# Puppy vs Adult Food



## DianaM (Feb 18, 2010)

I know this is a topic that will have a lot of different opinions but just wanted to hear what other people have to say. 

What are the reasons for or against switching to adult food early? I'm getting conflicting advice from my breeder and vet. The breeder (who I really respect) told us to buy one 25 pound bag of puppy food then switch to adult. The vet today recommended we switch back to puppy for a while longer. 

Gracie was on Eukanuba puppy when we got her and we switched her to Innova Large Breed Puppy after a couple weeks and she was doing fine. Stools were a little wet for a couple days but got better. She had about 15 lbs of Eukanuba and 16.5 lbs of Innova Puppy. A couple weeks ago we switched to Innova Large Breed Adult. She has had runny stools for over a week now even after doing a very slow transition. It has gotten a lot better today though. The vet is running a fecal to test for parasites just in case. If the tests come back ok and her poop stays firm, should I bother switching back to puppy? I would like to avoid the chance of going through this again if there isn't a huge reason to. Btw, Gracie is 15 weeks old today and weighs 27.8 pounds. We have also been doing a lot of training so she gets Wellness treats or string cheese everyday. I assume this adds to the runny stools too.


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## kira (Jan 13, 2009)

I switched Murphy to adult food at about 13 weeks on the breeder's advice. My vet supported this decision. I am not an expert, but I believe the reasoning has to do with the fact that puppy food generally has a higher protein and/or fat content than adult food -- more than puppies may really need. We aimed for about a 2lb gain per week based on the slow growth plan. Murphy is 15 months now and is lean and strong and vet said his hips looked great (I had them xray while he was under anesthesia anyway).

If the tests are clear but she still has runny stools, I would try eliminating the extra treats for a couple of days (use pieces of kibble for training) and see if you can rule out the Innova as the cause.


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## MaddieMagoo (Aug 14, 2007)

I would not feed her large breed....as it'll make her grow much faster..as all puppy foods do, and she isn't really a "large breed", your Newfies and Great Danes are. I'm not really sure what to say as I've heard tons of mixed things from everyone. But my sister recently got a Lab puppy and the breeder told her to feed him puppy food until he's 6 months. She's got him on Purina puppy chow and I told her to go to Eukanuba just because it's probably a little better quality than Purina, and because he seems to poop alot! lol! I'd say at least 4-5 times a day he does and that really worries me that he isn't able to get all the nutrients he needs.


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## Enzos_Mom (Apr 8, 2010)

MaddieMagoo said:


> I would not feed her large breed....as it'll make her grow much faster..


It's actually meant to help them grow slower. If they grow too big too fast, it's bad on their joints, so it's meant to slow down the growth in larger dogs.


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## Tahnee GR (Aug 26, 2006)

I wouldn't feed her Large Breed Adult. I feed an All Life Stages, like Canidae or Fromm. It helps to control growth better than a regular puppy food. Large breed puppy food might be fine, but I have multiple dogs and don't bother.


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## DianaM (Feb 18, 2010)

So what should we be looking for in a food? What makes the difference? I think that is my main question. I'm trying to research a little better but I don't even know where to start and its overwhelming.


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## Rochester (Apr 6, 2010)

Who went to school for 8 years to learn how to take care of dogs and other animals, your breeder, or your vet? With all due respect, if your breeder has run a scientific study that determines that dogs should switch to adult food at a particular age, then it should be made public. Any other information the breeder provides, i.e., his or her experience, is purely anecdotal. I would follow my vet's advice, and if I thought my breeder knew more than my vet, I would find another vet. I would especially find another vet if I were more likely to trust a bunch of strangers on the internet more than my vet.

This might sound a little testy, but I don't mean it to be. I hope you see my reasoning.


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## Willow52 (Aug 14, 2009)

Enzos_Mom said:


> It's actually meant to help them grow slower. If they grow too big too fast, it's bad on their joints, so it's meant to slow down the growth in larger dogs.


I agree. I fed Hank Innova LBP until he was around 9 months old because it was lower in calories than regular puppy formula or the adult formula. When I switched him over to Adult, I cut back his portion size.


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## Blondie (Oct 10, 2009)

At 3 1/2 months I started the switch from a not so quality puppy food to Innova adult food. All went well until the P&G buy out of Natura Foods, which I did not want to support. Then we switched Maggie to Fromm and there's no looking back. Maggie is 7 1/2 months old now and weighs 43.3 pounds, gets walked 2+ miles each day and is happy and healthy and fit. I think alot of "puppy food," is full of fillers and cleverly marketed to get you to buy into it.


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## OrdinaryEllen (Jun 20, 2010)

*Whoa ! I need to learn more about feeding*

Piper is eleven months, two days old. He eats puppy food. His fav is Purina Beneful but I haven't tried many of the foods that you all talk about on the forum. He did not like Science Diet or Iams even tho he loved the Iams treats.

I was under the impression that he should stay with puppy food until around fourteen months. He weighs about seventy pounds. The breeder told me his Dad weighed 75 pounds at Age 2. However, he has a grandfather, paternal, who is much larger.

He's really laid back about his eating. He'll munch on his breakfast for a minute or so and then come to me for some "scratch my head mom" and then return to his bowl. He also burps but that's another thread.

Should I be feeding him adult food? At our last checkup, the vet told me he had most likely reached 95% of his height. But I can tell he is still growing especially in head and chest development.


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