When to stop 'Puppy' dog food?

Alfasudcrazy

I am still feeding my two 8 month old dobermans puppy (large breed) science plan dog food. I was told I would have to keep feeding puppy food to them for the first 12 months.

I have no problem with this but the problem is Science plan - the only dog food I feel is any good only produce one flavour of puppy (large breed) dog food that I can find here - chicken - and my dobies are right sick of it by now. :rolleyes:

The choice for adult dog food is much better so I am wondering should I continue to feed them puppy dog food or switch to the adult food?

TOUCHSTONEBGLS

An 8 month old doberman is still maturing physically. The puppy food has the nutrition the dog needs to develop physically. You can add a little (couple spoons) of canned food or a little table scraps if you think the dog is tired of the food. Don't add much, only a bit. Whenever you change a dog's food it is best to change over gradually. 75% of the original food & 25% of the new food for a few days, then 50% each a few days, then 25% of the old & 75% of the new... This should be done whenever changing from puppy to adult or when changing from one brand to another. The dog's digestive system will accomodate the change better. 12 months is only a target age to change to adult food. Larger breeds that mature more slowly may require puppy food longer. Feeding the puppy food too long is better than not feeding it long enough. Good luck! Dan

Ruu_Old

Stick with the puppy food because they need the nutrients, 12 months is normally how long. Most dogs, unless they are being overfed, will not lose interest in their food or the flavour. If they don't seem interested in the food then it probably has nothing to do with the flavour.

peasant

12 months is only a target age to change to adult food. Larger breeds that mature more slowly may require puppy food longer. Feeding the puppy food too long is better than not feeding it long enough.

Rubbish ...

When have you last seen a wild dog catch prey that had "puppies only" written across its body? In the wild all young animals eat the same food as the fully grown ones.

It's marketing, that's all it is. Same as breed specific food, size specific food or age specific food.

Actually, feeding puppy food for too long can do more harm than good, especially so in larger breeds. Puppy food is usually crammed with nutrients and proteins ...the higher, the more expensive. But this can lead to excessively fast growth in the dog, which is not good for larger breeds as their bones stretch and mass increases before proper cartilage has formed around the joints, leading to massive joint problems later in life.
Furthermore, excessive protein needs to be burned up, leading to hyper dogs that are harder to train, difficult to control and that have a tendency to over-exert themselves, compounding the joint problems they're already developing.

Get good quality dog food with a protein content of no more than 20-22 %, change over slowly and forget about puppy food thereafter.

flynnc

i did some research on puppy food and found out that yes they do need puppy food until they growing stage is over re wild dogs they will seach for the foods they body needs with pets they count on they owners to make the right choice if you are unsure of the advice you are getting from this site talk to your vet or breeder

Schlemm

According to hillspet.com, the Science Plan puppy food is available in different flavours in dry form; the canned puppy feed comes in chicken only . They reccomend that you feed it until a year of age, which is usually the norm. Dry feed is better for their teeth too! Hills do a special dry feed for large breed dogs who are pups. As Pesant said, rapid growth is very undesirable. The last thing you want is for your dog to have something like OCD later in life. This feed contains controlled levels of calcium and calories to prevent rapid growth. However, a protein content of 20-22% that Pesant said is probably too low...the reccomended level of protein for pups is about 28% as they're still growing. Excess protein is converted to urea in a process which actually costs energy (similar principle to the Atkins diet!) and can lead to a loss in body condition, but I've never heard of excess protein making dogs hyperactive. The specific amino acid content of the feed should match the animal's requirement for those amino acids to ensure efficient use of protein, and most high standard commercial feeds such as Hills are formulated with the proper amino acids. Not everybody uses puppy food, however, but a high quality feed is a very effective and easy way to provide proper nutrients and energy. Most vets would reccomend Hills and our dogs do very well on it.

With dogs, finicky eaters are made, not born, and dogs do not demand variety in their diet. Plus dogs are a lot more likely to stick with a food if they become accustomed to it when they're young. If your dogs are getting choosy, put down the food for them at the same time every day, and leave it there for a fixed time, say 10 minutes, before taking it away. This technique really works! They eventually realise that if they don't eat when their feed is down, they'll miss their chance. Hills is about the best dog food going and if they get uset to eating this now at regular times, you'll form a lifelong habit of healthy eating.

If you can't get your hands on the dry Hills, your pet shop might be able to order it for you and some vets stock it too. If you intend on using commercial dog food after a year, be sure to switch to a food that's formulated for your dog's weight.

CrowdedHouse

Sorry for hijacking AlfaSud ...but on a related note when can you give a pup treats like gravy bones or markies(not an ad for Pedigree ) doggie chocs etc

peasant

Go easy on the treats, they're usually designed to please human eyes more than doggy stomachs. Shedloads of artificial colourants, softeners, sweeteners, preservatives ..etc.

A small carrot for example makes a very good chewy snack, little bits of cheese make an excellent treat and motivational tool, so do bits of apple ...all in moderation, of course.

And when she starts teething, get her one of those hard rubber bone shaped thingies to soothe her aching gums on (not plastic ! as she will destroy and eat that)

CrowdedHouse

Thanks again peasant,we dont overdo the treats for any of the girls-it's just when we give one to the older ones Lucy tries to rob some and there's a minor outbreak of hostilities ! I gave her a sliver of a markie and she was licking the lips,I'm just wary they'd be harmful to a young pup.

