back, and yes, she is blowing her puppy coat, now. The house is full of little loose fur balls, they have a nasty habit of finding places which they shouldn't find.

She doesn't look much different from the ChowFest Pictures, she still has the puppy look.

kiwani · Post by **kiwani** » Fri Sep 29, 2006 6:20 am

Growth rate slows at about nine months of age for Chows, and an important factor is whether muscle or fat is being built as adult body development continues. Looking at Leo from above, you'd want to see some tapering towards the waist. Looking at Leo from the side, you'd want to see some tuck-up in the waist area too. If the body looks blocky instead, it's time to change to the lower fat percentage adult formula, because the extra weight will contribute to joint problems.

The two different brands are my top two stand-bys. One is an anti-inflammatory holistic, and the other (Innova) is a premium food quality brand, but *not* an anti-inflammatory formula.

TXSusiQ · Post by **TXSusiQ** » Fri Sep 29, 2006 7:54 am

Our vet recommended we start swtiching Cabo over to adult food when he hit 6 months. He was almost 40 pounds around 4 months and is just very solid. The vet wasn't concerned about any fat just how solidly he is growing.

My baby is a house!!

xueshuxin · Post by **xueshuxin** » Mon Oct 02, 2006 8:37 pm

6 mths to switch food?

Songsong is 11 mths and I intend to switch when he's 1 year old. The package of food says so...

Don't know which is more correct; anyway it's only 1 mth left, so I'll just wait until then.

redangie24 · Post by **redangie24** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 4:55 am

Depends are your dog and his growth. If he is full grown and filled out (not fat) then it is time to change. For chows it can be between 9 mo. and 2 years. It is generally around 1 year. But for the final word ask your vet he can tell you if he is ready. I would guess not at 6 months, but I am not looking at your pup nor do I have knowlege of his parents sizes and builds.

TXSusiQ · Post by **TXSusiQ** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 6:33 am

Yeah Cabo is very solid - I doubt he's full grown yet plus I don't think we'll have him completely switched in the next month. We're still at half and half and are doing that for about a month before we take it up to 75 and 25 and then another month till we hit 100% adult so he'll be almost 8 months when that happens.

LEO's mum · Post by **LEO's mum** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 12:02 pm

Well, LEO has very good appetite these days, and we were starting to wonder if she is going to get too flabby. She still has a bit of a waist looking from the top & side. Spaying probably does not help in the getting fat department either... I was hoping that adult foods would have less calories so she can eat more & stay lean.

I got her a bag of Innova Adult as well as Puppy, and started to mix in 1/3 of a cup. I was quite surprised to see that it has more calories per cup than Puppy. It just means she'd have 2cups of it rather than 2.3cups of Puppy, I suppose, per day.... So eating more and loosing weight don't work for dogs, either.... bummer!!

Surfing the web, I was surprised to find that quite a lot of people recommend rotating food from time to time, for a more "balanced" diet. In the time it takes to get a dog used to the new food, do those people have 2 kinds of dog food every 2-3months in their household? Either they buy small bags like me and shop every week or have large larders

I suppose dogs that are used to some variety, like getting a little bit of meat or kibbles(the trial pack ones) for treat have easier time adjusting to new food?

For future reference, I was reading up on "Karma" the 95% organic food under the same company as Innova brand, "Organix" & "Newmans Own". For the time being, I'll stick w/ Innova. Organix & Newman's are easier to get at WholeFoods. Karma, one has to look up for suppliers on their net. A real Posh-Nosh. I try to eat organic but can't 100% , as I eat out, too. I wonder if the dogs are fed better quality food than humans in the households that gets those organic brands.....

Tovya · Post by **Tovya** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 12:38 pm

Magda at five months refuses to eat her puppy food.

She'll choose Chuy's holistic adult formula every time. She continues to grow and is very active and quite solid so, I'm not worrying very much.

LuLu33 · Post by **LuLu33** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 4:40 pm

Bailey is 6 months old and is 37 pounds. Don't know if that helps. I was planning on switching at a year just always thought that was about the end of puppyhood for growth but I really don't know. I agree it probably depends on the dog.