When to take off puppy food
 ), and has gained about 5 lbs this summer so far. She eats alot of food, about 8 cups per day, and is fairly thin (not one bit overweight). Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. |
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| What kind of puppy food are you feeding her? |
| 8 cups a day! Do you mean 8 cups of a cup that you use to pour the food out or 8 actual cups like from a measuring cup? That is an incredible amount of food, especially if it's the latter. If you're feeding that much, I'd swap out to a higher quality of food so you get more nutrition per cup and, consequently, don't have to feed as much food. Or, if you're already feeding a high quality food and she's eating that much, you may want to have a full work up done to see if she has something else going on that causing her to eat so much and not gain a lot of weight. |
| WOW!!! 8 cups a day? No wonder its expensive! Tonks and Luna, at their height of growth, were struggling to finish the 2 cups a meal, 4 cups a day! At 10 months old, they are down to almost finishing their 3 cups a day; thats 1.5 cups, twice a day. I do supplement with a split can of wet food between the two of them, for each meal.
What food are you feeding your pup? |
| I would also think a higher quality food or a check up at the vet is in order if she is eating 8 cups of food.... that's tons. |
| Thank you all for the reply's. Sounds like we need to look into a higher quality food. We live in a very small town in northern Michigan so only have regular access to basic store brands (Purina, etc.). Right now she eats Beneful, which based on the reply's must not be a very good dog food. I could always stock up when going downstate to the city or try ordering food online. Any suggestions for better quality grub? And also, how long she needs to be on a food designated as for puppies? |
| Each dog will be different - just like humans
Archie is quite skinny underneath his fluff, when he turned one the other week he was 82lbs and the Vet gave him a clean bill of health on his annual. Archie is on Purina ProPlan Puppy food, and is still happy to wolf it down twice a day he gets 2 feeds of 300g about 10 1/2 oz each time + the odd treat obviously! |
At 1 yr I started all of ours on pro plan adult lamb and rice. Our breeder has used it for years and finds it works well for all. I might add that they seem to eat less not so hungry. The big plus is the amount of poop is MUCH less.  |
| Cornell Veterinary School Nutritionist recommends that large breed dogs be taken off puppy food at 6-8 months. The protein content is too high and can cause a disparity between bone and muschle growth.
My Vet had me switch both dogs at 6 months to a food that was around 21-22% protein. Select a food that has minimal filler and is calorie dense. |
| Not sure where up north you live but if you can't find a pet store that sells the food you'd like to feed, you might try a farm/feed store. We do have a PetSmart and Pet Supplies Plus but one didn't sell the food we decided upon and the other didn't consistently stock the quantity we needed. But we did find that a little ol' farm store is happy to special order food for us. |
| Thanks all for the tips and reply's. Just the info I needed!! |
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