Alfasudcrazy

My dogs hate apples and carrots - but I have discovered they love manderin oranges - are these any harm. Obviously they are only given little bits until I am sure they are OK.

neacy69

I am changing my dog from puppy food over to an adult food. Until now she has been eating a mix of pedigree puppy dry and bakers puppy dry with a spoon or two of pedigree tinned puppy (tuna once a fortnight or so for her coat.)
I've been looking into the different types of adult food and don't really know what to pick. I have been checking the ingrediants and looking for ones woth 20-22% protein but don't know what else to look at for example butchers has approx 7% ash what's this?
Does anybody reccomend any particular brand for a 12 month old medium size staff?
also a lot of people on here seem to not like pedigree stuff at all any particular reason for this?

PS hope im not hijacking this thread but it more or less the same topic....

fits

The main superpremium dog foods in Ireland are Hills, Royal Canin, Eukanuba, Burns and there are some others. Most vets will stock one or two of these brands. Some people swear by different brands. I have one of mine on Hills and one on Pro Plan (not the purina one) at the moment, and they are very healthy, with a beautiful coat and clear eyes. They dont poo very much, as these foods don have unnecessary fillers (such as ash). Have a look to see what you can get locally, and perhaps try some small bags out before you commit to a larger amount.
www.zooplus.ie sell the premium dog food brands.

Pedigree is all about fillers and colouring and marketing. Its really not the best quality food out there.

Alfasudcrazy

That's an interesting site - How is the stuff delivered - by post or courrier and is delivery included in the price?:)

fits

free shipping on orders over €39, and I think its delivered by courier.

neacy69

has anybody got any experience of Nutro? i w talking to sales lady in atlantic homecare one day sounds like good stuff and it's supposedly the number 1 seller in the US of cat and dog food

btw i've no connection with these at all other than they gave me a nice voucher for next purchase...

fits

I've heard fantastic things about Nutro. You should give it a try if you can get it easily. Some people have had great results with it.

scaldybelt

We used Nutro for the first 18 months for our first GSP.
Great food, but we thought he was getting tired of it after a while so changed to Beta, a brand with more varieties. Mind you, we don't get as many vouchers these days as we had back then.
(we were living in England at the time, so Nutro was available in all petstores and by courier).

neacy69

ok so I just picked a 7.5kg bag of Nutro in Atlantic worked out at €27 after my voucher so we'll give it a go see if she takes to it....
I also got a measuring cup for measuring the amount to give. Anybody know how exactly do I work out how much to give her?

EDITED: spelling

fits

There should be a weight guideline on the bag (saying you've to give so many grams of food per kg of dog)
Do you know how much your dog weighs? People normally recommend mixing in old food in with new, but I've never really bothered myself.

neacy69

well i still have some pedigree wet and dry food left so I will mix that in for a couple of days til it runs out. I think the last time she was weighed she was approx 12/13kgs ( i think it was kilos they measure in the vets is it?). She would be fairly active ie walked once a day and in the garden playing the most of the day.

peasant

I'd be very careful about buying big brand name imported food.

There currently is a massive dog food recall underway in the US (mainly for "wet" food) where a mistake in one basic ingredient manufacturers has led to recalls even in such "respected" brands as Eukanuba, Iams, Hill's, and Nutro

see here: http://www.fda.gov/cvm/MenuFoodRecallFAQ.htm

We use Red Mills.
While it might not be any better, at least it's fresh and not carted halfway round the world before it reaches our dogs' bowls.

Schlemm

neacy69 wrote:

I am changing my dog from puppy food over to an adult food. Until now she has been eating a mix of pedigree puppy dry and bakers puppy dry with a spoon or two of pedigree tinned puppy (tuna once a fortnight or so for her coat.)
I've been looking into the different types of adult food and don't really know what to pick. I have been checking the ingrediants and looking for ones woth 20-22% protein but don't know what else to look at for example butchers has approx 7% ash what's this?
Does anybody reccomend any particular brand for a 12 month old medium size staff?
also a lot of people on here seem to not like pedigree stuff at all any particular reason for this?

PS hope im not hijacking this thread but it more or less the same topic....

A few people have mentioned ash in this thread...ash is basically an estimate of the total amount of inorganic matter or mineral concentration in a feed. It contains nothing of energy value but is the fraction of the feed that contains the minerals, eg, calcium, magnesium, etc.

peterleonne

All dog foods are not created equal. There is a huge difference in ingredients, quality of ingredients and company standards. When wondering what to get or comparing your current food it is best to do as much research as possible.

Your options are a raw diet, which is one of the greatest diets for dogs. To learn more go to http://www.wagsocial.com/ :):):)

Cutie18Ireland

CrowdedHouse wrote: »

Sorry for hijacking AlfaSud ...but on a related note when can you give a pup treats like gravy bones or markies(not an ad for Pedigree ) doggie chocs etc

We have a 13 week old puppy who is on Royal Canin, the other day got some pedigree puppy Tubos as a treat.... never again, he devoured it but the next day was vomiting and wouldnt eat or drink. Took almost 24 hours before he was right afterwards. I got some puppy "Coachies" which are tiny little treats in chicken & Rabbit flavour he loves them and they dont affect him at all.