Dutch Shepherd Forum

I recently read on Leerburg's site that puppies should go off puppy food at five months because it causes them to grow too fast and have skeletal problems.

Is this sound advice?

We're coming up on five months with the pups, and it's almost time to get more food. I'll move up to getting the food I fed Delco if that's the case.

Xander was on blue buffalo puppy until somewhere around 6 months or so. He lost interest in it so I switched him to merricks grain free, all life stages. I'm not saying this was the right way of doing it but his growth rate seemed fine and he loves his food.

H is about to go off his puppy food at a year old. I thought I read somewhere Orijen was formulated to prevent sudden fast growth spurts and since he seemed to always grow at a steady rate I didn't have a problem with keeping him on it longer. I think it's mainly about the calcium ratio they're worried about...?

In GSDs most breeders I knew stopped puppy food at 4 months, for this same reason. It helped with slowing growth, pups didn't seem to deal with pano or down pasterns as much too.

I plan to stop puppy food with Kitsune around 4-5 months.