When to switch from puppy to dog formula food

So I bought a GIANT bag of Purina Pro Dry Puppy food right before I did some research on food. Ugh! I was so mad at myself. Anyway, at 6 and a half months old, we're finally starting to run low, and I want to make a switch. We have a dachshund that's on Purina Pro Adult (which is also low) and I want to switch him too. I don't know if I can afford 2 separate high quality dog foods at the same time (Adult and Puppy). If I'm getting a high quality adult dog food, is it ok for Ein to be on it at 6.5 months or should I wait another 6 months and keep her on a puppy formula? What are the differences between puppy and adult formula foods?

The adult dry dog food I'm looking into getting are Castor and Pollux Organix, Orijen Six Fish, or Blue Buffalo Wilderness.

Thanks, Heather

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Permalink Reply by Lauren on April 3, 2011 at 3:05pm

I personally switched Caius around 7-months-old. It was over a gradual course, but I'm satisfied with the purchase. I bought Halo Spot’s Stew Adult Wholesome Chicken Recipe.

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Permalink Reply by Jane on April 3, 2011 at 3:16pm

It would be fine to switch her to an adult food now, some breeders don't recommend even using a puppy food at all for corgis. You could also look into an all life stages food if you don't want to switch her to a regular adult food yet. I would just be cautious switching over to the higher protein foods, just buy a small bag and transition slowly to make sure it agrees with both of your dogs. Some of those foods are just too rich for some to handle.

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Permalink Reply by The Geek's Wife & her Corgi Ein on April 3, 2011 at 3:28pm

Yeah, the food I'm looking at have high marks, but are also a lot higher in protein than what they're used to. In addition to transitioning into the new food, I think I'm going to plan on giving them less of the higher protein food and adding some fresh and frozen veggies to their diet. Especially for our dachshund who has a small amount of weight to lose. Ein on the other hand, is my lean, mean, silly machine. She weighed in at 17.4 lbs on Friday.

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Permalink Reply by The Geek's Wife & her Corgi Ein on April 3, 2011 at 3:37pm

Does anyone have any suggestion on how to make transitioning foods work. When I attempted to transition our dachshund last time, he wanted nothing to do with the old food. When I mixed the 2 together, he would sort through every little piece and get the new ones an leave the old one. It became a battle of wills, and sadly I gave in and just stopped the transition and started giving him all new food. Should I just not give in and leave the old food in his bowl until it's gone, then mix it again for the following serving. Ein will eat Philo's food, so we have to keep his food in another room and we'll let him in that room as much as he wants (which is usually 3 times a day), but we only put food in his bowl twice a day. He rarely finishes a whole serving in one sitting, so there seems to be food in his bowl 14 hours a day. Any tips or suggestions on this is appreciated.

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Permalink Reply by Melissa and Franklin! on April 3, 2011 at 5:39pm

I switched Franklin from puppy food around 6 months and he has done great. He has been on a grain-free food for about a year now (Blue Buffalo Wilderness first and now Taste of the Wild). I've found that this entire time he has been grain free he has formed but soft stool. I recently added Hills T/D (dental diet) to his food, only about 4 big kibble morning and night, and his poo is perfect now! I think he just needed some grain in his diet to firm things up. He's doing great now and his teeth look better already :-)

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Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on April 3, 2011 at 5:39pm

You can either feed large breed puppy food or look at the protein content of adult food.He should not be on high protein due to he is considered a large breed pup. I feed all life stages but use the salmon because it is lower in protein (24%) instead of the 29-32% I feed my adults. There are many discussions you can check out on this:)There are many good ones out there that both your dogs can share")

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Permalink Reply by The Geek's Wife & her Corgi Ein on April 3, 2011 at 6:07pm

OMG Why does this have to be so hard. I'm starting to get a headache. All of the foods I was looking at seem to be grain free with a protein content of 30% or higher. So I guess all of those are out. Ugh!

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Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on April 3, 2011 at 7:06pm

Taste of the Wild has the salmon at 24% protein:)

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Permalink Reply by The Geek's Wife & her Corgi Ein on April 3, 2011 at 9:05pm

Thanks for the info. I chose Blue Buffalo cause I can get a bigger bag and cheaper off of Amazon.com. I was looking into Taste of the Wild though cause it had good marks too.

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Permalink Reply by Melissa and Franklin! on April 3, 2011 at 9:52pm

TOTW is actually consistently cheaper than Blue Buffalo. Generally Blue is around $45ish for a 24 pound bag where TOTW is around $40 for a 30 pd bag. That's why I switched brands, because it was the same or better food for a cheaper price