I am wondering how many breeders feed their pups adult food vs puppy food and from what age?

I am not even sure if this question deserves a response, but I feed all of my puppies puppy food until at least six months of age. That is also when I switch them from three meals to two meals a day. Unless your food is an all liofe stages food they should be eating puppy formula until at least six mnths of age.

You would be surprised to know the number of top Labrador breeders who feed pups adult. I was, 25 years of feeding Lab puppies, puppy food and I am now feeding a puppy adult! The very well respected breeder told me to keep the pup on adult. The pup is
thriving, Nutra-venison and potato. Great coat, perfect stool, growing just right! Maybe some of these breeders are on to something?

We all do something different and alike. The six month is a good measure. I have had very bulky pups that I went on and switched to adult at 4 or 5 mos. and have had pup that I left on puppy for 9 mos. It still depends a little on the pup. I have always used puppy and puppy on my girls in whelp toward the end. Been breeding over 25 years for the experience question that will come.

Answer this question for me please.

What kind of puppy food does a mother wolf or fox feed its young? Does mom know instinctively to hunt special rabbits for her 4 month old puppies? Does she look at the calendar and switch to less protein when the puppies are nearing 6 months?

Seems like a bit of marketing mumbo jumbo if you ask me. And please, do not tell me the research shows this or that, the dog food companies begin with their intended outcome in mind and then do the research form fitting the results to support the need for more SKU filling up shelf space in the stores.

What makes sense? Overfeeding your growing puppy is insane.

As much as dogs, wolves and foxes are all canines, dogs are not wild animals. There are many similarities, but they are domesticated, not just tame.

No disrespect to the the people using that correlation, but the approach to dogs of what they do "in the wild" doesn't always apply to dogs.

In the wild it is also survival of the fittest. Many die from lack of food, disease, and other things. Some wolf pups do well on whatever rabbit mom brings to her pups, some don't and die.

Mike

I think the bigger issue here is how much exercise do our dogs get on a daily basis. Any dog can get fat if it sits around the house all day. There is no exact amount of food for which all puppies should be fed. If they're over weight, give them some more exercise and maybe a little less food. And if they are too skinny they what benefit from more calories in their diet.

Ok, Mike, I am trying to follow. What about wolf packs in captivity. The fine people at Wolf Park do not feed special feed for puppies, they use dead animals or let mom hunt. They live long lives without being hunted.

Let's expand this discussion a bit.

Why does a puppy need more nutrition (not calories) than an adult? And, if not, why did all the dog food companies ramp back the idea of giving a growing puppy so much extra - hence large breed puppy, and so on?

This is a valid point. The idea of giving more to a puppy is driven by Purina, Iams and the rest.

Marketing driven science is not that sound.

When you bring up the issue of wolves taken care of by humans, you are negating the whole arguement. Once man steps in, it's no longer natural. They are sure to get enough to eat in this situation.

I agree with Mike about the whole "what wolves do in the wild" arguement. When this is brought up, it is rarely admitted that wolves in the wild simply don't live as long as their domesticated relatives.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not big on pushing puppy growth too fast. I usually feed puppy food for about 4 months then switch to adult food.

We have changed so many things about domestic dogs through selective breeding; including pack behaviour, and nutritional needs that I don't think the wolf analogy always applies to dogs.

I hear so many people using the "in the wild" reasoning for everything from food to behavior,I have said it myself, but I have never seen or heard of a Labrador in the wild.

I believe there may also be some question whether wolves in captivity behave the same way as wolves in the wild.

I'm not a scientist or behaviorist, but I know, though dogs may be related to wolves, they are not wolves.

Mike

A vet specialist recommended I feed my growing puppy a good quality adult dog food, all natural preferably. He said that the puppy food makes their bones grow to fast. No bashing please, it is what I was told.

Can't help but agree. My dogs are not wolves and would certainly not survive in the wild. The idea that we should feed our dogs the same diet as wolves seems to me as logical as suggesting we ourselves eat what the caveman ate. I don't see anyone suggesting that. Wild dogs or wolves eat what they have to eat to survive, period. We know so much about nutrition these days, both for ourselves and our animals why would we go backwards?

There are a lot of breeders who feed adult food to puppies and they certainly seem to do no harm. What we know is that large breed puppies need fewer calories during times of high growth. Just look at a bag of any large breed puppy food and you will see high protein, lower fat and fewer calories vs small breed puppy (which used to be the basis of all puppy food)which is high protein, fat and calories. So, is there likely much difference between large breed puppy food and adult food, not much. Adult in many brands is actually slightly higher fat but similar calories to large breed puppy. I tend to go with company recommendation because they know their product best.

Just my 2 cents.

