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Switching to adult food

20 8:46:06

Question
My golden puppy has been eating SENSIBLE CHOICE:LAMB AND RICE FORMULA. But, she is 6 months old and I want to switch her to adult dry food to avoid growth spurts. Is there a specific dry food brand that is better for goldens?

I want a brand that I can get easily, like at a Wal-Mart for instance. The specialty pet store is an hour drive from where I live, which is where I have had to get her Sensible Choice.

Kibbles and Bits? Gravy Train? Purina? Any ideas for me?

Answer
Likely she would do well on Old Roy.  One of the big arguments for the more expensive, meat based, concentrated chows, it the smaller, firmer, easier to clean up stool.  If that is not a factor for you, almost any commercial chow meets the AAFCO standards and provides a complete and balanced diet most dogs will thrive on.  You might feel better feeding, say Purina 1, you can't go wrong with it.  My old Lab, doing fine at 12 years old grew up on regular Purina, but has eaten Pro Plan chicken and rice most of her life.  My year old Lab/Golden cross eats it too.  It is the standard chow for dog guide school program both dogs are a part of.  The old one is retired now, and the younger is ready to start her formal training.  The service dog schools have tremendous amount of experience in dog nutrition, incentive to feed the best, and share the knowledge with people like me that raise puppies for them.  Goldens are very common as service dogs.  I know people raising dogs for several schools, and they all feed one of the common midrange chows, Pro Plan, Iams, or Eukanuba.  The ease of clean up is a big factor.  I may have seen Iams at Walmart.  Many of the specialty chows are sold by small distributors, perhaps guilty of puffing their product on forums on the net.  When you give away a dog after spending $35,000 training it, you don't play games with the chow.  Since you are feeding lamb, it might be better to stick with it.  

I am glad to see the word on the early switch to adult chow is spreading.  The other thing is to be careful of her weight.  This link will help, http://www.photolocker.net/images/Labman/proplanc.jpg