OK - this is going to sound a really stupid question, but what age does a puppy become an "adult" and when does he move from puppy food to adult and stop having puppy milk?

i think it depends on the breed~as larger dogs like ours ( i believe you have an oesd?~ mines a Newf) mature slower and are puppys longer than say a yorkie,
We are aiming for about a yar regarding the change from pup to adult food.But we dont give Cru'Ella puppy milk anyway :D

Thanks for the advice - yes he is an OES - so we're looking at about a year really. The breeder advised to give him a Farley's rusk and puppy milk at bedtime every night which he loves - it seems mean to stop it - he may just have it all his life!!

i know what you mean.We felt that we should be giving her milk~but were advised not to.So eukanuba only for Ella !
We only got her 9 days ago~so im a worry wart really!

As he gets older, you may find that he tolerates the milk less and less (just something to watch out for...mine loved farleys, too...actually so did I :D )
Mine never had puppy food (apart from one I lost before he was 2 yrs) as they were growing fast. Feeding adult food slows their growth and can help avoid things like pano' etc. It doesn't stop them reaching their full, potential, adult height, like can be thought :)

Jacqui 'with an N' ;)

Hi Jacqui, I think I`d get in touch with her breeder & see what they suggest first. When I got one of my pups (Labrador) I had a diet that I had to keep him on till he was a year old & ..wait for it.. he had to have a bowl of milk every afternoon before his supper!!!! :) As well as weetabix & milk for his breccy! But he was not on dry/complete food at all.
Christine, Spain.

Question 1/ I think that depends on a number of things. I concidder a Labrador is fully grown at around 2 years old but smaller breeds much younger. Mentally I would have said possibly nearer one year old!!!

Question 2/ I get off puppy food as soon as possible with my Labs. Around 15 weeks! I prefer to bring them on slowly with a lower protein food.

That for what it's worth are my ideas on the subject :)

Regards, John

Thanks everyone for the advice - I'm even more confused now!! I must just say it's also great to see another Jacqui!!
Everyone responds so quickly - I'm not used to that!! So most of you recommend starting to get off puppy food soon then, but gradually I guess?

Hi Jaqui ( again! ill have to start saying "only me !!")
I was told that i my breed they need a heavier start of protein~so to keep wit the pup food for quite a while esp as she's not to have too much excersice because of bone damage.But im NO expert.Perhaps there is a larger dog breeder on here who might know the inns and outs ??

what about the milk subject? we were advised not to supplement her eukanuba at all ( and i shall stick with what my breeder recomended) but just wondered on the thoughts of others?
Shes a 10 wk old Newfoundland

Mine still keep their milk feed, It's only the puppy to adult type food I change early. The milk feed is the one I drop first when I come down from 4 to 3 feeds. (incidentally, they still get a little all through their lives clearing up my leftover Cornflakes in the mornings!!!)

Regards, John

do you use goats milk? what does the milk feed help with ( curious~im guessing teeth and bones )

Hi Zoe, I think with the dry/complete foods you are not supposed to supplement them with anything.
Christine, Spain.

incidently , my Eukanuba puppy food bag states that puppy food in large breeds can go on till 24 months or 100kg which ever is first

Technically the answer to that is goat's or sheep's milk but my dogs have always done all right on cows milk!!!!!! I can imagine some throwing up their hands in horror! :)

Regards, John

If it works for you John
Anne :-)

<<<but my dogs have always done all right on cows milk!!!!!! I can imagine some throwing up their hands in horror!>>>

Not me, John. Your comment about the cornflakes made me smile, though 'weet beet tweet' happens to be L&G's fav' :D

Jacqui (with an N) who also fed her human babies cows milk!!

now count the hands going up in horror ;)

"The Flower" has got to be 6 stone of solid muscle on it. Can clear a four foot fence from a standing start and can drag a 12 lbs Canada Goose a quarter of a mile back to me! So it never did her any harm. :)

John

"Milk. It does a body good" :P ;) :)

Puppy food never seemed to last very long for any of my dogs ... they tended to switch over within a month or two. On their own. It's impossible to keep dogs in a small household from lusting over one another's dish :rolleyes: :P The most recent time, I tried "senior" for Pepper, "low cal" for Sam, and "puppy" for Chienne and went absolutely out of my mind for a 6 weeks.
Nuts!!!!!
So Chienne went to Low cal, Samma stayed the same, and Pepper just ate whatever she wanted--usually canned senior + some low cal to play with (she kept losing weight due to not chewing well, ergo the canned stuff) :rolleyes: :P :)
Yep, I'm a terrible and lazy dog owner ;)

Many years ago at the time of my first dog Dog Foods were almost unknown. This lad lived quite happily on, to a very large part, table scraps. He died at 16 years old so it must have been ok for him!!! By the time of my next dog, dog food had arrived. The foods, Chum, Chappie and Pal are the only ones I remember at that time, all did just one food. Specialised foods were years down the road.

I remember well a few years ago having an argument with the Waltham dietician. a slip of a girl fresh out of school, (Sorry you young ones!) who as good as told me my dogs would die a terrible death of malnutrition unless I fed their special age related foods!

I WAS NOT CONVINCED!

The moral of this tail is, do the best you can for your dog but don’t get carried away about it.

Best wishes, John

Oooooooh John,
I'd consider it a compliment to be considered a 'slip of a girl' at thirty-something by you ;) :) :D

You are all slips of girls on here compared with me on my zimmer frame Toodles!

Hi Jaqui

I think some breeds never stop being a puppy! My breed is Dobermanns and I guess they start to become adults somewhere between 18 and 24 months - they stop growing up by around 10 months but then need to grow into themselves and bulk out a bit.

I don't feed milk - once the dam has weaned them that's it, now I feed raw then their food would just be adjusted to suit their specific needs as I saw them at the time, they all get the same just in different quantities.

Christine
PS No question is stupid if you really want an answer :)