I am one of those who believes in adult food for large breed puppies. I have fed my puppies only adult food for the last decade or so, right from their very first meal. We have had very, very few orthopedic problems feeding this way. Our litters have a slow and even growth rate on adult food.

When I was a kid growing up, the only dog food in the stores were good old Adult Dog Food, Purina Kibble. We fed our pet pups all the years Purina Kibble then somewhere along the line came the " Money Making Dog Food Companies " that insist that puppies need to be on puppy kibble and not just any puppy kibble, now they have selective kibble for every breed Royal C. for one. I think we've been had by all the gimicky dog food brands.

Also, somewhere along the line, breeders have been breeding allergies and food sensative dogs which has pushed the need for dog food companies to make speciality diet kibble.

what about an all life stage food that is 30/20 protein/fat ratio?
Is this too high?

Much too high for my liking. Remember it's not what they call the food (adult, puppy, whatever) that's important, but what the analysis actually is.

I know a breeder I have spoken to claims that Labradors need more protein than some other breeds and that they should be eating a food that contains a ratio of at least 28% protein and 18% fat. Any truth to this?

"I am not even sure if this question deserves a response, but I feed all of my puppies puppy food until at least six months of age. That is also when I switch them from three meals to two meals a day. Unless your food is an all liofe stages food they should be eating puppy formula until at least six mnths of age. "

I don't agree with you Herbert and the question does deserve a response. If you didn't want to reply you don't have to. Everyone does it differently so the OP had a good question.

I take my pups off puppy food by 6 mo at the latest. I begin to change over so they are totally off puppy food at 6 mo. I begin the change at 4.5 to 5 mo.

If you read the bag, you would overfeed and leave them on puppy food until 12 to 18 mo.

I like my pups off puppy food by 6 mo for good reasons. I don't want to grow them too fast and any pet homes are told to do the same. Funny thing, many of their vets tell them to stay on puppy food until 12 mo. or longer which is absurd.

You asked a good question Curious Breeder.

I agree, how can you respond by saying the question does not deserve a response? There is so much conflicting information out there about what to feed, what not to feed, what age to change from puppy to adult food. Remember what brought the general public to believe to feed their puppies puppy food for a full year was the Purina Puppy Chow commercials.

I do the same as the above posters, feed my pups puppy food until 6 months. At about 5 and 1/2 months I start half puppy and half adult to get them used to the change and adult from then on.

Thank you all for your responses.
So many conflicting views on ratios but it does seem to be most are using adult by 6 mos.
I currently feed an all life stage 30/20 and I am very unsure of how to proceed on my 6 month old boy from here.
He has maintained excellent bone and body up until this point and I'm afraid to change what's not broke but the 20/30 does bother me as some say it's going to cause ortho problems.
This is not a huge puppy so fast growth is not an issue at this point otherwise I would know to switch to lower content asap.
I am just afraid to lower/change what I am feeding because if he loses bone and body, I will blame myself for changing.
If he ends up unsound later, I will blame myself for NOT changing!
What to do......

I've fed 30/20 to all my dogs from weaning to death for 15 years. I'm not a large kennel and only have a litter or two a year. But, I have not experienced any growth problems or (knock on wood)had anyone who didn't pass OFA. I'm not changing what I do because it obviously works for my lines!

Asking questions about food on here are about as definative as asking what the weather is today. Everyones answer is different depending where they are coming from!

I also have fed 30/20 to all of my dogs from weaning until death for the past 11 years. If an individual starts to gain too much weight I cut back on the amount I feed that dog. Hips have always been good or excellent. I personally feel that canines need higher protein and fat and weight gains are more common in high carb diets and not high protein diets. They are also worked hard and have never suffered an injury or ACL tear.

I'm not a nutritionist, but I don't see a whole lot of difference between what I feed the adults (25/18) and what most of the puppy foods are, in the way of protein and fat. However, I did talk to a vet nutritionist who claims that the calcium for puppies should be 1.0 or lower. Most adult foods are 1.3 or more. I have tried a couple of the puppy foods and I mix with my adult food until about 7 months.

Older N Wiser wrote....

When I was a kid growing up, the only dog food in the stores were good old Adult Dog Food, Purina Kibble. We fed our pet pups all the years Purina Kibble then somewhere along the line came the " Money Making Dog Food Companies " that insist that puppies need to be on puppy kibble and not just any puppy kibble, now they have selective kibble for every breed Royal C. for one. I think we've been had by all the gimicky dog food brands.

Also, somewhere along the line, breeders have been breeding allergies and food sensative dogs which has pushed the need for dog food companies to make speciality diet kibble.


totally agreement here!

http://www.b-naturals.com/newsletter/puppy-protein/