# When did you switch from puppy to adult food?



## Skylar (Jul 29, 2016)

When did you switch from puppy to adult food?

Was there any criteria you met? Was it when your vet said to do so?

I think size matters because the smaller the dog in general the earlier they finish growing. Please include which variety poodle you have.


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## twyla (Apr 28, 2010)

Six months or basically for Leonard my toy boy, same with the girls


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## Skylar (Jul 29, 2016)

Twyla, was it 6 mont because they were fully grown? Or because they tired of the puppy food?


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## cowpony (Dec 30, 2009)

Galen started pushing Pogo out of his bowl pretty early. Galen started eating at least 50% adult food by 4 months and was on mainly adult food by six months. The same thing happened with Ritter, although I have been able to keep Ritter eating at least some puppy food into his 7th month. I consulted with my vet, and he felt the adult foods my puppies wanted offered enough protein and minerals that my picky puppies would be fine.


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## Oonapup (Oct 16, 2020)

Oona (standard poodle)is an only dog so didn’t have an opportunity to sample anyone else’s kibble and decide it was more delicious. I transitioned her to adult food starting at 12 months.


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## Asta's Mom (Aug 20, 2014)

Asta, my standard poodle was transitioned to a All Life Stages at about six months. When he was three, I transitioned him to a recommend PPP which gave him bad constipation and diarrhea. Vet said try Science Diet (the regular not the prescription) and has worked out very well. Wanted him to have a grain inclusive food. 
He loves the Science Diet, has perfect poops and his coat has improved.
You might have some trial and error finding the right food. I used Chewy and they were great - sending new food to try and said to donate the food that didn't work to a shelter or rescue.


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## Johanna (Jun 21, 2017)

I changed Zoe over at 12 months since she is a small mini. When I had standards, I kept them on puppy food until 18 months.


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## Skylar (Jul 29, 2016)

Thanks everyone for your answers. I had planned to keep Theo on puppy food til he was a year old, but I didn't know why I picked "a year" as the end point. I know puppy food is higher in protein, fat and other nutrients for a quick growing puppy.

He's 8 months old now, an oversized minipoo and I think he's at his full height, but he definitely has to fill in with muscle. At some point I will need to slowly transition him to adult food.... and I guess in the next few months?


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## Starla (Nov 5, 2020)

I’ve always switched mine at a year old, because that’s what the bag says. I’ve been pondering this recently myself, like do I switch after her first heat or wait until a year. I’m glad you asked so I have some thoughts from others as well!


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## Starvt (Nov 5, 2019)

Raffi I started switching at maybe 15 months, and I mixed adult with puppy for several months. He's always been verrrry lean- as in his hips jut out like a supermodel. This spring I couldn't get my usual Science Diet and Royal Canin, so I used ProPlan for three months and both my dogs loved it, ate a lot (my mastiff is normally a light eater), but they both noticeably lost weight. I put them both on puppy food again for a while, and Raffi has filled out nicely so he's back on adult. He's two.
I've had various large breed dogs over the years, and I use 9-18 months as a rough time frame, and look at their body condition, amount of activity, and how much supplemental feeding they get (eg treats for training).
For small- medium dogs I suggest about 6-12 months. Sometimes I see small breed dogs that are already carrying a bit of excess weight at 6 months so I will recommend switching them to adult asap.


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## Skylar (Jul 29, 2016)

Starla, I’m glad I asked too.


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## Basil_the_Spoo (Sep 1, 2020)

Our story is simple

Basil (Spoo)

Kibble:
6weeks -> 52 weeks = Acana Puppy/Junior kibble (orange bag)
52 weeks-now = Acana Red Meat Recipe (Red bag)

Then, Basil's has supplemental meals. 1 chicken thigh or 2 chicken legs (boneless, instant pot cooked) every day for breakfast handfed. Yes, I know lean is better, but I need convenience and cost. For lunch, Grandma makes a her "special" chicken lunch.


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## Rose n Poos (Sep 22, 2017)

My vet at the time recommended the 1 year mark. I read around a bit, concluded that it was beneficial to finish out puppy growth beyond size alone and was going to wait til 1 year. I ended up switching about a month earlier.

At 11 months Remo suddenly wasn't too interested in one of the kibbles that I was rotating and since I was back on the carousel to find a new kibble, I decided to just go for it then. That quest went on longer than I'd expected but finally found a winning kibble that they'd both eat.


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## WinnieThePoodle (Sep 1, 2020)

I changed Winnie over at about 9 or 10 months. She was finishing her bag of puppy food and rather than buy more puppy food I thought it would be a good time to switch to the adult version. She had more or less stopped growing by then too.


