Should my puppy eat age-specific food or all-life-stages dog food?

All lifestages pet foods are formulated to meet growth requirements but it may not be as dialed in as a puppy formula. Puppy formula will generally also contain DHA to support brain and nervous system development and this may not be found in an all life stage diet. In general I recommend to feed a puppy formula to all puppies. Best of luck and please feel free to post any additional questions.

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.

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!

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.

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!

The young puppy should be on puppy food in order to provide the balanced nutrition she requires for healthy growth and development, a large breed puppy food is recommended for optimal joint health. It is not ideal for adult dogs to be on puppy food as they may continue to 'grow' and become overwieght so you will have to monitor very closely if he has access to puppy food that he does not become obese

That's a great way to plan ahead! As a Havanese, Kiba could eat either of the diets you mentioned with no adverse consequences. However, if his puppy food is lamb based, I would be more inclined to try the small breed lamb based diet so as not to change protein sources. I always recommend starting with a small bag of the new food in the chance that Kiba either won't eat it or develops stomach upset from the new diet. Anytime you change to a new diet, please do so by gradually mixing the foods together over 5-7 days.