Transitioning Puppy food to Adult dog food

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PreciousSheltie

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Precious is 11 months turning 1 years old soon and she's almost done her last bag of puppy food and I will need to start looking to buy another bag. I realized I should probably buy an adult bag. I tried looking through the forums but other than some of the members saying the puppies should have transitioned when they were younger, there wasn't too much info. I don't know if we're too late but any advice on when and how to change her food would be great.

As a puppy we went through Wellness puppy food, Holistic Blend (canadian brand), half a bag of TOTW (just doesn't suit Precious at all), so back to Wellness Puppy food, and then back to a different flavor 2nd bag of Holistic Blend which we're finishing up now.

So as an adult, I'm thinking adult flavors of Wellness would be a for sure brand to use to rotate between every 2 or 3 months for Precious as she favors their kibble, and two other brands I wanted to try once were Acana and Fromm. These are just rough ideas of where I want to go with her diet, hopefully someone can give some advice for this puppy-to-adult food transition. Thanks
 
At 11 months old and most likely full grown, you can start changing her to adult food. You can also wait a month or so if you want to. It won't hurt her. I think two of the biggest differences between adult and puppy food is the protein and fat content. Puppy food as more fat and protein. I think puppy food might have some more calcium too.

I usually transition my dogs from puppy to adult food at around a year old.

Just transition Precious the same way you transitioned her to different puppy food brands and she should be fine.
 
take4roll10 said:
At 11 months old and most likely full grown, you can start changing her to adult food. You can also wait a month or so if you want to. It won't hurt her. I think two of the biggest differences between adult and puppy food is the protein and fat content. Puppy food as more fat and protein. I think puppy food might have some more calcium too.

I usually transition my dogs from puppy to adult food at around a year old.

Just transition Precious the same way you transitioned her to different puppy food brands and she should be fine.
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I think that was my biggest deciding factor in staying on the puppy food as long as I could, the more fat and protein, Precious has always been on the very thin side without eating any more than I already feed her (she gets full). Alot of people try hard to restrain fat content on their shelties as they're said to get overweight easily as they get older. I guess for me, the past 8 months with Precious has always been a struggle to keep as much fat content as I could in her meals because of how thin she always was. Yes, still under 10 lbs but very furry and long. She's been the same weight as ever but vet don't find anything wrong, healthy as can be everytime we go in for walk in weigh ins. It just surprised us all because she HAS grown, has gotten bigger,and longer but somehow is still the same weight as she was when she was ..... 5 months or so. it's surprising but her energy level is high, not lethargic at all, no other notable concerns at all, so I guess she just burns too much off.. Mmm but yes thank you for letting me know that it's still okay to wait a month, I will definitely do that and do it after she's over a year old. Will transition slowly!
 
I switched Pyper over to adult food about a month ago. Just do it very slowly. I started when I still had a half bag of puppy food left. I also got the same brand of adult food as the puppy food she was on. I feed Artemis. We had no problems at all.

I think you are right to keep her on puppy food as long as possible. She's very light. You might even go to 18 months. Check with your vet.
 
dmeyer123 said:
I switched Pyper over to adult food about a month ago. Just do it very slowly. I started when I still had a half bag of puppy food left. I also got the same brand of adult food as the puppy food she was on. I feed Artemis. We had no problems at all.

I think you are right to keep her on puppy food as long as possible. She's very light. You might even go to 18 months. Check with your vet.
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Thank you so much for that advice, will definitely ask the vet next time I`m in in October about her food and possibly keeping her on puppy food well past her 1st year date for our case with Precious. I was worried cause someone in another thread advised at like 6 months.. And there was no way I'd switch it then even if I knew earlier.

Feeding Precious heart worm medications over this summer was equally as hard because we needed to go in every single month to reweigh cause Precious is right at the mark where she`s under 10 lbs and they keep thinking she`s going to grow heavier but she hasnt. She`s actually grown lighter from her last visit in the beginning of August compared to her September weight. So yes, I try hard to keep her as heavy fed as I can just for the weight. Precious`s sister was VERY lean built as well, including her mother so I`m sure it`s genetics so for sure Precious will be long and lean as an adult but still. Just want to make sure!
 
Justice was very thin as a young puppy. He burned off everything I gave him. I switched him to Eagle Pak preformance. This wa 8yr old and alot has change with food and many more choices. I had him on raw for almost 1 yr and he was eating 4% of his body weight and he was started losing weight(muscle tone was great just no fat). I now do a mix of Grain free Fromm(both favors), and raw a couple times a week for his teeth. I have found over the years he needs atleast 18-20% fat and around 30%(dry) to maintain his weight anything less and he gets so skinny even at 9yrs old. Diva is really similar to Justice but not quite as bad. Ember is a see food sheltie. As in she will gain weight if she looks at food.

I really like the Fromm grain free formulas. The girls are eating the same as meat got so ridiculous priced here for awhile that I was going broke with the amount I had to fed Justice and Diva. If Precious is used to rotating her diet you shouldn't need much of a transition. Just add a bit more each day. Frankly my guys are used to varying diets and can switch cold turkey as long as there are not grains present. They are not used to grains. If she isn't add 1/8 of the new food every 2-3 days and switch over the a couple weeks. Some dogs need a longer transition it just depends on how sensitive they are.
 
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Justicemom said:
Justice was very thin as a young puppy. He burned off everything I gave him. I switched him to Eagle Pak preformance. This wa 8yr old and alot has change with food and many more choices. I had him on raw for almost 1 yr and he was eating 4% of his body weight and he was started losing weight(muscle tone was great just no fat). I now do a mix of Grain free Fromm(both favors), and raw a couple times a week for his teeth. I have found over the years he needs atleast 18-20% fat and around 30%(dry) to maintain his weight anything less and he gets so skinny even at 9yrs old. Diva is really similar to Justice but not quite as bad. Ember is a see food sheltie. As in she will gain weight if she looks at food.

I really like the Fromm grain free formulas. The girls are eating the same as meat got so ridiculous priced here for awhile that I was going broke with the amount I had to fed Justice and Diva. If Precious is used to rotating her diet you shouldn't need much of a transition. Just add a bit more each day. Frankly my guys are used to varying diets and can switch cold turkey as long as there are not grains present. They are not used to grains. If she isn't add 1/8 of the new food every 2-3 days and switch over the a couple weeks. Some dogs need a longer transition it just depends on how sensitive they are.
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Diva and Justice definitely sound like Precious. I guess maybe some dogs just have... faster metabolisms like humans do?? Your response definitely was insightful to read, glad Precious and I are not the only one with this weight-keeping-ON problem. And I will indeed go forward with purchasing a bag of Fromm to use on top of other brands to try, glad to see it works for you! Again, thanks Justicemom!
 
My Liam is the same - very skinny and will eat anything and everything in sight and not gain weight. But he is a very active dog - always pacing or on the move. I put him on adult food when I got him at 10 months.

Emma I switched over to adult food starting around 11 months. I just watch how much I give her of the Summit Holistic.
 
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