[GA labman]

I think I saw some one mention in a post about feeding adult food at an earlier age. Would some one be so kind as to tell me a little more about this? And also suggest a good age to put my puppy on adult food.

 

[Nicki White]

I don't know what others will say, but my vet told me to switch to an adult large breed dog food at 8 mos. (He said bone growth is essentially complete at 8 mos).

This will be interesting to see what others think about this.

Nicki

 

[GA labman]

Thanks, I hope this doesnt start any fuss or anything. I am kinda new at this and really trying to learn all I can. I get on here everyday, I hope I dont come across as a lurker. But I believe a fella trying to learn should keep his mouth shut and his ears open

 

[ErinsEdge]

The dog should have gone through the rapid growth period so at least until 6-8 months. The reasoning behind it is if a dog is placed on adult food and is in a rapid growth stage it MAY consume more of a lower protein/calorie/fat adult food than he would a large breed puppy food and therefore would consume more calcium which can lead to joint problems. Prior to large breed puppy foods, people were advised to switch to adult food early because regular puppy food was too high in protein and fat and they got too heavy because of additional food especially with lack of exercise. If your dogs are exercised properly everyday you could have them on performance and have no problems. I have also fed puppy to dogs up until a year or more depending on the dog. I too feed according to the dog, meaning less active dogs go on adult maintenance and more active on performance. I also adjust my adult dogs according to weight.

 

[hxman]

Not me, I switch him around the 1 year mark......

 

[Emily Faith]

For us, we let the individual pup dictate when the switch occurs, but never before 6 months. Once they don't seem to be growing anymore and start to fill out, we make the switch.

 

[R Williams]

dog food and hip problems

I feed a large breed puppy food until eight months old after that the important thing is not to feed a dog to much and create a overweight problem.
Feed a quality food in the proper amount (keep your dog lean as opposed to heavy) and you should be fine as long as there is not a preexisting condition.

 

[Noah]

Dr. Ed has posted a couple of times that he feeds 30/20 Premium food from "cradle to grave". If you compare the statistics on 30/20 premium to a good puppy food they are quite similar. I am doing it with my present litter and they are doing great. However, as the professor mentioned, the key is to keep them lean as they age.

 

[tom]

To much of any food can lead to problems
Fat rolly-polly puppy = displastic adult
think about what happens with pelvic bone formation when the puppy is fat and it is easy to see what can happen.

I do so after one 40 lb bag after 7 weeks - or about 3-4 months of age.

We have been doing the same thing since the 50s and have never had a displastic dog.

tom

 

[Keith Farmer]

I have several OFA'd dogs that have started on a 31/21 blend from the get-go. The adult food I feed is, in my opinion, the best available...why would I feed my developing pups anything else. Further, I excercise my pups along side the adults. I have two 8 month old pups now that can hang with any three-five year old in my kennel in terms of swimming or running and stamina!

Skip the propaganda...feed a quality food, excercise them very hard, and monitor the waste...the best three nutritional tips I have.

 

[Misty Marsh]

I think that you may be talking about a post I made awhile ago in regards to the right time to switch to adult food. I read some good information on this topic on the Eagle pack website. I think that you have to keep in mind that they are talking about a very poor quality of food which resulted in the development problems. With that said, I personally believe that a pup needs certian nutrients in the growth phase up to 1 year of age.

 

[lablover]

My vet, and others I've talked to, and many dog food companies state that the pups are still growing until about 1 year of age. And many recommend feeding the large breed puppy chows during that time. I'm speaking only of retrievers here.

 

[potshot]

From everything I have read, the science behind the large breed puppy formulas makes sense. it's about the calcium and phosphorus levels. I keep my labs on large breed puppy eukanuba until one year old, then i make the switch to Eukanuba large breed premium performance.

 

[wetdogs]

I keep my pups on the ELBP until the adult teeth are in, then I switch them to whatever adult food I'm feeding the rest.

 

[KwickLabs]

And the right thing to do is? How could anyone pick the right thing to do from the info provided on this thread? Anecdotal validation does little for me. Cite a definitive scientific study that can be reserached. Please?

Frankly, if you carefully select well bred pups with excellent health clearances, properly feed quality food (without going the large breed puppy food route) and you've never had a problem with hips, that is not scientific evidence.

Keith you seem to have at least cited some data. Who did the study? Where can it be researched? Thanks.

 

[ErinsEdge]

I think those studies are what prompted the lower protein/fat and the development of large breed puppy formulas. I think the current Eukanuba small breed puppy is the old formulation for the "regular" puppy food back then. I have some studies here: http://www.working-retriever.com/library/chd6696.html
http://www.ilovemypet.com/jackart.html. This is an article relating to the exercise component and it's importance supporting feeding performance feeds. http://www.showdogsupersite.com/hips.html
The exercise component is probably more important that the choice of the formula fed to pups if the calcium is about 1%, and genetics are probably most important since there are people who don't feed puppy food and there are others that do and both report no dysplasia if the dogs are exercised properly and they research the pedigrees.