Puppy food or dog food?

[geonni banner]

I have heard some things about puppy food, as opposed to dog food, being "too much food" for the average puppy. My puppy is 9 mos. old, and she was on Nutro puppy at the rescue. Before that - who knows. They sent 5 lbs. of same home with her, and I want to start transitioning to TOTW. Does anyone see a problem with going to TOTW adult, like what my grown dog eats?

 

She was described by the rescue as a picky eater, but she cleans up her food post-haste with me.

 

Also wondering about phasing in raw, which Sugarfoot gets once a day.

[waffles]

I just bought a bag of adult food for my 5 month old puppy. Since house breaking has been going well I have started to introduce raw which is all my 7 year old eats. I think once this bag of adult food is gone she will be just on raw. So my opinion is that a 9 month old puppy would be fine on adult food. I know a few people who feed only adult or all life stages labeled food from 8 weeks.

[GentleLake]

I agree. She'll do fine on the same food you're feeding Sugarfoot . . . including the raw.

[Maralynn]

From what I've read, the only thing you want to really avoid is foods that have the wrong calcium/phosphorus levels when they're 6 m/o and younger.

 

Pretty much ALL puppy foods are all life stages foods. As are quite a few adult foods. Just the main label won't tell you ALS or adult only - you've got to look for the fine print on the back of the bag to find the rating.

 

Once they're about 6 m/o they cam regulate the calcium absorption and are fine with either adult only or ALS at that stage.

[Gideon's girl]

By AAFCO definition, a food that passes the requirements for being labeled as Growth and Lactation food can be labeled Growth or All Life Stages. The difference between puppy food and adult food is that puppy food has a slightly higher protein percentage and the calcium: phosphorous levels and ratios are more tightly controlled. There is plenty of reason for not feeding a puppy an adult food, but the only real consideration for feeding a puppy food to any age is over nutrition, feeding too much, and that can be a problem with any food. Yes, some puppy food MAY have more calcium than some adult foods, but puppy foods have a maximum that they must stay under, adult foods do not, and since bone is cheaper than muscle meat, adult foods are far more likely to have way too much calcium for a puppy. Adult dogs have a biological mechanism that allows them to regulate their calcium uptake. Puppies do not. This ability kicks in at about 8 months of age.

[luvmycash]

Interesting read Gideon's girl!

 

I also agree that a nine month old is fine on adult food. I usually feed puppy food until I stop seeing large growth spurts, which is usually around that age. No rhyme or reason to that. It's just what I've always done. A lot of large breeds are never on puppy food, as it makes them grow too quickly. Whether that is entirely true, I'm not sure as I've never deeply researched it. But most giant breed breeders will tell you to not feed puppy food.

[Gideon's girl]

Large breed puppies need carefully controlled calcium levels, which adult dog foods do not have. However, most puppy foods, even large breed puppy foods, do not have the correct calcium levels either. Breeder recommendations for feeding adult foods to large breed puppies are often based on old faulty research. The newest research indicates that restricting calories, controlling calcium, and limiting exercise are the most important factors other than genetics.

 

I feed All Life Stages foods for life, including my 14 year old JRT. Of course, that may change if one of them has a specific dietary need that isn't covered by an ALS food.