blackacre Posted February 3, 2003 Report Share Posted February 3, 2003 Amigos, At what age to you switch your puppies to adult food? Andrea de Kenedy Toronto, ON Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted February 3, 2003 Report Share Posted February 3, 2003 My pup was given adult food when still with her litter and when I brought her home she stayed on adult food, so I would have to say she never switched because she never got puppy food. J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smokjbc Posted February 3, 2003 Report Share Posted February 3, 2003 I switched my four month old pup to a quality adult food a few weeks ago. She is leggy but seems to be carrying a good amount of weight, hasn't hit the 6 month scruffy/skinny/fuglies yet LOL. I think as long as the nutritional needs are met and the pup carrys a good (not excessive) weight, that puppy food is not necessary and may be detrimental if it causes accelerated growth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rave Posted February 3, 2003 Report Share Posted February 3, 2003 At 7 weeks, when I got her. Laura & Wick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keegan's Mom Posted February 3, 2003 Report Share Posted February 3, 2003 I have a question related to this post...my vet said to stay on puppy food for about a year. Well, he is 9 months tomorrow and still eating puppy food. What adult food would you recommend? I will be needing a new bag in about 2 weeks and plan to switch at that time. Thanks, Rachel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackacre Posted February 3, 2003 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2003 Eukanuba. A. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest totallyterry2003 Posted February 3, 2003 Report Share Posted February 3, 2003 When the puppy bag is empty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest PrairieFire Posted February 3, 2003 Report Share Posted February 3, 2003 Rachel - we feed adult food right from the point of weaning - I throw the adult stuff in a blender and grind it up, then mix it with lamb milk replacer... So the pups get adult food. A good quality adult food. I use Precise Foundation, but there is a lot of stuff out there that is probably as good... Get a premium if you can afford it - if it says "pieces" or "meal" you could be feeding beaks and feathers - and "by-products" can be the dead stuff that is hauled off to the rendering plants - including euthanized companion animals. Ethyoxyquin as a preservative is also to be avoided - it is banned as a cancer causing agent in humans...get something that uses Vit E and A as preservatives...won't last as long in the summer, so buy right. For these dogs I like 21% protien and 16% fat - so I need to add a little vegetable oil to hit those proportions. A healthy pup is a skinny pup - don't let the ads fool you... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackacre Posted February 3, 2003 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2003 Totallyterry: Smartass. Totallyloony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2 Devils Posted February 3, 2003 Report Share Posted February 3, 2003 As soon as I get a dog/puppy, I will switch it to adult food but you need to miss it with the puppy food over about a weeks time until it is totally adult food. If you switch too fast it can cause some tummy problems. Even my mini poodle was switched to adult food when I got him. I use canidae and my dogs are doing well on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BPoole Posted February 3, 2003 Report Share Posted February 3, 2003 We had Pepper on puppy food for about 2 months. When we brought home her brother they both went on adult food. Yu-Gi was feed adult food right from weaning. He's 7 months on Wednesday, and I must say, just as scrawny and ugly as the other 2 were at that age. He's an almost shocking 22" and a healthy 32#. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Fosher Posted February 4, 2003 Report Share Posted February 4, 2003 Andrea, I'd say the sooner the better. Just make sure that the adult food you're feeding is suitable for all stages of growth. Down here in the states dog food bears a label if it can make that claim. It's been years since I've done well enough in one of your trials to take home any Canadian dog food, so I don't remember if there's a similar label up there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ikw Posted February 4, 2003 Report Share Posted February 4, 2003 Oh,oh...are we into throwing rotten eggs to my sis "totallyterry"? Get off that watching the tube adverts,it's teaching you some nasty things,sis....I mean,like,you know.... Now,where was I...right,puppy food. Pups eat what their mama's eat. If the mama doing good on an adult feed,she would be upchucking that feed to her puppies,well at least in the wild or in some more primitive breeds. So,from the time pups could lap up some food,they eat what's fed to mama with higher moisture. When a vet tells you to feed "puppy chow",ask him to feed his own kids(under the age of 3 months) lamb chops or 12 oz. steak chop instead of blended food,sit back and watch his face. Most vets are only interested and know a great deal about what's going on under the fur and skin,they know "nottin" about what to feed cats or dogs except what the canine feed companies pushes by sending their reps with a pizza box during their lunch time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackacre Posted February 5, 2003 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2003 Originally posted by ikw:Oh,oh...are we into throwing rotten eggs to my sis "totallyterry"?. Yep, it's the least we can do for