Puppy food... how long

This seems like it may be a controversial issue, but here goes. My Lab, Atticus, is now around 6.5 months. He is weighing in at around 60 pounds, but it seems a healthy 60. Not a chubby boy any way.

I am feeding him Nutro LB puppy food. It seems all the packages say feed puppy food until 12 months. He has his bigboy teeth now and I am not sure if I should continue w/the puppy food or make the switch.

Advice/thoughts/experiences you can share on this?

Thanks!

Neal

[Neonshrk]

I switched my first pup at 7 months and didn't have any probelms. She is now a fit 65 pounds With my new puppy I was considering keeping her on the puppy food until she is about 10 - 12 months of age. My reasoning is that she seems to be slower developing than my first pup, and she is also much bigger in size than my first pup which leads me to believe that she will need the extra oomph that the puppy food supplies. I have also been feeding fresh salmon and trout every so often to help keep the weight down.

[Maggie Mae]

My vet has encouraged me to leave Maggie on the Large Breed puppy food until 12 months. She is almost 6 months and is about 57 pounds right now. She is growing quickly and I am thinking that I will be leaving her on the puppy food until 12 months...

[Barb]

We switched our dogs to adult food around 6 months to slow their growth -- less stress on the joints. Our vet was fine with that. To each their own, I guess.

[Maggie Mae]

What a conundrum!

[labby]

I tell my puppy people to feed the puppy food I recommend until the pup has all its adult teeth in which is around 7 months. Other breeders recommend buying 1 40# bag of puppy food, then changing to adult after that.

[Maggie Mae]

It looks like a change is imminent...and quickly. I got a new bag of Nutro the other day and since then she has not been eatting it. Yesterday morning she ate the whole bowl with the help of just a teeny tiny bit of salmon juice from the can (no more than a teaspoon on two and a half cups of food). We were up twice during the night with extremely loose stools and again this morning. She isn't feeling so hot.

Most of her adult teeth are in, and I just can't justify making her eat something that she doesn't like. I will transition her with some of the food that is left and take the rest of it to the SPCA.

I feel terrible...

[labby]

Don't feel terrible. You tried to help her eat the food. Stuff happens sometimes. Just rest her gut for a day and then make the switch to the new food slowly so you don't reactivate the diarreha.

[Sillypuppy]

has anyone had coat problems with Nutro LB??

[FONT=century gothic][COLOR=purple]
We wondered exactly the same thing, I read one thing in our "Labs for Dummies" book and another from a trainer that works with our neighbor's dog. So we asked our vet at her 4 month old visit. She already weighted 40 pounds but is so big that she actually looks thin (I should be so lucky). Our vet said that we should leave her on her puppy food since we buy Sience Diet Puppy Food for large breeds. She's done very well on it and we decided to follow our vet's advice. He also said that many of his customers decided to switch to adult food for all kinds of reasons and really didn't see that it would be a bad thing. So it really is one of those "whatever floats your boat" decisions!

[Sillypuppy]

so the question remains, if you are feeding LB puppy food which is supposed to slow growth then why switch to adult food to slow growth when the LB puppy food is already doing that?

[SIZE=3][FONT=century gothic][COLOR=indigo]Gracey is now 8 months old and is at 60 pounds and still growing. She was just Neutered and is just in great shape. I'll keep her on her current diet for another four months and then we'll switch to "big girl" food. I'm amazed at how big she is but she still seems to be a baby at heart.

[kitkat]

Yes, I had problems with it, and have read of others have problems. Unlike many other foods in the Nutro natural choice line, it has both wheat and corn, which can be allergenic to dogs.

Suzie

[CanyonLabradors]

Our first lab was on Iams LB formula up until a year. He was always on the thin side. 80 pounds now, but still on the lean side.

Our second got switched from Proplan LB puppy to Proplan adult at 9 months. I got tired of her leaving her food and sneaking the adult food.

Both now eat the same, Proplan Turkey and Barley.

[duckbagger]

I have my young lady (10 months) on Nutro Large Breed Puppy Food. Her coat and teeth are very healthy. I constantly get compliments on her beautiful coat and white teeth.

LB Puppy food is designed to have low levels of calcium and phosphorus. Not to slow growth but keep bone growth more at the pace of joint/muscle growth. Thus, in theory reducing hip complications that arise from feeding factors.

For that reason, some vets, pros, food manufactures who believe in low calcium/phosphorus food blends will recommend keeping puppies on LB food at least until 12 months and even until 24 months.

I am somewhat intrigued with holistic foods such as Eagle Pack and Cannidae, and I have been mixing Cannidae in with Nutro LB puppy food to transition my pup into adult food.

Currently to my knowledge there are 3 brands that market LB puppy foods intentionally low in Calcium and Phosphorus: Eukanuba, Nutro, Eagle Pack and these all have Glucosamine and Chondroitin as well.

Hope this sheds some light in the issue.