Member

Posts: 169
From:New York, USA
Registered: Aug 2003

posted 09-02-2003 09:07 AM         

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At what age do you stop feeding puppy food and start doing Adult food?

Max is still looking awfully thin. In the few hours after he eats his ribs are showing a little bit. We were feeding him Sciene Diet for Large Breed Puppies (he's a Lab Retreiver - Shar - pei Mix, 4 months old). We were going to start him on Innova but unfortunately we drove 45 mins to the Nature Food store that carries it and they were closed (silly us for not calling first). We needed food so we went to PetSmart and bought Nutro Max for Adults. Is it bad to feed him that? I guess the specific question is will the Adult formula or the puppy formula be better to put weight on him?

Thanks!

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Member

Posts: 926
From:
Registered: May 2003

posted 09-02-2003 09:33 AM         

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It depends on your dog. I have a yellow lab that was a roly poly bundle when we got him at 12 weeks he was twice the weight of his litter mate. Puppy food has all of the nutrients and fat for a growing dog. unfortunately, we learned that puppy food is very high in fat content and we continued to feed him this for a year. since he was so big to begin with we should have taken him off the puppy food at 6 months. (found out too late). he is 6 1/2 years and has been struggling with a weight problem all his life.
Now your dog is the opposite. Because he is thin, he needs the fat and nutrients in the puupy food. and should probably continue until a year old.

Now I will get on my soapbox for Innova. Please,if can put your dog on Innova. My overweight listless (And I mean listless) dog that got constant ear infections, hot spots, shedding was put on Innova 6 months ago. I have a new dog! He has lot 6#. He is sooo energetic, no hot spots and ear problems this summer, and he is shedding less.
just my 2 cents
Honeybear

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Member

Posts: 1179
From:,Calif. U.S.A.
Registered: Dec 2002

posted 09-02-2003 10:28 AM         

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I won't get on my soap box, honey bear has for me.Ok, maybe a liitle. What Innova did for us no more digestion problems for my poodle and no more itchy skin for my terrier. There must be an Innova seller closer to you. In my surrounding cities there is at least 5 places where I could go. If I were you I would call around. I think it was Nern here on Asspet that had the site where you could search your zip code and find out what stores carry it near you. You can post a message to him asking what that site addy was if you like. 45 minutes away is too much. Your in New York, aren't they supposed to have everything there.

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Member

Posts: 169
From:New York, USA
Registered: Aug 2003

posted 09-02-2003 10:49 AM         

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puttin - We live in Western NY in the boonies! But since you said that I did go to the Innova site and did another search just to make sure. When I didn't get any results under my city name (which I expected because we only have a gun shop and a hardware store here =), I put in the closest city to me. This time instead of putting in the city name I just put in the area code for that city (not the same as mine) and came up with a lot more possibilties some that are MUCH closer than 45 mins!! So thank you for being persistent! I would like to feed Max the best since we don't have any kids yet he is our baby and we want to do what's best for him.

I have to ask another question then.. I always hear it's good to change foods every few months or so. Is there any truth in that? If we like Innova and everyone feels strongly that it is a good food with all the right nutrients then why would we need to switch?

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Member

Posts: 1387
From:Portland, Oregon US
Registered: Sep 2003

posted 09-02-2003 01:36 PM         

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I grew up being told not to switch dogs food...I know have learned that you should mix it up to prevent allergies from developing. My dogs don't like Innova, they don't think it is yummy no matter how much I try to convince them. I am now feeding Canidae and they LOVE it. I have researched a bunch of foods and found a short list of ones to trade around with. You have to mix in the new food slowly though. I have on my list Canine Caviar, Timberwolf Organics, Natural Balance, Solid Gold Health, Wellness and Artemis would be my number one choice if it were sold in my area. I am trying to get the lady I buy my food from to carry it, she owns a small grooming shop with a do it yourself doggie wash and small retail area where she sells foods and toys etc. The problem is she and others who have small shops such as hers buy from a supplier, they buy in bulk so they can offer lower prices to the small businesses and they do not have that food yet. Whole Dog Journal had it listed number one and the comment said "awesome" in the Feb. 2003 issue, I checked it out and it looks great!
As far as when to feed adult food....I also did some reading on that. I did NOT want to "grow" my puppy, I wanted him to grow and develope at a natural rate. Some people want to grow huge "healthy looking" puppies and it causes health problems for the dog later in life. I talked to several breeders and my vet and was told to feed regular adult food to my puppy from the start, or to feed a puppy food for the first couple months and then switch to adult. With my first dog I fed him Nutro Puppy food, I had not done any research on dog foods at that point, I fed that to him until he was a year old and then switched to adult food. I now have a Catahoula X pup and I fed him Precise puppy for the first 5 months(if I remember correctly) then switched to the Growth formula, he is now 9 months old and getting Canidae witch is an "all stages" food. If I were to get another puppy tomorrow, I would feed him Canidae from the start. Having said all of that, I would like to better understand what in a food "grows" a puppy, I am not confident in my understanding of what it is I am trying to avoid. Is it high protein? I'm not sure...I would have to read more on the subject and talk to more breeders. I just know that I don't want my dog to have issues with hip dysplaysia or other problems in that area because I forced him to grow at an un-natural rate. It's a controversy I have heard a bit on, seen in the horse world and know just enough about to know that I don't want to do that.
One article I read pointed out that when puppies quit nursing in the wild, they start eating just what mom eats, they don't go through stages of dog foods. Seemed about right to me...but like I said I would need to do alot more research. I think in our domesticated dogs it would depend on what kind of foods you are feeding, grocery store or better quality foods would make a difference and each companies formula would be different even in the better quality foods. Precise addressed the issue of letting your puppy grow naturally with stages, and a pretty good quality food so I went with them.

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Posts: 1591
From:NY, USA
Registered: Oct 2002

posted 09-02-2003 05:10 PM         

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Hey, Im in Western NY too!

About swiching foods....I have always felt strongly that it is a good idea but its really a personal preference. I was switching brands about every 4 - 6 months until my aussie mix ran into some anal gland issues. I finally found a food that has kept this under control so I've been reluctant to switch again...instead I've been just rotating varieties of this brand. I would like to find 2 or 3 brands that work well for her and then just rotate between those. In a few months Im going to try her on Innova again and as long as there are no anal gland issues I will rotate every 6 months or so between Timberwolf Organics and Innova.
My mother has been using Innova for over a year, is very pleased with it and has no plans of rotating between different foods. She feels that there is enough variety in the food itself.
Good luck with Innova if you decide to try it.

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Member

Posts: 790
From:uk
Registered: Aug 2003

posted 09-03-2003 12:36 PM         

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hi there i would not advise on keep changing your dogs food yes it helps with allergies but if your dog is happy on the food its on leave it as chopping and changing food can do more harm than good i found that out the hard way now my dog which as a german shepherd bitch is heathly and happy again.but its up to the owner what they do for there dog.. i keep my pups on there puppy food until they were a yr old then i changed to an adult food puppy food is high in fat and protien so they should be given it little but often

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