Do Puppies Need to Eat Puppy Food?
Some dog foods state that they are for PUPPIES. What do you think of a dog food that states it is for puppies and adults? I always thought puppy food had additional vitamins, etc. Until my six-month-old Yellow Lab puppy is at least one year old, I’m going to keep her on puppy food. Do you agree?
Diane
Rehoboth, Delaware
Commercial puppy foods often have more calories, protein, and vitamins than adult formulas. The proportions of nutrients in puppy formulas also may differ from those in regular formulas. The added nutrients and altered proportions are designed to promote healthy growth.
Paradoxically, large breed puppy formulas are designed to slow growth slightly (although not affect final adult size)–this helps to prevent symptoms of hip dysplasia later in life.
It is my opinion that many companies use puppy formulas mostly for marketing purposes. Plenty of evidence shows that most adult formulas also can provide ample nutrition for the growth of puppies. Although puppy formulas may be tailored for young dogs, many dog foods are appropriate for multiple life stages.
I generally recommend that large breed puppies (such as Labrador Retrievers) stay on large breed puppy food until they are 12 – 18 months old. I recommend this because of the hip dysplasia-reducing effects of these diets.
However, that benefit may be marginal. Most puppies can in fact do fine eating regular high quality dog food.
I have said many, many times on this blog that in my opinion there is no one “right” food for any dog, cat, or human. We can thrive by eating almost any food that is adequately nutritious. This is true for puppies as well as adult dogs.
You have questions. 
The way I see it is in the wild do wolf pups get a special diet? No, they eat whatever mom drags home.
This has to do with the quality of the food. Like children young pups need more. That being said quality dog foods like Prairie, Natural Balance and others are for all life stages. They do not target puppies because their food is 100% balanced.
You may need to feed more for pups, then less for senoirs but they are good from the get go.
Oh and RAW… LAME. Total fad.
Not all Adult or All Life Stages (ALS) foods are appropriate for growing puppies. According to the National Research Council’s Nutrient Requirements of Dogs and Cats (2006) a pup should receive no more than 4.5 grams of calcium per 1000kcals. Yet there are a number of good quality foods that exceed this recommendation, even if they are considered ALS.
For instance Healthwise Lamb Meal and Oatmeal Adult claims the food “is formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by the AAFCO (Association of American Feed Control Officials) Dog Food Nutrient Profiles for all life stages.”
Yet there are 5.571 grams of calcium per 1000kcals.
What about Merrick? They have six formulas (including a puppy formula) that far exceed the NRC’s recommendation.
And the list goes on…
So according to the AAFCO, these foods are fine to feed to a pup. But according to the National Research Council, who does far more extensive testing than the AAFCO, we shouldn’t feed them.
Thanks, but I’m listening to the NRC on this one.
Why is raw a fad? Dogs have been eating that way since they started hanging around us 130,000 years ago. Well, they were eating that way up until recently.
In all that time their physiology has barely changed. Their digestive tract hasn’t changed a bit. Can’t show a picture of that obviously, but I do have a few pictures of skulls. Can you tell which one is a wolf and which one is a domestic dog? http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y20/darknepthys/skulls.jpg
Notice any huge differences other than the one missing a tooth?
If dogs were no longer meant to eat raw prey animals, in 130,000+ their physical characteristic would have changed. They haven’t changed.
Again, I’ll trust the science behind 130,000 + years of existence vs. 50 or so years of marketing by multinational conglomerates and the grain council.
I don’t really have an opinion here. If I had to feed kibble, and I owned a puppy, I’d probably feed it the kibble my GSD is currently fed, in all life stages form.
As for raw, who cares if it’s a fad? I switched to raw because I truly believed it was the best diet out there, and I stuck to it because I saw the difference in my dog. I don’t care if the diet’s popular or not. If I was the only one feeding it, and that may be the case when it comes to the area I live in, I’d still be feeding it.
