How long to feed puppy food?

[BabyElephant]

OK - I want to do the best for my lab puppy (as we all do) however, I have read so many conflicting reports about when to migrate from puppy food to adult food.

Pet food company says anything from 16 weeks, other websites say 8-10 months, some 12 months.... help

[erdog3]

Baby feed them puppy forumula till 18 months. I always do, did with mine. They need all the calcium they can get and the calories for good bone growth.
Don't want any bone probs in labs they are prone to it.

[Dax]

Ariel, I switched to adult food at 9 months on the advise of my vet. Normally I would keep on puppy food til one to two year. It depends on your dog. If they are getting fat (pudgy) an adult food will have less fat content.

Best advise is to talk to your vet during your next scheduled visit.

[erdog3]

Sorry I don't often butt in on Dax's advise, but my advise to you Baby is from all us Lab breeders and vets over here and my experience. You can stunt the labs growth by taking them off the puppy formula.
Look at the two bones on his front legs, they are just above the paws. You see them sticking out, well your lab has got to grow into those bones, do you get what I am saying, those bones are his size, the rest of the leg gets that wide/large.
See the top of his head, you will notice it is not flat, it has a bump in the middle. When the bump is gone and the head is flat, your lab is fully developed, then take him off puppy formula. He has a big chest to develop, and strong muscular back legs, it takes till 18 months for a lab to be fully grown. Not just height, they fill out too.

[erdog3]

This pic, look at the head, see the bump, that has to be completely flat. The one below, have a look at the bumps above the paw. They will blend with the top of the leg. You can actually tell how big your lab is gonna be by these bones. If they are very prominant still, Poppy has a lot of growing to do yet.

[Dax]

OH no.. not more lab pictures (LOL).

For Rotti’s most breeders recommend puppy food for full two years but the dangers of being overweight it’s impact on bones/joints as well as longevity, have to be weighted against full size development. That is why I switched Ariel early.

From Ellie’s advice labs have something similar. I would still talk to your vet if you have concerns. I'm sure Ellie is right on the money but since your vet is looking at the dog, he is another good resource.

[erdog3]

I had to get the pics in Dax....couldn't help myself. lol lol.
But you are correct too, no harm in asking the vet.

[weimlover0816]

Roslynd was switched to adult food around 8 months, per our vet. Her bones were growing TOO much, TOO fast on the puppy formula and she was developing panosteitis.... the adult food slowed her growth rate. She has developed well and is actually a little "large" for a female weim... she is ~25" at the shoulder and weighs in at 75 lbs....and she is still growing!! LOL, though she still is my baby girl

[erdog3]

Labs don't really have a quick bone growth problem, they are naturally slow to develop, their biggest problem is people take them off the puppy formula too soon, forgetting that they have still heaps to go. Here I will put the pic of Sophie again at 9-10 months.

The picture above is her at 10 months max. The other of the pup by the tree is her at 4 months. See above she has still not fully developed. If you took her off the puppy food now, she would either get stunted or develop arthritis, which labs are very prone to get.
Thumbnail below, her at full growth. But do check with your vet just to be sure.

[Moo]

Kirby was past 12 months when we switched over to adult formula, but he's just a little one.