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## twyla (Apr 28, 2010)

Skylar said:


> Twyla, was it 6 mont because they were fully grown? Or because they tired of the puppy food?


Because they were fully grown according to my vet


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## PsychoBunny (Jun 12, 2021)

Basil_the_Spoo said:


> Our story is simple
> 
> Basil (Spoo)
> 
> ...


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## PsychoBunny (Jun 12, 2021)

Handfed! I did this always with our last dog before he passed. I won’t even hesitate to do it again


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## PsychoBunny (Jun 12, 2021)

PsychoBunny said:


> Handfed! I did this always with our last dog before he passed. I won’t even hesitate to do it again
> Also, Bunny is on Fromm large breed puppy. We also feed her farmina as Peggy the parti said. She’s a grazer so good is available all the time.


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## 94Magna_Tom (Feb 23, 2021)

Elroy is still on puppy food. My vet suggested after one year (12 months), get a bag of adult food and when your last bag of puppy food gets sufficiently low, begin the mix/transition. Time it to coincide with using up the puppy food. I guess that's what I intend to do, although @Johanna, why the 18 month transition? Elroy is a SPOO so maybe its better to wait longer?



Johanna said:


> I changed Zoe over at 12 months since she is a small mini. When I had standards, I kept them on puppy food until 18 months.


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## Skylar (Jul 29, 2016)

94Magna_Tom said:


> My vet suggested after one year (12 months), get a bag of adult food and when your last bag of puppy food gets sufficiently low, begin the mix/transition. Time it to coincide with using up the puppy food.


 That’s a good plan 

Tom, your question for Johanna is basically the same that I was questioning? Who set this recommendation of 1 yr on puppy food? And why?

I assume Johanna will answer it’s because spoos aren’t fully grown till 18 months.


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## SirWinston (Feb 20, 2021)

Excellent questions! Was wondering same thing for Winston. Will be one this week. Weirdly enough, his large breed puppy food bag (Purina Pro Plan Sensitive) says for under 1 y/o BUT feeding guideline on back goes to 2 y/o? At 60+ pounds, I can only hope that is done growing (please!).


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## TeamHellhound (Feb 5, 2021)

I switched to an all life stages food a few months ago, mainly so that I wouldn't have to buy one food for my senior girls (ages 9 and 7) and another food for Simon (then 4.5 months old). 

For previous dogs: My Standard Rat Terrier was switched from puppy to adult food at 12 months old. My mutt was switched from large breed puppy food to regular adult food around ten months. My GSD ate nothing but adult food from the time I rescued her at 12 weeks old.


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## Rose n Poos (Sep 22, 2017)

Puppy food is formulated to meet the demands of rapid growth, and in the case of larger breeds, to "slow" it down a bit to give optimal orthopedic support. 

A vet’s view on when to stop feeding puppy food to your dog | PetsRadar 
When to Switch From Puppy to Adult Food | PetMD

Puppy Food differences








Trouble in the kitchen...


So I brought home my two new puppies and they are on a mixture of Eukanuba and Bill-Jac food. My senior toy (a very healthy 12 yr old) is on Earthborne Holistic food. She has decided she wants the puppy food and will dump her food and glare at the puppies as they gobble up their food. She flat...




www.poodleforum.com





Excerpts from What is Large Breed Puppy Food – Puppy Food for Large Breed Dogs | PetMD

_Puppies that are going to grow up to be big dogs are predisposed to developmental orthopedic diseases (DOD) like osteochondritis dissecans and hip and elbow dysplasia. (I use an adult weight of 55 pounds as my somewhat arbitrary division between medium and large dogs.) Nutrition, or to be precise, over-nutrition, is an important risk factor of DOD.

The number one goal when it comes to feeding large breed puppies is to avoid overfeeding, particularly when it comes to calories. By restricting caloric intake slightly, we can slow the puppy’s rate of growth. They still get as big as they would otherwise; it just takes them a little longer to get there. Puppies fed in this way are also slim, which decreases the load that their maturing frames need to carry. Large breed puppy foods achieve these results by having a reduced fat content, and since fat is the most calorie-dense nutrient category in food, the diet is therefore somewhat restricted in calories.

In general, foods designed for large breed puppies have a fat content of between 8% and 12% on a dry matter basis while standard puppy foods often contain between 10% and 25% fat. Of course, the benefits of fat and calorie restriction can be completely undone if a dog eats too much of the food. Large breed puppies should almost invariably be fed several measured meals throughout the day rather than being allowed to eat free choice.

