Switching...

[aussieowner]

Hi all,

What age should a Frenchie be before you switch from puppy to adult food? Is it around 12 months, or should it be longer?

Sorry for the ignorance!! :o

aussieowner

[Carolyn]

Hi Aussieowner. Many on this site feed raw and so this is a non-issue with them....I think....don't know that much about raw. I used to keep my dogs on puppy kibble for about a year but many recommend switching much sooner and I would now agree. How old is Mac? What are you feeding him.

Hugs to Mac. ;) Carolyn

[WhitneysMom]

This is a good question not a stupid one! pertaining to kibble. I will switch around 6 months, some say you can wait til 1 year. puppy food is higher in fat and other thing to aid in the important growth of your pup, Whit needs to fill out some more and if she hasn't I will keep her on the puppy food (kibble) for a bit longer. Everyone will have a different view but I believe most of the puppy food will say feed til 6 months. Raw depends on the brand/type and is by weight & age.

[franp]

Hi all,

What age should a Frenchie be before you switch from puppy to adult food? Is it around 12 months, or should it be longer?

Sorry for the ignorance!! :o

aussieowner

I feed raw and if I got a pup today would not even use puppy food. I would just start on raw.

Many breeders I know that use kibble do not use puppy food. They feel that a quality kibble is giving the dog/pup all that it needs and extra fat is not going to do anything but make a dog fat..So they give adult food from the time the dog is weaned.

In defense of this, puppy food is a relatively new marketing ploy..And I tend to agree.
How old is your dog?If it is more than 6 months IMO ,switch now.

[aussieowner]

Thanks for all the responses! Mac is currently eating California Natural. He's about 10 months now and we are nearly finished his bag of puppy food. This got me thinking about when to switch to adult food. Seems like I should consider doing it at the end of the bag! :)

[franp]

Thanks for all the responses! Mac is currently eating California Natural. He's about 10 months now and we are nearly finished his bag of puppy food. This got me thinking about when to switch to adult food. Seems like I should consider doing it at the end of the bag! :)

Aussieowner, I like to transition food slowly .Don't wait till you are finished with the food.

Start mixing the adult food with the puppy food; 25% adult to 75% puppy for a couple of days. Then slowly change the %. If Mac has loose stool at any point then go back to more puppy and less adult..I usually transition in about a week.

[aussieowner]

I would always "transition" Mac slowly from puppy to adult - I guess i didn't express myself particularly well in the previous post! Thanks Fran!! :)

[franp]

Cool!! :D I am a worry wart.Better safe than sorry..!

[aussieowner]

An interesting and sort of related story with transitioning between foods...

When Mac was about 4 or 5 months he stopped eating his food. Just did not like it anymore (he was on Science diet at the time).

Anyway, when my husband and I finally realised that there was no way he was going to eat the Science diet anymore, we decided to try something new, California Natural. As with any change of food, we mixed it up with the Science diet so as to not upset his tummy too much.

The problem was, Mac would just eat the California Natural, leaving the Science Diet. There was no way he would eat the Science Diet, even if mixed.

In the end, I have to be honest, we gave up mixing, but by that stage Mac seemed to be fine with the California Natural. He has never been disinterested in his food since we changed too! :D

P.S. I am a worry wart too... these Frenchies are far too special not to be!!

[franp]

There are allot of people I know that do not transition PUPPIES..Thier stomachs seem to tolerate change somewhat easier.
And there are allot of people who switch to raw without transitioning without problem as well.

It would be my luck that Dari would not do well.So, I did it slowly....Like you. :lol:

Thankfully both our dogs ended up exactly where they should! appicon

[adora's mom]

I stopped feeding puppy food to Adora when she was about 4 months old. She was eating California Natural and it wasn't agreeing with her (and she was growing fast!) so we started using Canidae (all life-stages) and she does well on it, I just fed her the puppy portion until she was about 6 months. Now, if I find out it contains ethoxyquin...well...I don't know what I'll do! :confused:

[franp]

I stopped feeding puppy food to Adora when she was about 4 months old. She was eating California Natural and it wasn't agreeing with her (and she was growing fast!) so we started using Canidae (all life-stages) and she does well on it, I just fed her the puppy portion until she was about 6 months. Now, if I find out it contains ethoxyquin...well...I don't know what I'll do! :confused:
RAW!!!! :D

[LinoD]

RAW!!!! :D

i'll second that... RAW !!!! i've never seen Franky so excited to eat ! he loves the stuff !!!!