Birdy, you may think Raw is a fad- but in the early 1900’s, commercial dog food was a “fad”, too. Now it’s about as common as sunburn in the south. Besides, you should elaborate on your opinions and explain why it’s a fad- instead of just stating it’s a fad. No one is going to take you seriously if you can’t elaborate.
Anyway, I think it is important to feed a puppy puppy food. Unless you absolutely knwo what you’re doing with the raw and homecooked diets- even then. However, if you know what you’re doing and know what a puppy needs, go ahead and feed him raw or homecooked. But, if you feed a commercial food, YES, you SHOULD feed a puppy food. In the wild the wolf pups would eat whatever mom bought home- but mom wouldn’t bring home a bag of processed meat and grains.
Birdy, did anyone ask about raw? I don’t think it’s a fad, personally. Nor do I think it’s lame. I think it’s lame when people make decisions about food based on things other than ingredients.
Not saying you do, but I was trying to come up with something that is, indeed, lame.
Birdy, tell me what do dogs need with sucrose and flour??
Just curious, Señorita.
First 10 Ingredients in Natural Balance:
Beef
Beef Hearts
Beef Kidneys
Beef Lungs
Whole Wheat Flour
Rice Flour
Beef Fat (Preserved with mixed Tocopherols and Ascorbic Acid-source of Vitamin C)
Sucrose
Ground Whole Flaxseed
Calcium Carbonate
Summer those are NOT the first ten ingredients in Natural Balance food that is the dog food roll used for treats, hiding medications and for putting on top of food for Picky eaters. The first ingredients in the Natural Balance Ultra premium Dry dog food are chicken,brown rice,lamb meal.oatmeal,barley,salmon meal,potatoes,carrots,chicken fat,tomato pomace,natural flavor,canola oil,brewers yeast,salmon oil,whole flaxseed, also contains cranberries,etc, this is an excellent food that got voted one of whole dog journal’s top 10 dog foods,they test their products,and they got a good rating at dogfoodanalysis.com you can check any food at this website and see how your’s rates.
AS for people bringing up raw people should truly look on the internet for information any vet will tell you feeding raw meat could harm your dog it’s like you eating meat raw the E coli,salmonella, and other bacteria will make your dog very sick also the bones can cause obstructions needing surgery raw fish could kill them it’s on the dangerous foods for dog’s list they also cannot properly digest raw vegetables they need to be cooked these are not wild wolves these are domesticated pets ask your vet I know that’s what they told me they even sent pamphlets on the dangers of raw home with me I give my dog lean,skinless meat everyday it just has to be cooked first.
“any vet will tell you feeding raw meat could harm your dog”
My vet told me the same thing, however when she saw how well my Papillon mix has been doing on raw, she encouraged me to keep it up.
“it’s like you eating meat raw the E coli,salmonella, and other bacteria will make your dog very sick”
No, because people were not designed to eat raw meat. Dogs were. A dog’s digestive system is designed to kill almost any bacteria ingested.
“also the bones can cause obstructions needing surgery”
Not if they chew them correctly, and that’s why supervision is needed when they are eating their meals. My dogs have never had any problems eating raw bones. Marrow bones from larger animals, however, is to be avoided.
“raw fish could kill them it’s on the dangerous foods for dog’s list”
Certain types can. For example, when researching raw, you find out that you are not to feed fresh salmon. Don’t believe every thing you read, even if it’s supposed to be from professionals. I believe in free thinking. Check things out for yourself, and use your head.
“they also cannot properly digest raw vegetables they need to be cooked”
Only the B.A.R.F. version of raw is about feeding veggies. I feed prey model, which is made up of meat, bone, and organ.
“these are not wild wolves these are domesticated pets”
So? I don’t not believe in evolving, save for micro evolution. And micro evolution would not change a dog’s digestive system from that of a wolf to that of an animal needing cooked food. Even for those who believe in evolution, commercial dog food has only been around since around the 1930’s, and that is not long enough for that kind of evolution to happen.
