Hi, I posted a while ago about changing my dogs to ND or Burns...well I have decided to put them both on ND (I have a 3 yr old and 5 month old puppy - both weimaraners).
I've just spoken to ND customer services and they recommend that I put the pup on adult food at 6 months when all other foods recommend feeding puppy food until 12 months!
Can anyone shed any light on this for me who has had experience of the food or any knowledge on the subject in general?
Many thanks
J

Jayby - I noticed that too but there's probably a good reason.  I really like Naturediet.  Why not ask them - here is an e-mail address to try.  amelie.nicholas@naturediet.co.uk - she is really helpful

Actually, quite a few of the other companies move the pup on to either a Graduate or intermediate food after the puppy food.  My pup came to me on Graduate and not puppy food and she is only 9 weeks.

Thanks Jean, just wanted to check as you hear so much about larger breeds needing the extras that come in puppy and junior food for longer...I will use that email address though.
Thanks again!

i feed max on nature diet puppy he is 6 months i told my vet that i was thniking of changing max to adult food and she nearly bit my head off!! i dont know what to do now but he is bored of the one flavour only puppy food

There's so much conflicting advice...what breed have you got?

he is a labrador

Hi there,

I have two large breed dogs (Mals) whom I currently feed on Naturediet. We changed our bitch over from puppy to adult at 4 ½ months of age (as she was over 20Kg at this point). With our male, I waited until he was just over 5 months of age before changing him over to the adult (he was slightly small for his age so I left him on the puppy for a little longer). I personally wouldn't leave a large breed dog on puppy food over 6 months of age (I also wouldn't feed specially designed 'large breed' puppy foods - I just prefer to change them over to an adult food at an earlier age, but this is my own personal choice).

I would be careful about trying too many flavours - I changed our Bitch onto lamb and rice and she had diarrhoea as a result. So I put her onto the adult original instead (as this is the closest to puppy, ingredients wise) and she was fine. I changed our male over straight onto the original and had no problems with loose stools etc.

HTH :)

That has really helped...thank you...one of my next questions was going to be about which variety to use!!

The only real difference between puppy food and adult food is that puppy food is more concentrated.   You could easily feed a puppy on adult food but you would need to give it more.

Wild canids eat the same food throughout their life stages except very young and very old would only eat the smaller and softer bones!   BARF feeders and those feeding home prepared diets give dogs and puppies the same food  Life stage foods are a relatively recent thing and I think they are more money driven than anything else.

BTW I think Nature Diet is a good food as far as commercial foods go and I don't see that you would be harming your pup in any way to give a variety of flavours.     You could also give another brand eg Burns as well, to ring the changes.     Some dogs do get bored with the same food day in and day out, whatever the vets and the commercial pet food companies would have us believe.

Wendy

HTH,

I have no problem with switching between Naturediet flavours, except my one dog has a problem with lamb.  Either leftover Sunday roast lamb or Naturediet lamb, so I don't buy the Lamb&Rice.   To me it was just a good indication of the quality of Naturediet, goes through her system much the same as my roasts. :-)

Stacey

Just read your message and was wondering the same thing! We have a 6 month old weirmaraner with collitis so have just changed her to naturediet after reading the comments on here about it! Seems good so far but was a little concerned about putting her on adult food. Also, i got the lite version to help her tummy but was a bit worried incase this wouldnt give her the correct balance of nutrients for her growth! Wondered if you had found out anything!!

Hi, Naturediet do health fact sheets and I believe they produce products that are meant to aid such conditions as colitis-have a look here. :)

Thank you!!

i have been told off by my breeder and my pet shop owner in the lasdt week for giving max adult nature diet (he is a 9month old lab weighing 31kg) i am really confused i was told i will stunt his growth as he is not getting enough protein in adult food which he needs to grow? can anyone advise

It's actually better to grow them slowly than force them on too fast. Very many good breeders recommend labs are on adult food at 6 months for this very reason.

This is taken from the NatureDiet website:

We recommend that when a puppy approaches 20 - 24 weeks of age the puppy is changed from Naturediet Puppy to products in the Naturediet adult range, with the exception of Naturediet Lite which is lower in calories. The adolescent dog is then able to have a choice of varieties.

His growth will not be stunted ;) He may just take slightly longer to achieve his overall height/weight - I prefer for my dogs to develop slowly and steadily rather than have almost finished growing by 5 - 6 months of age :)

well i totally agree with what you are aying so why did my vet nearly pass out when i said he was on adult food?

Vets are excellent at general surgery. Can't fault them at that. But very few are specialist dieticians.

Read with interest conversations regarding what to feed etc.  I will be collecting my 8 week old weimaraner at end of Feb and have spent the last couple of months wondering what I should feed him.  I had a weimie 5 years ago and fed her completely natural.  I am interested in the Burns at the moment and wondered what is the difference between Burns, ND and the rest. Could somebody give me a clue as I am a little lost in the maize at the moment.

Burns is a complete dried kibble and Naturediet is a wet complete food.  You really need to find what is right for your dog.  Mine both have Burns and it has worked wonders for them but I know some dogs dont get on with it.  They also have a spoonful of naturediet just for variety but again some people dont agree with this.  I would suggest that you check out both the websites about the foods which will give you the full low down.  Burns has a very good helpline number and can help you with any queries that you may have and I believe that they will send you samples free of charge. 

Claire

Why not feed raw since its what you did with your other weim?
Archer