Hello. I answered your question with a couple followup questions in the thread that I asked about my dog's behavior. You asked if I had switched him over to adult food and I said no. Do you think this would help? He is about 10.5 months old now and around 25 to 26 pounds. Thanks!
Hello Jessica - I know I am not Chris but I just noticed your question to her and thought I would tell you what I have always done, if you do not mind. I have always switched my dogs over to adult food at 5-6 months. Whether the fact that I have always had small dogs made any difference I do not know, but at your boy's age I would definitely be feeding him on adult food now. Tikva, of course, small as she was, went straight onto raw once fully weaned.
I agree with Malka, I normally switch my dogs over to adult food at around 3 months old. It's particularly important to do so if the dog is a large or fast growing breed like my Shar-Pei, a breed that's considered fully grown at 12-18 months old. I'd also recommend feeding a grain free kibble and preferably one with a low potato, pea and soya content as dogs don't need grains in their diets. Diet can affect the behaviour of dogs and make them hyperactive so it really pays to select whatever commercial food, whether it be wet or dry, very carefully - and that includes treats as well.
I apologise to @Chris B for answering a question addressed to you Chris, but you were not online. I was lucky with the kibble I fed Lexi and then Pereg, until I changed Pereg to raw, but it was always between 5-6 months that I changed their kibble from puppy to adult. But then as they were small, Pereg being the "largest" dog I have ever had, and even she was still classed as small/medium, I cannot compare their growth to that of a large/larger breed. Tikva has never had kibble - I did offer some as a treat but the little booga turned her nose up at it!
Border Collie, mix and match and now Rosie were all changed over at 5 months. My first dog many moons ago didn't cause the dilemma as there wasn't any puppy food in those days
Chris - there was no kibble when I had my Griffs but there was a girl who sold sacks of what looked like muesli, and I remember weaning my puppies onto that. And the local pet store sold trays of what looked like cooked jellied meat, which had to be kept in the refrigerator. They also sold raw tripe [I so wish I could get it now] and my children were convinced that I sometimes cooked it in the wrong pressure cooker! I had two high-dome pressure cookers and had to mark the top and base with red nail varnish to distinguish which one was used for the dogs - but the children never did trust me to use the correct one.
Hey all. Thanks so much for your input. I currently feed Jager Taste of the Wild puppy formula and I think its High Prairie. We will switch this weekend to an adult food. We have looked at limited ingredient foods as well. I do know Taste of the Wild has peas in it...so there's that. Its so hard to find a good food that will not break the bank. I have also looked into raw feeding but have no idea about this. Thanks again!
Is there a problem with peas? Tikva's evening meal [her vitamins, minerals and supplements made into a "soup" with warm water] then has ~100g of defrosted, but not cooked, mixed frozen diced vegetables, including peas, added. And ~35/40g of cut up meat mixed in. Raw eggs maybe twice a week, and raw turkey liver also maybe twice a week. I do not blend anything, just cut up her meat. Her morning meal is a frozen chicken wing or chunk of frozen turkey neck. All meat comes from fresh from my poulterer, I pack individually and freeze in portion size, and we share it, only I cook mine! Raw feeding is definitely not for everyone and it took me a lot of tweaking and studying to make sure I did it correctly. Pereg thrived on it although it did not do anything for her epilepsy, but at least I knew that what I was feeding her had no hidden nasties that might have been triggers. And Tikki has definitely thrived on it. This is what initially taught me the basics but I had to tweak/alter things as I am unable to get a lot of the things mentioned, but both Pereg and now Tikva - and I - am satisfied with my version. It does take a lot more time, and work, to prepare everything - not like just putting a measure of kibble in a bowl. It is probably more expensive, for me at least, as it is all human food. But I made the choice to change to raw and I will stick with it. https://www.dogsey.com/showthread.php?p=2108670#post2108670
Thanks Malka! I do not know if I can do raw feeding correctly. That is the number one reason why I do not. I will look further into it as information is not a bad thing. Malka, I have heard starchy foods, such as peas can promote tooth decay. I am not sure if this is true or not. Someone else on this thread suggested switching to a food that has no peas. I cannot remember who it was and apologize... Thanks again!
Jessica, when you give a dog a frozen chicken wing or a chunk of frozen turkey neck, tooth decay does not exist! The thing about peas in kibble is that pea protein is frequently used as a partial protein source, which can stick to teeth. Not actual peas. I actually buy powdered pea protein [and hemp protein] to add protein to my smoothies, but would never feed it to a dog as a protein source. As I said, raw feeding is definitely not for everyone. It takes time to prepare, pack and freeze, although it is automatic to me now. It can be very messy [the meats], but you do get the advantage of small poos that do not pong. I am not and will not promote raw feeding but will give as much advice as I can, if wanted - just because that is the way I feed, which is my decision. And I do not know a thing about kibble these days!
There are sooo many different foods that it can be confusing to choose (I hate having to pick paint colors, how many different shades of white are there...). I fed taste of the wild puppy food and switched them to taste of the wild pine forest as they got older. It seems like a pretty good food especially for the price, I paid $40 per bag. I did however find that my dogs were a bit gassy on it and sometimes (often) had soft poos which could be hard to pick up. I’m currently switching them to a new food, NutriSource. I spent some time talking to the store manager about different brands. This food is grain free and potato free as well but does have the pea protein. This food is $55 for 30lb bag, so a bit more expensive but they seem to like it more (maybe it’s just new and different..). My dogs eat a bag this size in about 12 days... It’s really hard to find a food that doesn’t use some type of peas for part of the protein
Yes. I use pea protein for myself as well. I just looked at the ingredients of his food and it is chock full of potatoes and peas...wow. I did not know that. So, onto a limited ingredient food for this pup. Thanks so much. We looked into a few foods. I cannot remember the names but there were 3-4 and they all sounded much better than what he is on.