“ask your vet I know that’s what they told me they even sent pamphlets on the dangers of raw home with me”
See my first paragraph. And there is lots published against raw, but there’s a lot published against a lot of things. Just because someone has convincing arguments and talks about all these studies, does not mean that they are right. I’ve been feeding my Papillon mix raw for 11 months now, and I can see a big difference in his health. And my dog’s vet agrees with me there.
Dogs are not wild animals they eat fresh animals like deer that are not pumped up with antibiotics or chicken that eat feed tainted with crap and cows with mad cow disease also wolves don’t go to the vet and get vaccinations they also die around age 3 if they aren’t hunted first look it up at International wolf center intermediate wolf information. so 2 things again dogs are not wild animals like wolves and you take care of your dog the way you think is best and I’ll take care of mine the way I think is best thank you.
“Dogs are not wild animals they eat fresh animals like deer that are not pumped up with antibiotics or chicken that eat feed tainted with crap and cows with mad cow disease”
Better than commercial pet food with species-innapropiate ingredients and possibly even worse chemicals, in my view. Besides, you can get *organic* meat, or meat from hunters–just freeze any wild meat for a month before feeding it and avoid feed bear meat.
“also wolves don’t go to the vet and get vaccinations”
I don’t like vaccinations. At all. I only get the minimum amount of vaccines needed.
“they also die around age 3 if they aren’t hunted first”
So, how long do you think that they would live if their diet was dog food, but still had to live the hard life they lead? No, I say that it’s the food they eat that helps them live as long as they do. See rawfed.com/myths.
Plus, one of world’s oldest dogs is raw-fed (27 years), according to the above website I reffered you to.
Besides, I think you’ve got the age off. I read up on wolves just a few years ago, and every single source (including online ones) said that wolves live to be about 10 years old.
I looked up the site you referred me to, and cannot find the info. Can you tell me where on the website it is found?
“you take care of your dog the way you think is best and I’ll take care of mine the way I think is best thank you.”
It’s called a debate. If you want to avoid a debate, either say so in your post or do not post at all. And just because I disagree with you does not mean I do not respect your opinion. I tend to come across bluntly in online debates, but I mean no ill will by it.
P.S.
And, Kelley, just a heads up and please do not think that I am hounding you, but just thought you should know that an all meat diet is not balanced. I’m not exactly sure how homecooked works, but it’s probably not that much different than raw, in which you also need bone (you can use crushed egg shells in place of this), and two types of secreting organ. The amounts of these in a a raw are roughly 80% meat, 10% bone, and 10% organ (5% liver, 5% other secreting organ such as brains or lungs). A variety in what meat you feed is also necessary.
Also, meat loses some of it’s nutrience when cooked. And you do notescape the hormones and crap in grocercy-store meat by cooking it–you escape them by using organic meat.
But, anyways, if you are feeding a homecooked diet, I suggest that you read more about providing a truly balanced meal before continuing–because lean, skinless meat every single day is not a balanced meal.
Dr. B. said ‘I have said many, many times on this blog that in my opinion there is no one “right” food for any dog, cat, or human. We can thrive by eating almost any food that is adequately nutritious. This is true for puppies as well as adult dogs.’…
“We can THRIVE by eating any food that is adequately nutritious”?
I can’t get that one out of my brain. What the helk does that mean? Dr.,with respect, that is ambiguous and seems to cover a lot bases. And, yes, there ARE right foods for cats, dogs and humans.
Can cats THRIVE when eating corn, rice, wheat and cellulose (with a little poultry meal thrown in)??? THRIVE is making quite a statement.
Dr. I’m curious, what is your take on the pet food industry and the relationship of companies like Hills (and Purina) with vets, vet schools, etc.?
(a little off topic, but related).
i have a lab cross (3 years old) and a 1 year old pomeranian….he is still on puppy food, but when we had no puppy food he would just eat the labs food !
but sometimes in a blue moon i will feed them raw steak just as a snack, but with pom….i dont know when to switch him over to adult, even though he eats it anyway :P