Opinion on when to switch from Puppy food to Adult formula?

[Karen P]

Chewie is 6 months old and has been eating Solid Gold Wolf Cub.  I am just about out and was wondering if I should switch him to the Wolf King adult formula?  He is a medium doodle and is supposed to be between 40-50 lbs.  He is all ready 34 lbs.  Thanks

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Here's a recent discussion we had on this subject.
http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/thefoodgroup/forum/topics/can-i-s...

There's no hard rule on this, but it's generally agreed that they should stay on puppy formula until they've finished their skeletal growth...weight doesn't have much to do with it, unless they are too heavy or too thin for their age & size. All dogs continue to gain wieght after they've reached full size in height. The larger the expected adult size, the longer they should stay on puppy formulas. For standard doodles, 9 months is the usual age to switch to adult foods, and for minis, it's usually about 6 months. Since Chewie is in-between, I'd keep him on the puppy food for at least another month, but that's me. I'm sure it doesn't really make that much difference.

[DeeDee and Sheila]

Hi Karen, Sheila is barely 4 mos. old, but I opened her mouth today and a BUNCH of baby teeth have fallen out! The vet had told me she was teething, but she actually yipped when she bit down on hard kibble a couple times. Now I know why!! All she has is long kanines!! So just be sure poor Chewie has some or all his teeth before you switch him.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

That really shouldn't be a concern, because the puppy kibble isn't any softer than the adult kibble, and all the permanent teeth should be in by 7 months at the latest...often much earlier. Here's a chart showing the normal dentition of dogs:
Tooth Eruption
Incisors: deciduous 4 - 6 weeks permanent 3 - 5 months
Canine: deciduous 5 - 6 weeks permanent 4 - 6 months
Premolars: deciduous 6 weeks permanent 4 - 5 months
Molars: permanent 5 - 7 months

As you can see, most of the permanent teeth are in place between 4-6 months

[Miranda]

We use CN lamb and rice adult for Cali, my 1.5 year old dood and the puppy formula for our 4 month old Sandy. We switched Cali to adult food at 6 months, after she was spayed. However....Sandy actually prefers Cali's food. Karen, I did read your post about the full size in height and weight...but there is a stamp on the back of my CN bag that said it was approved for all life stages? Anyone have any thoughts on this?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

All-life stages foods are different; they are indeed meant for all ages.
But if someone is asking about switching from puppy to adult food, they're using a food that's strictly for puppies.
There really isn't all that much difference, nutritionally, for most dogs. If the CN formula you're using says ALS, you can feed it to Sandy, too.

[Miranda]

Well on the front of the bag, it says adult formula. I just saw on the back of the bag (near where the ingrediants are) that it is AAFCO for all life stages. Why do they make everything so confusing? :P I was actually thinking of switching them both to Fromm's anyway. Cali does well on CN but Sandy still has loose poop. It would be nice to find something that works for both of them and I've read really great things on here about Fromm!