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What's the right age to transition my puppy to adult dog food?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed | Male | neutered | 6 months and 28 days old | 104 lbs

At what age can we feed a dog adult food?

4 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Rebecca, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on August 11th, 2017

It somewhat depends on the breed and the size of the dog. A general rule of thumb is feed puppy food till they are about a-year-old, however giant breed dogs should be fed large breed puppy formula still there 18 months to two years old and smaller toy breed dogs may be able to be switched between 8 to 10 months of age. If pilot is a midsize mixed breed dog I would recommend keeping him on primarily a puppy formula until close to a year of age.

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Other Answers

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    Answered By Lauren Jones VMD

    Veterinarian

    Published on April 28th, 2017

    Around one year of age, you can begin to switch Molly over to adult dog food. Anytime you make a change in diet, be sure to do so gradually by mixing the old and new foods together over 5 to 7 days. :-)

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    Answered By Laura Johnson VMD

    Veterinarian

    Published on November 18th, 2017

    Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I recommend using puppy food until the dog reaches skeletal maturity, which is breed dependent. If Nani is a large breed dog I recommend puppy food until 1 year if age, if a giant breed until 1.5-2years of age. Then it’s fine to switch to adult. I hope this helps and have a great day.

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    Answered By Jennifer Summerfield, DVM CPDT-KA

    Veterinarian, Certified Dog Trainer

    Published on October 1st, 2020

    It depends a bit on the size of the dog - for small and medium breeds, 8-12 months is usually fine. For large and giant breeds, it's best to continue feeding a large-breed puppy food until 18-24 months of age to make sure they're mostly finished growing before you switch.

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