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Last Updated on June 22, 2023 by Thee Puppypreneur
WHEN TO SWITCH PUPPY TO ADULT FOOD
Odds are if you have a puppy, you have been feeding puppy food for a little while now. Hopefully, you are feeding a good quality kibble that’s organic like
Amazon.com: Tender & True Organic Chicken & Liver Recipe Dog Food, 20 lb : Pet Supplies
Or if not organic, but grain-free like
OR I absolutely love Dr. Harveys he has everything from grains, to grain-free, to vegetarian and their ORGANIC, like this one
you just add your protein and oils and a little water and stir and voila!
Depending on the type of dog you have will depend on when you should switch puppy to adult food.
If you have a toy or teacup breed, they tend to reach maturity at about 9 months or so. If you have a small to large breed dog, they can take about a year to reach maturity.
Giant breeds however, like the Great Dane can be a little slower to mature and take anywhere from 18 months upwards of 2 years.
WHY YOU SHOULD SWITCH PUPPY TO ADULT FOOD
Puppy food contains a lot more calories and protein than adult dog food. When your puppy is in the developing stages of its life it has different nutritional needs.
After all it’s a growing puppy with a developing brain and growing bones.
Typically, the calories, fat, protein and vitamins and minerals are slightly different to account for the energy that the little young furbaby needs to develop into a strong adult.
You don’t want to keep your little young furababy puppy on puppy food longer than they need to be. Since there are more calories, these calories could produce unwanted weight gain.
HOW TO SWITCH PUPPY TO ADULT FOOD
So, transitioning a dog from ANY food not necessarily just from puppy to adult food needs to be done carefully so as not to create digestive upset or the dreaded diarrhea.
When introducing the new food into your puppies diet you want to start slowly about 20% of the new food should be added over the course of the next 4- 6 weeks.
What this means is that if you are feeding your furbaby 2 cups of food, once you get the new bag of dog food you will want to take out a little under ½ a cup of the old food and mix in a little under ½ of the new food.
Feeding should be done at least twice a day and you continue this and then at the end of the week you add another 20% of the new food (so now your feeding approx. 40% new while removing 20% more of the old food.
So, like this, furbaby eats 2 cups.
Week one, approx. 1 ½ c. old food mix with ½ cup new food.
Week two, approx. 1 c. old food mix with 1 cup new food and so on.
Even a little less then this example is your furbaby has digestive issues or is overly sensitive to change.
DOG FOODS FOR PUPPIES, SENIORS AND ADULTS
There is one dog food company that is
this food is dehydrated (so you add water) and all the ingredients are ORGANIC.
There is a recipe booklet inside that tells you what to do if are you feeding for puppy, adult or senior and then tells you how much of everything you need from protein, to scoops of his dog food base mix.
This company provides the dehydrated base (spelt, carrot, sweet potato, etc) you provide the protein source (egg, fish, beef, chicken) and you provide your choice of oil (from his list of recommendations).
They offer everything from grains, to grain free to even a mix for those who like to feed raw.
Check out our other article for more information on other common puppy questions such as;
HOW TO PUPPY PROOF YOUR HOUSE A LIST OF HELPFUL THINGS YOU NEVER THOUGHT OF
