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  1. #1
    Puppy
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    How long should I feed my puppy, puppy food?

    Hey folks,

    I'm trying to figure out how long I should be feeding my (Lab) puppy, puppy food. The directions on the back of the bag only address weight : feeding amount ratios. It doesn't say how long I should be feeding puppy mix, as opposed to an adult mix.

    Is there some sort of an outline? A Google search of this taught me that this is specific to each breed, but I couldn't find the suggestions for Labs in particular.

    Can anybody provide me with some answers?

    Thanks!

  2. #2
    Senior Dog smartrock's Avatar
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    You will probably get a few different answers here as well. If you got your puppy from a good breeder of labs, my first suggestion would be to ask him or her when to make the switch. They should know what their labs do best eating. Some breeders even skip the puppy food and go to an All Life Stages formula.

    I got my labs from 2 different breeders, both of whom said to switch to adult food around 4 months. Others have said to make the switch after their baby teeth come out and are replaced by their adult teeth, still others have said they were told to keep their dogs on puppy food for the first year. Assuming the breeders I worked with knew what worked best for their lines, I switched mine to adult food by 5 months of age. At about 4 months, my younger pup was having some GI issues and my vet had suggested a change of food. When I said I was having trouble finding a fish-based puppy food, he said she no longer needed to be on puppy food anyway. I delayed changing that pup's food to adult until the GI problems were done.

    Adult foods do not need to control the calcium and phosphorus level as closely as puppy food does. I've read that labs do best with a lower calcium level and calcium to phosphorus ratio (which should be in the 1:1 to 1.3:1 range) until their bones are mostly done growing. That might be the ones who say to switch at 1 year of age. Our breeders were feeding ProPlan, which adheres to those ranges in both puppy and adult formulas but this is not to recommend ProPlan or any other specific brand. Just saying there are adult foods that meet these recommendations.

  3. #3
    Senior Dog
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    We usually switch ours around 4-5 months.
    Annette

    Cookie (HIT HC Jamrah's Legally Blonde, UDX, OM2, BN) 6/4/2015
    Sassy (HIT Jamrah's Blonde Ambition, UDX, OM2, BN) 6/4/2015

    Chloe (HIT HC OTCH Windsong's Femme Fatale, UDX4, OM6, RE) 6/7/2009

    And remembering:

    Scully (HC Coventry's Truth Is Out There, UD, TD, RN) 4/14/1996 - 6/30/2011
    Mulder (Coventry's I Want To Believe, UD, RN, WC) 5/26/1999 - 4/22/2015

    And our foster Jolie (Windsong's Genuine Risk, CDX) 5/26/1999 - 3/16/2014

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  4. #4
    Moderator
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    I second the recommendation to check with your breeder.

    I kept Sophie on Royal Canin Lab Puppy for the recommended 15 months, then switched to an adult food, which was recalled about a month after I switched over, I ended up going to Fromm 4 Star.

    I had planned the same program for Bruce. However, I found out that Royal Canin had changed thier US formula's at some point, so the food was completely different than the food in the UK. Once I figured out what was going on, I switched Bruce over the Fromm Large Breed Puppy, them to 4 Star when he was 8 months old.

    I think as long as you are feed an all life stage food, you can change over at 4-5 months with much trouble.

  5. #5
    Senior Dog labsnewfy's Avatar
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    I usually switch mine over to adult food around 6 months of age, Bailey was the only one I kept on puppy food until he was about 8/9 months old.
    Hidden Content

    Coleman - CGC blk lab 6/02/97-2/25/08 adopted
    Tootsie - choc lab 10/19/99-8/03/13 adopted
    Bailey - CGC newf/fc 7/12/00-07/15/14 rescued
    Ginger - BT 11/16/05 - 10/14/19 rescued
    Sarah - blk lab 6/22/06 - 12/30/19 rescued
    rescued felines - AJ - 8/00 - 1/11, Merlin - 5/20/05-8/23/21
    Tucker - 8/3/10, Penny - 7/7/13, Toby - 6/14/21

  6. #6
    House Broken
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    I think it is up to you and your vet. My dog is on the petite size and we decide to feed her puppy food until 15 months old. If you think your puppy is growing very fast, then maybe you need to switch to adult food sooner.

  7. #7
    Senior Dog ZoeysMommy's Avatar
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    its a personal choice, there is no right or wrong answer. I switched my lab at 9 months.

 



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