Well, my puppy is going to be a year old in a few days and she is a yorkie. She currently eats puppy dry food, but the vet said to feed her adult food when she turns 1 years old. Why not stick to puppy food? I thought since she is such a small, skinny dog she could benefit from the extra nutrition. I mean, not for the rest of her life, but for another year. My real question is what is the difference between adult food and puppy food?
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Puppy food is generally higher in fat than adult dog food and is nutritionally balanced for a growing dog. Once your dog has reached her full growth, she will get a better nutritional benefit from adult dog food.
Because puppy food has more vitamins to help your puppy grow in size and for a puppy’s health. Adult dog food has vitamins to help your dog stay healthy.
Puppy food has extra fat and protein. It can lead to heath problems in adult dogs.
Switch her over to adult food gradually and if your vet thinks she is still too skinny you can add extra calories to her diet with a few treats or some extra kibble
Her system is grown up enough to handle the big dog food… but feed her the adult for small breeds…
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adult food will help them with there bones later in life.( more value).
Puppy food is rich in nutrients needed for growth. Once a dog is a year old, he is a young adult and no longer needs the extra nutrients. It would make for an obese dog and could cause digestive problems.. Adult food has all of the required nutrients for an adult dog that is not growing.
because her body is changing and she needs adult dry food to make her strong and healthy. try kibble and bits roasted chicken and vegetable for clean teeth and breath. my dog ariel loves it and eats it up. so does my friends dog and she is just 6 months old…
Puppy food has much more fat and protein than adult food. Talk to your vet.
The puppy food helps them grow and stuff. ANd the adult food keeps them healthy.
Adult food is for maintenance and is designed to keep the dog healthy and maintain its weight. Puppy food is for growth, and has additional protein, among other things, to help the dog grow. There are other varieties, such as food for active dogs (has more protein for energy), mature/older dogs (designed to help the joints and prevent obesity), and food for weight loss.
If your vet feels that your dog should switch now, then he probably thinks she is a healthy weight. As a yorkie, you don’t want any extra weight. One extra pound on a yorkie is like 15-20 lbs. on a larger dog like a Lab. You want to be very careful.
Well, here’s the thing. Most pet food companies want your money. Most puppy foods are not much different than adult foods, except that they might throw in some extra chicken fat and another scoop of powdered vitamins. Some of the high quality brands don’t even have distinctive puppy formulas- Innova Evo, for example, is just ‘dog and puppy’ food.
The danger is, some of the cheap brands DO use a lot of extra vitamins that can start to cause problems for an adult dog. The best thing you can do is find a high quality food for her. If you want to use one that has a puppy formula for another year, give it a shot, but ONLY if it’s good food- don’t use a cheap puppy food for another year or you’ll do more harm than good.
Brands that are good: Innova Evo, Artemis, Merrick, Solid Gold, Chicken Soup, Candiae, California Natural, Wellness.
Brands to avoid: Purina, Pedigree, Alpo, Iams, Eukanuba, Science Diet, Royal Canin.
If you find a brand you’re not sure about, read the label. If it contains corn, wheat, soy, by-products, or an excessive amount of rice products, trash it. Also, the first ingredients should include real meat- if the only meat source is meat meal, ditch it.
Another think you can try to help her gain weight is to give her some wet food in addition to her dry.
Good luck!
Puppies require certain nutrition, and when they get older they require adult nutrition.
A puppy’s nutritional requirements are different than an adult’s requirements.. Let her grow up and feed her the adult food.
If you have puppy food left finish it up. It won’t hurt your dog to eat puppy food after it’s a year old but once your supply of puppy food is gone switch over to the adult food for the reasons the starred posters above me have stated.