Getting too much calcium in the diet and eating foods with a high calcium to phosphorus ratio also increases the risk of DOD in these dogs. Therefore, large breed puppy foods typically contain less calcium than do “regular” puppy foods and the manufacturers keep the ratio of calcium and phosphorus within fairly narrow limits. Veterinary nutritionists don’t agree as to what the exact levels of these nutrients should be, but the following recommendations are fairly typical.



While feeding a large breed puppy food does not completely eliminate a dog’s risk for DOD (genetics plays a big part as well), offering the right amount of the right diet is very important._


Typical Growth charts
Your Poodle Size Guide: Toy, Mini, Standard - HoundGames
Toy









Miniature









Standard










PROVET HEALTHCARE INFORMATION - Growth Plate Closure Times - Dogs

In evaluating radiographs of the skeleton of young animals it is important to know the usual closure times of growth plates in order to decide whether there is premature, or delayed closure.

The following tables list the range and average closure times (in days after birth) reported by different authors worldwide. 

*TABLE - DOGS*


*Growth Plate*​*Closure - Range (days)*​*Closure - Average (days)*​*FORELIMB*​​Tuber scapulae117-210​186​Proximal humeral epiphysis273-465​375​Medial and lateral humeral condyles138-236​187​Medial humeral epicondyle187-240​216​Proximal radial epiphysis136-330​258​Distal radial epiphysis136-510​318​Proximal ulnar epiphysis161-450​258​Distal ulnar epiphysis217-450​308​Intermediate and radial carpal bones​101​Central carpal bone​110​Epiphysis of accessory bone113-180​135​Proximal metacarpal epiphysis​145​Distal metacarpal epiphysis II-V165-240​203​Proximal phalangeal epiphysis I​141​Proximal phalanx proximal epiphysis II-V131-224​186​Middle phalanx. proximal epiphysis II-V131-224​183​*PELVIS*​​Acetabulum​112​Ilium​112​Ischium​112​Pubis​112​Tuber ischii​292​*HINDLIMB*​​Femoral head129-540​320​Femur - greater trochanter129-540​320​Femur - lesser trochanter129-360​269​Distal femoral epiphysis136-392​330​Tibial condyles143-413​322​Tibial tuberosity143-435​249​Distal tibial epiphysis136-495​313​Medial tibial malleolus​138​Proximal fibular epiphysis136-360​297​Distal fibular epiphysis136-495​288​Fibular tarsal bone​159​Tarsal bones III and IV​101​Distal metatarsal epiphysis II-V165-270​217​Proximal phalangeal epiphysis II-V161-210​187​Middle phalanx - proximal epiphysis II-V161-210​187​
The range of time reported for closure can be quite great making interpretation for any individual animal difficult.


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

I wish I’d kept Peggy on puppy food until she was at least 18 months. If I’m recalling correctly, I fully transitioned her around 14 months, after which she had her most dramatic growth spurt.  With a smaller dog I’d be less concerned.


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## Peridot (Mar 2, 2020)

Skylar said:


> When did you switch from puppy to adult food?
> 
> Was there any criteria you met? Was it when your vet said to do so?
> 
> I think size matters because the smaller the dog in general the earlier they finish growing. Please include which variety poodle you have.


Hello. I have a Standard Poodle and he was switched into adult food at 18 months.


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## Peridot (Mar 2, 2020)

Rose n Poos said:


> Puppy food is formulated to meet the demands of rapid growth, and in the case of larger breeds, to "slow" it down a bit to give optimal orthopedic support.
> 
> A vet’s view on when to stop feeding puppy food to your dog | PetsRadar
> When to Switch From Puppy to Adult Food | PetMD
> ...


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## Peridot (Mar 2, 2020)

Thanks for your very interesting post. I've owned and shown Great Danes for 50 years and many Danes in the 70's had HOD scars from their surgeries during the 70's due to feeding "puppy formulated" food. As we all wised up to the detriments of too much calcium and high protein contents in "puppy food", it was dropped and adult kibble was started as soon as weaning ceased. I haven't seen a case of HOD surgery scars since the 80's. At least not in the ring or ringside. Two years ago, my husband and I acquired a Standard Poodle. This time we opted for the puppy formula but eventually switched to feeding "raw". Time will tell. I do know with certainty that it was not unusual for Danes to have much longer longevities in the 50's when people still fed table food to their dogs. All of my family companion animals grew up on the same food that we ate at our tables. The average life span of my 10 Danes over my 50 years in the breed has been a minimum of ten years and three living to be 13 years old.


