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Permalink Reply by Susan and Merlin on July 17, 2009 at 9:27am

I've always kept my smaller dogs on puppy food until they're a year old since they're still growing.

Honestly, there's no reason for a dog to get fat just because it was fixed. Exercise and monitoring the amount of food consumed will take care of it. :)

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Permalink Reply by Sam Tsang on July 17, 2009 at 10:06am

1 year, puppy food supposed to have more nutrient for growth. Weight gain is caused by a combo of overfed and lack of exercise. Make sure you mix in the old food with the new for a few days when you make the transition :)

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Permalink Reply by Marion and Vern on July 17, 2009 at 9:02pm

We have left Sami on her puppy food. What with being spayed and all one less upset at this time, although she still thinks she went on a sleep over when she was spayed. Her incision is healed up and she hasn't slowed down a bit. As has been said it is the amount of food and exercise or lack of that will cause them to put on the pounds or keep the proper weight. Our vet told us that one pound over weight puts about 6 to 8 pounds of pressure on joints, never realized it could be that bad.

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Permalink Reply by Beth on July 17, 2009 at 10:01pm

My pup's breeder said to switch at one year, my vet said it's ok to switch at 6 months, so I split the difference and switched at about 10 months. Read your labels; we used a large breed puppy food at the advice of the breeder, to prevent overly rapid growth, and it turned out the nutrition in the adult food was not really all that different from the puppy food. Still, I'd keep her on it for a few more months.

There are some studies that show that spayed/neutered dogs gain weight more easily, and other studies that show they don't, so I suppose the jury is out. But at this age, her main caloric consumption is going into growing and not hormones anyway, so weight gain should not be a problem. Just watch her condition. At nearly 6 months she probably should not carry puppy pudge any longer.

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Permalink Reply by Potus on July 18, 2009 at 12:23am

Our vet advised us that we should switch to adult food when our Corgi, Potus, was 3/4 of his full size. He's been on adult food for a couple of months now and he's about 10 months old now. Although he was the largest of his litter and was a fast grower!

He was desexed when he was young, around 4 or 5 months, so he continued on puppy food after his "little operation".

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Permalink Reply by Amanda on July 18, 2009 at 1:40pm

I kept Dax on puppy food until he was a year old. As it's already been said, they're still growing and need their nutrition. If you notice she's getting a little hefty, just cut back on her food a little or replace some of her kibble with green beans, I've heard that works well although I've never tried it myself. Dax is a year and 4 months old and he gets 3/4 cup twice a day, which is probably too much for some dogs, but he's extremely active, so he stays thin and muscular. :) If I notice him starting to put on some weight, I'll cut back some. Of course even with that much food a day, he always stands at his bowl and looks at me with those pitiful "I'm hungry" eyes...don't they all?

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Permalink Reply by Cindi on July 18, 2009 at 4:12pm

We kept ours on puppy food until a year. It is relatively easy to maintain their weight if you watch how much you feed and give them appropriate exercise. (Kinda like people!) Corgi pups are not considered "large breed" but some vets choose that because of the heaviness of their bone structure. Personally, I'm more concerned that they get enough protein for muscle mass to cover that bone structure. I'd swap over at 11 months, giving yourself a couple of weeks to wean from one food to another.

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Permalink Reply by Karen & Bailey on July 18, 2009 at 11:43pm

i switched bailey at about 8 months. Bailey was growing like a weed, and we wanted to control it a bit. We also heard that its better to switch earlier to avoid hip problems since extra growing nutrients (which puppy food hasa lot of) combined with lots of exercise at a young age can wear down the hip socket. That's because their bones aren't fully developed, so fast growth + exercise = higher chance of bone issues due to excessive movement !

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Permalink Reply by Boo Buchheit on July 19, 2009 at 7:08am

Many believe that puppy food is not necessary at any time. I know breeders who never feed puppy formula as it can cause an imbalance in muscle and bone growth. Good quality, all life stage food is what they recommend. I fed Leo and Randy Purina puppy chow until I switched to Blue Buffalo. They both eat Blue adult formula now and seem to be doing well.

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