When can puppies eat adult dog food?
Bringing home a new puppy can be an exciting time for both of you. As you and your puppy adjust to your new life together, you’ll need to do a lot of homework and adjust many of your routines. One of these is figuring out your puppy’s diet. This includes choosing the best food for your puppy, the correct amount of food, and how often to feed your puppy. One of the things to figure out is your puppy’s diet. This includes choosing the best food for your puppy, the right amount of food, and how often to feed it.
What are my puppy’s nutritional needs?
As puppies grow, they will gradually expand their range of exploration, which means they will use up a lot of energy! Puppies need more calories per kilogram of body weight than adult or senior dogs. Therefore, their food needs to be higher in calories or energy. As puppies grow to adulthood, the nutritional requirements for each stage of growth change. Puppy growth can be divided into four stages:
Birth to three weeks: The primary source of nutrition is breast milk or puppy formula.
Three weeks to two months: At this time, they need to increase their calorie and nutrient intake.
Two months to adulthood: This is an important time for bone and muscle development, so a balanced diet containing calcium and phosphorus is key.
Eight months to adulthood: Extra-large dogs have special growth patterns. They need a diet formulated to support their longer, slower growth phase, ensuring that bones and muscles grow in harmony with each other.
When should I switch my puppy to an adult diet?
When your puppy reaches adult size, it’s time to change the diet. The point of growth to adult size varies by breed and size, with small dogs generally developing into adults more quickly than large dogs. Breeds can be categorized according to size as small dogs up to 10 kg, medium dogs between 11-25 kg, and large dogs between 26-44 kg. Large dogs take longer to reach full adulthood than smaller breeds, so they need to be fed puppy food until they reach full adulthood. If you are still unsure when it is time to switch your puppy to kibble, consult with your veterinarian to discuss growth so that your dog does not miss out on the nutrients it needs to grow, and to avoid poor development or overdevelopment of bones, joints, brain and eyes.