Should my 19-week-old pug puppy be on an all life stages dog food?

Hello and thank you for reaching out to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. A pug that is younger than 6 months should eat a puppy diet to help her grow and get the adequate nutrients and vitamins she needs. Puppies and adult dogs have very different requirements in terms of calories, calcium, phosphorous, and other nutrients. As she gets older, ie in the 6-12 month range, it is OK to start mixing in an adult or all-life stages diet in with her food. Just be sure the total amount she is supposed to be eating based on what the bag says is appropriate. Eventually, once she is about 12 months, she should be on an adult dog food, for maintenance. I recommend consulting with Beanie's regular veterinarian to see what specific types of food they recommend for her! Top dog food brands include Purina, Hills Science Diet, and Royal Canin. Beanie should NOT eat a grain-free, vegetarian, or vegan diet, as these are linked with dangerous heart conditions and other growth related diseases. I hope this is helpful!

I would always feed the food for the specific age bracket and size (adult size ) of the dog, rather than a food "for all". The age-specific food will address the specific needs of your dog at its various life stages and, in my opinion, this serves your dog much better.

If your puppy is doing well on this food, I would certainly recommend not switching at this point. If you are concerned about the calorie content for your adult dog, you can calculate her testing energy requirement (body weight in Kg times 30 plus 70) and then divide by the number of kCals per cup of the food to determine how much you should be feeding.

Ideally, growing dogs should be fed puppy food as their nutritional needs are different, especially for minerals such as calcium. Energy demands and protein levels are generally higher for growing dogs so as long as she has not become significantly overweight or has any lameness/joint pain this diet would be unlikely to have any side effects!

That is certainly a good quality food formulated for "all life stages" and is sufficient to provide all nutrients he needs. Please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.

Beau is a real cutie! Yes, I agree you should switch food. There are better brands with higher quality ingredients. Science Diet, Purina ProPlan and Eukanuba are all great diets. My favorite brand (and what I feed my own dogs) is Royal Canin. For Beau, I would recommend this food: https://www.royalcanin.com/us/dogs/products/retail-products/pug-puppy-dry-dog-food Beau does not need canned food but you can give it as a treat or mix it in with his kibble every day. Pick a high quality, canned puppy food. Canned food does tend to have more calories than dry food so watch his weight closely. Here is also a link about feeding puppies: https://www.petcoach.co/article/feeding-puppies-what-when-how/ I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

Great question! Brands I recommend include Royal Canin, Hill's Science Diet, Purina ProPlan, and Iams. If the dog is less than 12 months old, she needs a puppy food. If she is older than 12 months, she needs an adult food. I hope this helps!