at what age to switch

[Rkinken]

at what age do i need to think about switch to adult food. right now my pup is about 9mths old and is about 65lbs. im feeding him purina one puppy food with real lamb. i just found a store for canidae and will switch to that but i was just wondering at what age should i switch. i have another rotty mix that i want to be able to feed the same food.

[brunie's mom]

Switch now! Canidae is an All-Life-Stages food...it can be fed to pups, adults and older dogs.
If your puppy is 9 months old and 65 lbs,he is on the lighter side. I would put him on a good quality food such as Canidae...or some of the other good foods mentioned here.

Gina

[Shelby427]

I would also switch now. Purina is not a good food to feed, I'm glad to hear you've done some research and want to feed a premium food. I'd get them on that asap.

[Rkinken]

ok so i am in the process of changing their food and well my pup has gotten some bad gas is there any thing i can give him or do n e thing to help it out bc wow its horrible.

[lengel]

The switch should be done gradually. 1/4 of the new food and 3/4 of the old for a week then 1/2 and 1/2 for the next etc until the dog is on the new diet entirely. Try giving some yogurt to help with digestion as well. We also give one of our dog's digestive enzymes from our vet to help with gas.

[Pee-Jay]

i would also switch. but may i ask, i feed my rottie optima beef pro and some canned dog food which is pet one. do they have enough nutrients for our rotties. mine is so playful that even when he is chained he still wants to play... thanks!!! but to Rkinken its just right to shift his food now..

[FilosFolks]

You could equate this to you steadily eating Indian, Chinese, Mexican or Italian food all of a sudden. Of course their system is going to change and you may see and smell some horrid things BUT it's worth it!

Do it slowly, gently, and be patient. People think they're stinky one day & it's something gone wrong.

They will adjust to it and you'll never know until AT LEAST one month has gone by if it's not working for them.

If it's not disappearing and then coming out firm it's time to try something else (slowly). There is a ton of great info in Nutrition and a lot of wonderful foods out there. Good luck!

Ailee

[kazastan]

65 kilos is way too heavy for a nine month old puppy and you are setting him up for a lot of skeletal and other health problems.

I am not a fan of complete diets myself and feed RAW but not BARF.

[OnyxGold1]

I believe that the OP posted that his puppy was 65lbs....not 65kgs. For a 9 month old 65 lbs is certainly on the lighter side which is why better foods are being recommended.

Certainly if the pup did weigh 65kgs he would be grossly overweight but I don't believe that is the case in this circumstance....

There are definitely better foods out there than Purina.....do your research and find the type that works best for your lifestyle and I would certainly switch right away as well.

Heather

[Rkinken]

he is 65 lbs. not 65 kgs i wouldnt be able to pick him up i dont think. unfortunately i would have to say i am an irresponsible owner. he stays in a crate whiel my wife are at work. we were planing on gettin a fence for them but uncle sam isnt going to be giving us the amount we thought we be getting. but its a first on our to do list for our pups. i got him thinking i knew what i was doing and i dont. my other pup has been eatin pedigree for the past 3.5 yrs and no problems but with zeus being a purebred i want to do what is best for him.

[Rkinken]

my wife an i are at work

[brunie's mom]

Originally Posted by Rkinken

he is 65 lbs. not 65 kgs i wouldnt be able to pick him up i dont think. unfortunately i would have to say i am an irresponsible owner. he stays in a crate whiel my wife are at work. we were planing on gettin a fence for them but uncle sam isnt going to be giving us the amount we thought we be getting. but its a first on our to do list for our pups. i got him thinking i knew what i was doing and i dont. my other pup has been eatin pedigree for the past 3.5 yrs and no problems but with zeus being a purebred i want to do what is best for him.

It does not matter if you have a purebred or a mutt...you really should feed a better quality food to all dogs.
You will notice a big improvement in the dog that you are feeding Pedigree to...the coat will gloss up, the energy will improve and the dog will smell much less "doggie". The dog will also have much smaller poops eating a quality food, and you will also need to feed far less food.

As far as building a fence, why don't you see if you can put in a dog run? You buy them at Home Depot, or often buy they used at a very good price.

Gina

[tla0126]

I saw a dog run just the other day on Craigslist for cheap. You may want to look into it in your area...

[OnyxGold1]

In terms of chainlink fencing.....I once purchased a dog run from Home Depot.....and despite reinforcing it repeatedly.....it never took longer than 1-2 minutes for one of my dogs to escape from it. What we found was that the gauge of the chainlink itself was so thin that it was able to be stretched out of configuration so easily that the dogs escaped.

A friend of mine two weeks ago purchased one of these runs from Home Depot....she told me it cost her just over $500 and her two labs are escaping from it daily again despite constant reinforcement. I had warned her in advance that I didn't think the strength of the chainlink would be suitable for her two labs but she had to find out for herself.

I personally have a panel construction dog run......it initially was 10 x 30' rectangular....I purchased it second hand through the classifieds and truly got a deal on it at $200......the panels are themselves 9 gauge chainlink and are 6 foot high and 10 feet long and are assembled and disassembled merely by using a small wrench. I actually just last week purchased some additional panels to make the run longer.....I purchased 4 additional 10 foot x 6 foot panels and it cost me just over $500. And my run will ultimately be 20 x 40 once all is said and done. I contacted an actual chainlink fencing company who made my panels for me.

A small price to pay for a safe spot for the dogs that they can't break out of. Perhaps check around your area for chainlink fencing companies and just do a price comparison for yourself in terms of size of fence & gauge of the chainlink.

Heather

[Rkinken]

thats the thing i cant have a chainlink fence in my neighbor hood. so that kind of out of the question. the other thing is i want to let my pups run. i kno they have all of this energy and keeping them couped up in the house all day isnt good for them or fair to them. they should be allowed to run and be free and smile an play and just be dogs. thanks for the suggestions from every one. thank you.