her. Payback for her letting my puppies chase her sheep. Don't know that she bought it when I screamed "it's OK, he doesn't bite!" as one of them chased the sheep to the far corner, but so it proved. Gonna have to swith the little darlings to low maintenance, never mind off puppy food. How's your husband doing? Hope all is well Andrea Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keegan's Mom Posted February 5, 2003 Report Share Posted February 5, 2003 Bill Gary, Thanks for the advice (first time able to get on the boards in days). Would you also recommend a good place to buy good food? I feel like PetsMart just carries the stuff advertised on TV. I will check there though to see what else they carry. Right now we feed Science Diet and sometimes feed him other things while training for dinner, like an apple. I know that there are some other posters from North Carolina so maybe they could recommend a place for pet food and supplies other than PetsMart. I live in Charlotte. Any suggestions from others? Thanks, Rachel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Fosher Posted February 5, 2003 Report Share Posted February 5, 2003 Inci, Interesting that you mention the regurgitation thing. The litter that I reared for a friend this past summer was on the Barf diet for a couple of weeks, courtesy of Mom. She would hop in when I fed the pups their mush, eat it all up before I could say boo and then present it back to them -- blended with digestive enzymes -- about 20 minutes later. Tasty! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brookcove Posted February 5, 2003 Report Share Posted February 5, 2003 I know that there are some other posters from North Carolina so maybe they could recommend a place for pet food and supplies other than PetsMart. I live in Charlotte. Any suggestions from others?Diamond is a decent feed and it's available in many feed stores (like Southern States). Or, you can buy many of the premium foods online, just type "dog food" into your search engine and see what pops up. Natura pet, makers of Innova and California Natural, have a distributor locator online. I typed in Charlotte and came up with this: Home Economist Located at: 5410 E Independence Blvd Charlotte, NC 28212 (704) 536-4663 Regards, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest PrairieFire Posted February 6, 2003 Report Share Posted February 6, 2003 One other thing I forgot to mention is simply that I am not a big fan of corn either - I feed it to my cattle and sheep only as "must have" - preferring oats - so that might be a simple slopover from that... My thing is that I simply DON'T buy at the big chains if I can avoid it - not always possible, but I stick with the local guys as much as possible... The pet industry is cutthroat - here in the Twin Cities area "Chuck and Don's" are the local guys who seem to be sticking it out (5 stores I have purchased Precise from in 5 years have gone out of business). You can probably find some good local folks in whatever area you live in...these are the folks that will actually care about, and probably have some knowledge of, thier products, rather than the usual nametag wearing teenager just doing their time at petsmart... As an aside, petsmart has built stores close by my local "Chuck and Don's" and is selling dog food cheaper than C&D can buy it wholesale - and I'm sure they will raise the price if they succeed in driving off the local guys... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diane allen Posted February 6, 2003 Report Share Posted February 6, 2003 Not that I've fed "bagged" food for awhile, but bought some for a friend recently at a PetsMart - they carried Nutro's original (lamb and rice) blend at a reasonable price. I agree with supporting the "little guys" - but sometimes there aren't any of those around. Nice to know that the big chains actually carry something decent! diane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackacre Posted February 6, 2003 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2003 Sorry, but price, slection and availability are important too. That's why the big box stores attract the business, including mine. A. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Fosher Posted February 7, 2003 Report Share Posted February 7, 2003 Aw, geez, Andrea ... Now you've gone and done it. I remember back in the day before there was a Staples stupor store in my shire town. There were four locally-run office supply stores, and a host of computer stores. Now there are no locally run office supply stores and many of the computer stores are gone now. And I walk in to Staples and ask them for a six-column ledger -- you know, the green kind with binder holes drilled? Pimply teenager has no idea what I'm talking about. Shows me notebook paper. And all they know about computers is whether they run games well and which brand they've been told to push this month. And, after keeping prices down until they were the only game in town, Staples now charges the moon and stars for everything it stocks. And it only stocks what it stocks. Six column ledgers are not on the list. I'm told I can order them over the web, maybe. Nice. A few months ago, a Petco opened up in town. They have the merchandise that sells the best, no question about it. They know that most people have dogs that are between 30 and 45 pounds, and that they'll spend $29.99 on a 33-lb bag of dog food as readily as they'll spend $29.99 on a 40-lb bag. But again, you have the pimply teenager effect. There is no incentive for them to understand your needs or work to solve them. The only incentive they have is to keep the shelves stocked with whatever the warehouse ships them. And bookstores. Don't