# 18 months and still on puppy chow



## cruzer101 (Aug 21, 2011)

My golden is 18 months old now. I found he is allergic to wasp stings and he has been dewormed once.

I want to get him off of purina puppy chow because his stool never gets firm, well the first drop is kinda firm but the rest is a mess and I read here that it may be the corn. 

I read purinas bag and it says to keep larger breed dogs on it for two years. Hes about 60 lbs, coat looks good, do you think I am doing the right thing? What would you recommend I do?


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## mylissyk (Feb 25, 2007)

It is fairly normal to switch puppies to adult food by about 12 months old. There are better foods than Purina Puppy Chow. Typically you want the first two or three ingredients to be a meat source, either meat or meat meal of some type. If you switch to another food do it gradually, mix the old with the new, slowly increase the new food and reduce the old over a week or longer to avoid tummy upset.

Pro Plan might be a good choice to try, it is a good food, try to get a variety that does not have the shredded blend it though, not the best ingredients in those pieces.


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## jwemt81 (Aug 20, 2008)

I fully agree with trying something better than Puppy Chow. There are many foods that are much higher in quality. Foods like Puppy Chow and Dog Chow are loaded with low quality fillers and don't have nearly enough meat content. We use Pro Plan and we switched our puppies to adult formula between 4 and 6 months of age. With larger breed dogs, it's best to switch over to an adult formula early to slow growth, which can help avoid bone and joint problems later in life. Some people never even feed puppy food at all and go straight to adult. Our GSD puppy came home already on adult kibble.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

We switched to a different kibble brand at around 5 months. And adult food at 12 months. 

If he has loose stool, might want to discuss with the vet to see if you can get him on something that will help + also ease the transition to something else.


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## Sally's Mom (Sep 20, 2010)

My guys go from puppy food to adult food at 4 months....


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## Maddie'sMom2011 (Apr 26, 2011)

Check out this link Dog Food Reviews | Dog Food Ratings


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## Enzos_Mom (Apr 8, 2010)

You said he was dewormed once....did he have a negative stool sample test result?? We had to deworm our puppy twice when we brought him home. I also would switch to an adult food, or maybe even an all life stages food, of a better quality than puppy chow.


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## cruzer101 (Aug 21, 2011)

Thank you for the info. I'll check it out.


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## Nyahsmommy (Jul 23, 2011)

Our vet told us to switch at 5-6 months... She mentioned what someone on this thread already did... excess bone growth which could lead to problems.


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## Pumba19 (Oct 19, 2011)

Purina also make the puppy chow in a large breed formula

also you might want to make sure he's not getting into something that may be causing the irregular stools

when staying at my dad's this summer, we learned Pumba has a sweet tooth for flowers and plants -.- she ate a whole bunch of them the first night we were there and then had irregular stools for a day or two, we then had to move all the plants out of her reach.


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## A1Malinois (Oct 28, 2011)

My large breeds are introduced to adult food at 4-5 months and are on it completely by 6 months. I will vouch for Purina Pro Plan, its a good food and has made my guys poop normal


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## newport (Aug 8, 2011)

cruzer101 said:


> Thank you for the info. I'll check it out.


 Cruiser and Lola look like twins!


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