How long to eat puppy food?

My husband and I will be first time Corgi owners in late January. Not only is this our first Corgi, but our first puppy! We are excited as can be, but can't help but be a little nervous. We want to be prepared as possible so we can give our puppy Reggie, the best home and life possible.

A question we keep asking is, how long should our Corgi be on puppy food? We will be getting him at 9 weeks old. We've read that because of weight management a puppy might need to transition over to adult food earlier than other breeds. If so when do we make the switch? How long should Reggie be on puppy food?

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Permalink Reply by Anna Morelli on December 17, 2013 at 12:02pm

He doesn't need to be on puppy food at all. He should stay on whatever food he has been given by the breeder for a 3 or 4 wk. period, while he adjusts to all the other changes he has to deal with. Then you can transition him to a good quality "all life stages" dog food. ( three meals a day until 4 or 5 months of age is what I generally advise for pups).

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Permalink Reply by Jane on December 17, 2013 at 5:28pm

Usually an ALS or large breed puppy formula is recommended for corgis to keep them from growing too quickly.

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Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on December 17, 2013 at 6:41pm

I agree good quality ALS or the large breed puppy is fine too. Slowly transition starting with 1/4 or less new food per meal for a week then 1/2 and 1/2 then 3/4 to 1/4th. You could start giving the pup a "treat" with the new food sooner.

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Permalink Reply by Beth on December 17, 2013 at 9:34pm

I'd still feed a large breed puppy food rather than ALS. There's no clear cut answer. I do know that there is usually DHA added to puppy food, which is not in ALS unless it's fish-based food.

http://www.thedogdaily.com/dish/dha_puppy/index.html#axzz2nn2acYSK

There are slight differences in other nutrient levels as well. Just don't get a high fat/high protein "small breed" puppy formula; Corgis don't need it.

I'd feed til around 6 to 9 months.

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Permalink Reply by Grace on December 17, 2013 at 10:00pm

What protein/fat content would you consider high?

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Permalink Reply by Beth on December 17, 2013 at 10:50pm

I'd stick around 25% protein for a Corgi puppy. Not sure about fat but it's usually in a certain proportion to protein I think.

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Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on December 18, 2013 at 10:33am

24-25% is fine. I would feed till at least a year if feeding large breed puppy food then switch to ALS. If ALS continue to feed always. Corgis don't mature till almost 2:)

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Permalink Reply by Tori on December 18, 2013 at 12:52pm

When Winston was a puppy, we switched him from his breeder's food, which was Purina One Puppy Chow, over to Solid Gold Hundchen Flocken puppy food, which is for large-breed puppies. His coat was bright and shiny and he really loved eating it. He did really well on it and when he was around a year old, I switched him over to Blue Buffalo.

Solid Gold Hundchen Flocken if you wanna see it. If it matters to you, it earned 4 out of 5 stars on the dog food advisor site.

Now Winston is eating Fromm's and still doing very well. I love that his coat is super soft and the colors are very deep, if that makes sense.

Congrats on the new puppy coming in January~! Make sure you take a lot of pictures to share with us; they grow up and change so quickly, you'll be surprised when you look back a year later!