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## TuttoBene (Apr 23, 2021)

We stopped puppy kibble, at around 6 months, when Tutto stop liking puppy kibble. We still give him some wet puppy food but basically he free feeds the kibble from the same bowl our greyhound eats from. The vet said he is in prime physical condition. I guess it’s working. There is an Italian saying that translates to “know your chickens “. So I think you have to know your poodle and take cues from them as to what will work.


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## hucks_pups (Sep 12, 2021)

Skylar said:


> When did you switch from puppy to adult food?
> 
> Was there any criteria you met? Was it when your vet said to do so?
> 
> I think size matters because the smaller the dog in general the earlier they finish growing. Please include which variety poodle you have.


I don’t, I feed Diamond Naturals Small Breed Puppy throughout their entire lives. It is an all stages dog food cleverly marketed as a puppyfood. I use DogFoodAdvisor to get all of my dog food information.


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## mvhplank (Dec 5, 2012)

I use NutriSource kibble from puppy onward. I had tried a variety of proteins in the brand until we figured out that the older dog (Neely) is allergic to chicken. Now I feed "Seafood Select," garnished with a bit of wet dog food.

The feeding instructions are based on age and weight, so now the younger dog, who just turned 2, is getting the adult portion.

Marguerite


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

Peridot said:


> Thanks for your very interesting post. I've owned and shown Great Danes for 50 years and many Danes in the 70's had HOD scars from their surgeries during the 70's due to feeding "puppy formulated" food. As we all wised up to the detriments of too much calcium and high protein contents in "puppy food", it was dropped and adult kibble was started as soon as weaning ceased. I haven't seen a case of HOD surgery scars since the 80's. At least not in the ring or ringside. Two years ago, my husband and I acquired a Standard Poodle. This time we opted for the puppy formula but eventually switched to feeding "raw". Time will tell. I do know with certainty that it was not unusual for Danes to have much longer longevities in the 50's when people still fed table food to their dogs. All of my family companion animals grew up on the same food that we ate at our tables. The average life span of my 10 Danes over my 50 years in the breed has been a minimum of ten years and three living to be 13 years old.


I thought large breed puppy food was lower in calcium than the average adult formula. Maybe this is a fairly recent change? Or maybe I’m mistaken.


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## Rose n Poos (Sep 22, 2017)

PeggyTheParti said:


> I thought large breed puppy food was lower in calcium than the average adult formula. Maybe this is a fairly recent change? Or maybe I’m mistaken.


It would be very interesting to see how the science of formulating foods has developed in the last decades. I haven't yet tried to research that.

Several factors come into play. (some of this posted above)
Excerpts from What is Large Breed Puppy Food – Puppy Food for Large Breed Dogs | PetMD

_*Puppies that are going to grow up to be big dogs are predisposed to developmental orthopedic diseases (DOD) l*ike osteochondritis dissecans and hip and elbow dysplasia. (I use an adult weight of 55 pounds as my somewhat arbitrary division between medium and large dogs.) *Nutrition, or to be precise, over-nutrition, is an important risk factor of DOD.

The number one goal when it comes to feeding large breed puppies is to avoid overfeeding, particularly when it comes to calories. By restricting caloric intake slightly, we can slow the puppy’s rate of growth. *They still get as big as they would otherwise; it just takes them a little longer to get there. Puppies fed in this way are also slim, which decreases the load that their maturing frames need to carry. *Large breed puppy foods achieve these results by having a reduced fat content, *and since fat is the most calorie-dense nutrient category in food, the diet is therefore somewhat restricted in calories.

In general, foods designed for l*arge breed puppies have a fat content of between 8% and 12% *on a dry matter basis while *standard puppy foods often contain between 10% and 25% fat.* Of course, the benefits of fat and calorie restriction can be completely undone if a dog eats too much of the food. Large breed puppies should almost invariably be fed several measured meals throughout the day rather than being allowed to eat free choice.

*Getting too much calcium in the diet and eating foods with a high calcium to phosphorus ratio also increases the risk of DOD in these dogs. Therefore, large breed puppy foods typically contain less calcium than do “regular” puppy foods and the manufacturers keep the ratio of calcium and phosphorus within fairly narrow limits. *Veterinary nutritionists don’t agree as to what the exact levels of these nutrients should be, but the following recommendations are fairly typical.



While feeding a large breed puppy food does not completely eliminate a dog’s risk for DOD (genetics plays a big part as well), offering the right amount of the right diet is very important._

Spoos have a large adult weight range, not all will cross into the "large" definitions above (also used by AAFCO) but the principle stands for spoos because of the possibility of orthopedic issues.


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