When should you change your dog’s food? When your dog’s reached its full height and weight, it counts as an adult, and it’s time to change from puppy food to adult food. You must make the transition slowly so as not to disturb your dog’s digestive system.
WHEN SHOULD YOU CHANGE FROM PUPPY FOOD TO ADULT FOOD?
The change from puppy food to adult food should take place when your dog is fully grown. A dog is considered an adult – physically, not mentally – when it’s reached its full height and weight. When that happens will depend on what breed it is. There are several months between the time it takes for a small dog and a big dog to reach adult size.
Dwarf, small and medium-sized dogs such as chihuahuas and springer spaniels reach full height and adult weight somewhere around 8-12 months of age. Large breeds such as labrador retrievers and golden retrievers reach adult size somewhat later, at approximately 12-15 months of age. Really big breeds – great danes, newfoundland dogs and more – will grow significantly more, and need 18-24 months to reach full height and adult weight.
Further reading
- Your dog’s development from puppy to adulthood
- How much and how often should a puppy, and what’s the best puppy food?
CHANGING FOOD – TAKE IT STEP BY STEP
To avoid stomach problems such as diarrhoea, the transition from puppy food to adult food must take place gradually so that the dog’s digestive system has time to grow accustomed to the new food. So replace a proportion of the puppy food with adult food for a period of 14–28 days. Increase the amount of adult food every other day until eventually you’re only giving adult food.
WET FOOD OFFERS NEW TASTE EXPERIENCES AND IS A GOOD SOURCE OF FLUID
Dogs do not need a varied diet and if your dog is fit and healthy, there is usually no real reason to change its food. If you want to give it new taste and texture experiences, you can replace some of its dry food with wet food in different flavours. Wet food is also a good source of liquid, and you can use this to your advantage when you need to add extra fluid to your dog’s diet, for example when it’s working hard or the weather’s especially hot.
FIND THE RIGHT FOOD FOR YOUR PUPPY OR DOG
- Bozita dog food – see our entire range of Swedish-made dog food
- Bozita wet food for dogs
- Bozita dry food for dogs
- Bozita puppy food and food for pregnant and lactating bitches
