[Jessica S]

Hi everyone!

The Basic Question: At what age does a puppy become an adult?

New to the forum, and new to raw feeding. I have really enjoyed browsing this forum – what a wealth of information! I transitioned my Pit Bull/Red Heeler/Rottweiler pup Leo to the raw diet about 3 weeks ago. He is SO into it..no surprise there, as he loves any and all food.

Leo is 11 months old. I’ve been feeding him based on the adult guidelines (2-3% of weight), but it occurred to me last week that maybe I should be feeding based on puppy guidelines (more like 10% of weight).

He looks very healthy – trim and fit. It does look as though he may have lost some weight since he made the transition to raw, but he still looks great.

What’s the consensus? Should I up his feeding amount a few percentages?

[pitlove]

Hi Jessica-

Depending on the breed, a puppy will reach an adult at different ages. Small and medium sized dogs when fully grown can transition to adult food at 1 year, toy breeds can often switch earlier at 9 months, large dogs over 50lbs at mature weight is about 18 months and for giant breeds some say to keep them on a puppy formula until 24 months.

If he was already lean and fit before switching to raw and has now lost more weight, you may be under feeding him. I am all for a lean, conditioned dog, but you can go overboard. Any idea what Leo’s projected adult weight will be with that combo of breeds?

[Jessica S]

Pitlove,
Thanks for the response, and sorry for my late reply. Leo is 11 months old. His weight has been steady around 58-60lb since he was around 8 months old. He’s the true definition of a mutt – we did a DNA test and it came back around 25% pit, and 12% each of cattle dog, husky, rottweiler, and the remainder was too mixed to define. I thought this would be his adult weight since it hasn’t changed for some time. But I’m hearing you say that he should really be fed as a puppy until at least 18 months.

What percentage of his weight should I be feeding? Closer to 8-10% of his weight, rather than 2-3%? He’s been on the diet for 3-4 weeks now. I’ve added an additional 6-8oz muscle meat or RMB per day and I’m also adding in extra egg and/or coconut oil to up his calories. His weight looks really appropriate to me right now, but I still want to be armed with some actual numbers what I should be shooting for with his meals each day so I don’t feel like I’m just making it up as I go.

Thanks for your responses!

[Author]

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