How long would you feed puppy food?

I have never fed puppy food. It tends to make small dogs fat and large breeds grow to fast and causes joint problems later.

Our pets need quality food. Read the ingredients list and learn what the stuff on there is and what it does (or does not do) to/for our pets. A quick pet food 101. If the pet food contains corn/corn products or by products it is a poor quality food. Corn is a filler that can trigger skin problems. (allergies, skin problems, itching and excessive shedding) By products is anything from an animal not fit for human consumption, including cancerous tissue. Do not pay attention to advertising, they all say there food is great. "Vet approved" means they have a vet on staff to approve their product. In other words, someone paid to approve it. Same with foods most vets recommend. Salesmen "gift" vets then the vet recommends the food. Most vets are not nutritionists! Quality foods have meat as the first ingredient Wellness, Solid Gold, Innova and Merrick are a few of the best brands available. If you want to learn more check out: http://www.sagekeep.com/petfood.htm www.api4animals.org/facts?p=359& more=1 http://animalark.eapps.com/animal/PetFoods.nsf/$$P...

I've read a lot and follow it also that you should feed them puppy food for about a year to a year and a half. You might have a big pup on your hands but that doesn't mean his system is ready to give up the nutrition that he gets from puppy food. Remember in human years he's not even 7 You should switch back so he still gets the nutrience he needs. Do it by mixing half and half, old food and new food, and work your way to just puppy food. There will be a huge difference in health in later years.

If I have a larger breed dog that is growing very rapidly I put them on a lower protein adult food.

Big dogs should grow long and slow. Fast growth leads to hip dysplasia, pano, OCD, to mention a few.

I use Purina ProPlan. I find the super premium foods (even adult foods) are too high protein and cause extra fast growth.

Have you spayed her already? If she's already growing fast I'd put it off until she's 12 months or so (if you can keep her safe during her heat cycle). When spayed or neutered young, they don't get the hormone surge that stops the growth plates from growing on the long bones. In some dogs (expecially the bigger ones) this leads to overgrown dogs and the orthopedic issues that can come with that.

Keep her thin as well. As my vet says -- "with a growing pup, if people don't threaten to call the SPCA on you because your dog looks thin when wet, your pup is FAT!"

I've NEVER fed puppy food, it only makes the pup fat, just no need for it. I've always fed my dogs Canidae All Life Stages. Please be sure you are feeding a high quality dog food. Do not feed anything you can buy at the market or WalMart. It's CRAP.

Large breeds can be switched to adult food earlier than small breeds.

My mastiff switched to Adult food at 3 months. Too much protein for a large breed puppy can cause joint and bone disorders because the growth spurts happen before the bones are ready.

http://www.greatdanelady.com/

If it is a large breed dog I would switch her to adult food so that she doesn't grow to quickly and you have problems in the future.

An average size dog (at full grown) should be fed puppy food til 1yr of age. Giant breeds til 18months.