large breed puppies, when to switch to adult formulas? (lab, boxer, vet)
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I have a lab on Wellness Large Breed Puppy food. She's 13 weeks old. Her breeder told me to change her to adult food by 15 weeks, but she also was feeding her Nutro max puppy so it's a different food and not specifically for large breed. I am hearing different things about whether I should switch her off the puppy food now or wait until closer to 6+ months. Any thoughts?
My breeders/trainers always indicated to get large breeds off puppy formula early. It seems to me (been awhile sorry) it had something to do with keeping growth at an appropriate pace which would be beneficial to joint/hip health in the long run....
If you look at the ingredients of both the Wellness Large Breed Puppy and Wellness Large Breed Adult, the ingredients and analysis is almost identical. In the past, the thinking was that high protein caused issues in large breed dogs. Such is not the case and the large breed puppy has 26% protein, and adult 25%.
What you want to look at is the calcium/phosphorus levels. The puppy is 1.4%/0.90% and the adult is 1.2%/0.90%, so switching now wouldn't be an issue at all and might be even more beneficial since the calcium/phosphorus level is lower in the adult formula. The ingredients are practically identical in both of these. The only thing is, the adult feeding guidelines start at 50 lbs., so you will have to alter that to your dog. I never follow the guidelines on the bag, since they always want you to feed way more than your dog needs.
Oh yea, and pictures of the puppy would be very welcomed here!
Maybe it depends on the food but most/we breeders recommend that a large breed dogs stay on puppy food for one year. It can take over a year for them to mature. Augmenting their diet with meat and some dairy and possibly a supplement..
on a good quality food (like wellness) theres not realy enough of a difference in protein and calcium levels for it to make a real difference.
i know many large breed (mastif, dane, wolfhound) breeders who dont do ANY puppy, they start them on a high quality adult (or raw feed)
given the subtle differences in the levels id personally reccomend keeping him on puppy untill hes almost finnished with this bag and then spend about a week or so switching him to the adult...
i dont think its worth wasting half a bag of puppy food ect, but i also dont think the 1% protein difference and a .2% clacium difference is going to make any difference...
the problems come in when theres a big difference, puppyfood is often higher in protein and calcium to support growth BUT in giant and large breeds can cause uneven growth rates, and rapid growth which can damage the growthplates and muscular development.
honestly, in premuim foods puppy vs adult is more about kibble SIZE than nutrition as the 2 should be similar unless were talking foods for performance dogs ect.
Tulkas, that is what our vet said, who breeds labs...he says he uses the large breed puppy only just when they are starting with food. I think we're going to switch her to adult food after Christmas...thanks all for your advice!
Growing pups should only be fed a high quality growth-type diet which you continue feeding this diet until your dog reaches 80 to 90 percent of his anticipated adult weight. For most dogs, this occurs around 9 months of age.
Giant breed dogs pose a special problem. These breeds are prone to skeletal problems if not fed properly during their growing phase. There are now special diets for giant breed pups For optimal health, feed your giant breed pup this special diet until he is 12 to 18 months of age.
Once your puppy has reached the age for a diet change, gradually begin changing his diet by feeding ¼ adult food and ¾ puppy food for a few days. Then add ½ adult food and ½ puppy food. After a few more days, feed ¾ adult food and ¼ puppy food.
Hmmm, I had started Shep on Adult food when I got him (8 months), but the vet told me to go back to puppy food. Said he needed the extra protein and fat for skeletal development. He's a boxer mix. Should top out at maybe 60ish lbs.
Large breed dog foods essentially stunt growth. This isn't terribly bad b/c the smaller the dog, the longer it will live. However, as snofarmer pointed out, you can also compromise the bone and joint health (not to mention other areas) by, essentially, not allowing a dog to grow to its true, full size.
This also begs the question, "Why have a large breed dog if you don't really want a large breed dog?" It's perfectly naturally for us to want them to live longer but the reality is that they don't live as long as small dogs and it's much better to acknowledge and deal with that fact than try to avert it in your (and your dog's) favor.
I actually wouldn't even use a large breed dog food. I had my GSD pup on it for about a month when she was young (around 12 weeks) until I read the nutritional analysis and realized that she wasn't getting the same nutrition with a large breed formula as she was with a regular puppy food.
So, I kept her on the puppy food for, as snofarmer has rec'd, a year, then switch her to high performance adult. I made the choice myself, although it was corroborated some time later by a vet who said that high protein is usually what is rec'd, especially for large breed/performance dogs like GSD.
That said, this is simply what has worked for me; I have never owned a Newfie and so I can't really speak from experience. But, for my GSD, it was no large breed food, only high quality puppy for a year, then adult food.
And what snofarmer states is true: you can compromise bone density with a food of lower nutritional value, although I have seen that more in horses than I have in dogs. Newfies are horses, aren't they?
Anyway, I would read up on the subject--with particular emphasis on Newfies rather than just dogs in general--if you have doubts, and I commend you for asking around about what is best for your pup
On a sidenote: I know this is a hot-button topic, but spaying, especially early spay, is not recommended for most large breed females nowadays. Just something else to think about.
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