Difference Between Puppy Food & Adult Dog Food

Dogs grow much faster than humans, growing in the space of a year or two what takes a human child up to 15 years to accomplish. For this reason, it's important to feed your puppy the best, most nutritionally sound, puppy food you can afford.

  1. Puppy Nutrition

    • Puppies are rapidly growing their first few months of life and will continue to grow for 12 to 24 months, depending on the breed. Puppy food is nutritionally balanced to provide the extra nutrition and energy puppies need.

    Adult Dog Nutrition

    • Adult dogs have stopped growing, and like adult humans, their metabolism has slowed down. They no longer need the extra nutrition to support growth, but rather a balanced nutrition to keep them healthy and at a stable weight.

    Kibble Size

    • Dry puppy food is made to be easier to chew for smaller puppy mouths. The chunks--or kibble--is much smaller and easier to digest than adult dry dog food.

    When to Switch to Adult Dog Food

    • Make the switch from puppy to adult dog food when your dog is approaching adult height for his breed. Smaller breed dogs grow faster and may be ready to switch to adult food after 1 year. Medium sized dogs--20 to 50 pound adults--might be ready at 14 months. Breeds that are bigger than 50 pounds might need up to 2 years of puppy food.

    Amount to Feed

    • Always check the packaging to find the proper amount of food to feed your puppy. Puppies need to be feed two to three times a day, while adult dogs can be fed once a day.