when to switch to adult food?

Any advice on when to switch from a puppy kibble to an adult? My puppy is now 8 months and 20 lbs and is on wellness puppy food, about 1.5 a day split into 2 feedings.

Do you make the switch based on age or weight?

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Permalink Reply by Sky and Lyla on August 20, 2010 at 9:08pm

He is certainly old enough to switch to adult food. I know many, many really good breeders who recommend never feeding adult food after 2-3 months old.

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Permalink Reply by Beth on August 20, 2010 at 10:33pm

Our breeder said to switch at one year and the vet said six months, so we split the difference and switched around 9 months or so.

If it were me, I would finish off the current bag and when it's about three-quarters gone, gradually start mixing in the adult food.

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Permalink Reply by Elizabeth, Hermione and Luna on August 20, 2010 at 10:46pm

Our vet said that the newest thinking among vets is that puppy food is TOO high calorie and that keeping puppies on the puppy food for too long produces overweight dogs. Our vet had us switch to adult food at 6 months. You would want to consult your own vet, I imagine, but that's what our vet recommended and we trust him very much.

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Permalink Reply by Vee Luther on August 20, 2010 at 10:54pm

So when I make the switch I should feed him referencing his weight, right? The older dogs weigh 28 and 30 pounds and get .5 cup a.m. and p.m. , if I switch the 20 lb puppy, should I feed him about the same? They are very, very active. I do supplement the kibble with the usual: green beans, carrots, yougurt, an egg a week, etc.

right now the puppy is getting a total of 1.5 cups per day and that's a third more than the adult dogs....advice on amounts? I'm feeding wellness but will gradually transition to the smartpak version of wellness (chicken and brown rice)

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Permalink Reply by Beth on August 20, 2010 at 11:12pm

If his weight is good, I would keep him on about the same amount of food he's eating now, and just monitor him closely. If he starts putting on pudge, then cut him back a bit. He'll continue to grow and fill out. I think we had Jack on larger portions til he was around a year old or so.

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Permalink Reply by Monica, Orion, and Laika on August 20, 2010 at 10:59pm

20 pounds at 8 months.... Orion is 20 pounds at 5 months.... your dog's weight confirms my thoughts that Orion quite possibly will be huge. Anyways, my vet recommends switching at around 8-9 months but she said you can as early as 6 or 7 months if you want

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Permalink Reply by Vee Luther on August 20, 2010 at 11:12pm

Well, I had one tri that weighed 38 lbs in perfect condition. he was just a really big boned corgi from a ranch and a line that worked cattle. Idon't think Ben, the puppy, will be that big at all. he seems to be in a good weight right now and I'm not worried about him getting too heavy.

Sounds like its' definitely time to switch but I'm not sure how much to be feeding him, since he is still growing.

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Permalink Reply by Monica, Orion, and Laika on August 20, 2010 at 11:23pm

A lot of times the amount on the back of the food bag for the average corgi weight seems like way too much to be feeding a corgi, so in my opinion I would feed him a little more than you're feeding your other dogs until he's done growing. I have a lot of people come into the clinic I work at asking about how much to feed and there's really not a solid answer for it because it depends on the breed as well as the activity level of the pup. So we usually tell people to feed a certain amount, if it seems like their body condition starts to get skinnier than a good healthy weight, up the amount of food, and do the opposite if it seems like they're gaining a little too much. A waist line should always be visible and you should be able to feel (but not see) the ribs. You'll probably just have to watch until you get the food amount just right, that's the only way I know to make a decision, if anyone else has a better answer than that (which I hope they do) I'd love to hear it :)

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Permalink Reply by Beth on August 20, 2010 at 11:11pm

I wanted to add that the breeder had us using a large-breed puppy food, which had similar calorie and protein profiles to adult food.

Our kitten is 9 months old and still on kitten food, and is turning into a little chunk. I wish I switched her 6 weeks ago when she stopped growing so fast.

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Permalink Reply by Vee Luther on August 20, 2010 at 11:35pm

thanks for all the input. I do try to feed the older guys a bit less so that there's room for treats, but then I'm probably a little overzealous about their weight control. I think I'll work on the transition and jsut make sure the puppy gets a bit more than the others. I like the smartpak portion control system and the fact that it's delivered to me so I never run out of dog food. I'll just sign up the little guy so he gets a portion pack like the big boys!