# Switching from puppy to adult food



## SinisterKisses (Sep 20, 2015)

So Finley is currently 30 weeks old - he's growing up so fast! He eats Orijen puppy, and will be switched to Orijen Six Fish with Gizmo as an adult. We have a open bag of the puppy food going, what's left will last him another few weeks. I know the general rule is to take them off puppy food at about a year old, but given the high-quality nature of Orijen and the similarities in their nutritional content for puppy vs. adult, am thinking of weaning Finley onto the Six Fish as we get to the end of this bag of puppy. Thoughts?


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## Momo (Nov 9, 2015)

Mine is nearly 8 1/2 months old and he's been having a mix of Acana puppy and Acana adult for the past couple weeks. I know they are nearly the same formula but he prefers the adult and even picks out those kibble instead! To be honest I don't think it matters AS much for small dogs that stop growing before 1 year old. Mine hasn't gained any weight for over a month now, and has never had any low blood sugar issues.


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## susan davis (Mar 25, 2011)

Most of the 'good' kibble is for all life stages, so should be OK.


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## Tink (Oct 14, 2009)

> To be honest I don't think it matters AS much for small dogs that stop growing before 1 year old.


I think it's important to define what you mean by "stop growing." 

There's a important distinction between the time that puppies reach their full adult size versus the time it takes them to mature.

Their full frame means that they're not going to get any longer or taller, but it takes time for the rest of their body to catch up, and for them to fill out and mature in all respects. 

Their "full adult size," and "maturity" are not the same things. Tango for example, continued to thicken up around his chest area, get that very pronounced tuck under his belly, a slight ruff of fur around his neck (he's double coated) and gain weight until he was 18 months old even though he never got any longer or taller once he reached about 9 months. But he went from 2.5 pounds to 3.5 pounds in that following 9 months. And he's not and never has been overweight.


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## SinisterKisses (Sep 20, 2015)

susan davis said:


> Most of the 'good' kibble is for all life stages, so should be OK.


Yes, that was my thought and why I'm thinking of moving him over early instead of buying another bag of the puppy kibble. It will be so nice not having to buy a different bag of food literally for each dog


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## Wicked Pixie (Oct 14, 2011)

'Puppy food' is just a concept invented by dog food manufacturers. A good diet is suitable from weaning throughout the dogs life.
In the wild puppies wouldn't eat any different from adults once weaned. Human children eat the same food as adults. Puppies don't have different nutritional needs than adult dogs, they just need good food and plenty of it.


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## ChiChiLove (Feb 4, 2013)

Currently my oldest boy, who is around 16, eats orijin puppy food. He needs the extra protein and fat in order to keep weight on. And all the hoopla about seniors needing lower protein or you'll damage their kidneys... I'm not a believer. It's never affected him negatively. He has beautiful yearly blood work. His blood work has actually improved over the past few years since I adopted him and started him on such a high quality diet. The fact that it's "puppy food" doesn't mean anything to me. The formula has what he needs, so that's what he eats. 😊


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## Wicked Pixie (Oct 14, 2011)

I agree, older dogs need high quality protein from meat, fish or eggs, it is the low quality plant based proteins found in most commercial dog foods that they can't cope with.


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## MelodyoftheForest (Sep 11, 2015)

The emerging school of thought is that puppy food can actually be harmful to puppies by causing them to grow too fast. This causes bone, joint, tendon, and ligament issues in some cases, probably especially if paired with spaying/neutering before maturity. The one exception is toy breed puppies prone to hypoglycemia. They need the extra concentrated nutrition to keep their blood sugar at the right levels. Once the risk for hypoglycemia is past, they can be on adult food. All this assuming they are not being fed raw, of course.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## SinisterKisses (Sep 20, 2015)

Well sounds like a confirmation to what I was already thinking, so I'll go ahead and start easing him on to the Six Fish in the next few weeks. And when it comes time for the next puppy, I think I'll forget about puppy food and just go with Six Fish from the start.

Actually, I am pretty darn sure that when we FIRST moved to Orijen years ago, they didn't even MAKE a puppy food. I suspect they added it to their line up after having to explain too many times why it wasn't necessary, and probably losing a lot of customers who were looking for something with "puppy" on the bag.

Thanks all!


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## coco_little_bear (May 30, 2012)

I agree with everyone. Puppy food is a bit of a marketing gimmick and Orijen Six Fish is said to be for all life stages anyway (on their website) so I'm sure Finley will be fine switching now.  And I agree Alaina, that's very likely the reason why they made a puppy one. With vets pushing the whole puppy food and breed specific foods, etc. I bet a lot of people are put off by all life stages foods.


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## Thia (Dec 19, 2014)

Ita the brqnd I feed is for all life stages and they don't even carry puppy food.

Fwiw Luna wouldn't eat puppy food at all, and she's fine. She's a picky eater.


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## SinisterKisses (Sep 20, 2015)

Ha, well that's definitely something I don't have to worry about - Finley is NOT a picky eater, but he is an enthusiastic eater  He loves his food, but I bet he'll be pretty excited about switching to the fish.


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