get me started there. To walk into a Barnes and Noble, you'd think there are just three categories of book: tell-all, self-help, and John Grisham. Want something else? Try the web site. Want to browse? Maybe the public library? But alas the public library doesn't have a lot of money for new books because the local business economy isn't paying in the taxes it used to because the big boxes have sucked the life out of the town and are shipping their profits out to offshore subsidiaries where the money can be cleansed of its annoying tax consequences. Personally, I am willing to pay a lot more for products that comes with service. Even so, I find that I usually don't need to pay more unless the big box is in its predatory phase trying to run out the local shops. My local feed store agreed to carry a new line of dog food for me, and it is slowly turning into a good seller for them (even if you take out the 360 pounds I buy every month). Petco isn't going to special order anything for me if they don't already have it in their warehouse. And they certainly aren't going to set up an account and bill me at the end of the month. Anyway, unless your local stores are very poorly run, the idea that big boxes offer better price, selection, and availability is a myth. It's supported heavily by advertising, and by the buying power to kill their categories either by predatory pricing or by strong-arming suppliers or both. Obviously they have better price, selection, and availability than the shop they drove out of business, or that can't get shipments from their supplier because of anti-competitive agreements with the big box. But where local businesses are well run and thriving, big boxes can't really hold a candle to the local guys, who also offer service that the big boxes can't even consider. If, on the other hand, your local shops are such a shambles that the big boxes really *are* better, then I suppose they deserve to be put out of business. Bill Fosher Who raised a glass to the anonymous hooligans who last summer put sugar in the fuel tanks and epoxy in the ignition switches of all the earthmoving equipment at the site of the Home Despot that's under construction down the road. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackacre Posted February 7, 2003 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2003 "If, on the other hand, your local shops are such a shambles that the big boxes really *are* better, then I suppose they deserve to be put out of business." That's my point. I will however concede that I am offering you the big city perspective, there may be other considerations to weigh in the rural and small town areas. And yes, I shop at Chapters/Indigo (Our version of Barnes & Noble) when I'm not ordering online from Amazon. HUGE selection, terrific availabilty and great price, plus 10% off every purchase as a member and gift coupons based on how many books I buy (lots). And in both cases I really don't care who works there since I know what I want and would rather be left alone anyway. A. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brookcove Posted February 7, 2003 Report Share Posted February 7, 2003 Thank you Bill F, you summed up the exact reason I finally switched last fall to "raw". I'm no longer a slave to mass marketing or distribution factors. I love it and my dogs do too! Incidentally, my pup was raised on raw bones and she basically got what my adults ate, though in a form appropriate for her chewing abilities at first (though not for long!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest PrairieFire Posted February 7, 2003 Report Share Posted February 7, 2003 Well said, Mr. Fosher. One thing you overlooked, however, and possibly the largest in the mind of this old cultural anthropologist, is the change of "classes" inherent in replacing the local shops with the big boxes. America (and much of North America, north of the Rio Grande, anyway) was built by a "Nation of Shopkeepers". Folks who cared about the local community, started and grew their own business locally, and had a reason to support school taxes, local arts and sports programs, etc. In fact, one could say it was truly the shopkeepers who "tamed" the wilderness - on both sides of our borders. It wasn't the lawmen who shut down the lawlessness, it was the local shopkeepers protecting thier investment. Now, driven out of business by a corporation that pays taxes overseas, makes products overseas, and indulges in "creative accounting" to avoid paying what little taxes are due - the local shopkeeper puts on a blue apron and a nametag and goes from local employer to local employee - of a firm so large that at the first hint of turndown, closes it's doors and "consolidates" - back to the big city stores, leaving the countryside in a bizarre version of "clearcutting" practiced and honed by multinationals... The robber barons of the late 20th Century/early 21st Century don't even bother to keep servants in the country they expolit... Bill Gary Whose only personalized license plate ever was "HYDK LVS" on a CJ-5... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keegan's Mom Posted February 7, 2003 Report Share Posted February 7, 2003 I will say that I'm visiting the Home Economist recommended by Rebecca earlier in this thread. I heard that they are a small store specializing in organic human food and pet food. But I must say that Bill Gary hurt my feelings with that "creative accounting" stab...now that is my livelihood. Seriously though, thanks for the great info on adult dog food and what to look for, I've taken down notes. Rachel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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