11 Responses to “I have a 4 month old Maltese/Shih Tzu. How long should I feed him puppy food? 6 months or 1 year?”

1. officialbiggie says:

   January 4, 2008 at 10:03 am

   up to about 1 year
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2. abbyful says:

   January 4, 2008 at 10:03 am

   A toy breed sized puppy can switch to adult food around 7-8 months of age.
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3. muffett1 says:

   January 4, 2008 at 10:07 am

   you can start feeding them adult food around 8 -9 months if you want to..
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4. girly and dog says:

   January 4, 2008 at 10:10 am

   8 months is probably best because he can get the vitimins he needs out of him puupy mix to help his bones grow strong u dont want to take him of to early or his bones wan't develope well enough.
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5. ? DP ? says:

   January 4, 2008 at 10:10 am

   Small breeds should be fed puppy food usually til they are a year old. If you are finding that the dog is hyper then switch to adult food.
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6. xena says:

   January 4, 2008 at 10:11 am

   you can feed puppy food for up to 18months, if the dog is very active and needs a high calorie intake.
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7. ali says:

   January 4, 2008 at 10:12 am

   you should try one year I have the same type of dog
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8. sheila n says:

   January 4, 2008 at 10:15 am

   Since he will be a puppy until he is a year old, unless you have some good reason to switch him to an adult food, he should stay on puppy food until then. Yes, small breeds do mature more rapidly than large breeds, however thier nutritional needs are harder to meet since they eat less. Puppy foods tend to have a better nutritional profile than adult foods, and there is no harm in feeding them for the full year. After that you should stay with a good quality food, preferably one formulated for toy breeds, to make sure that your little guy is getting the proper nutrition.
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   Vet Tech
9. Loli says:

   January 4, 2008 at 10:18 am

   i have a 15 month old shih tzu and i fed her puppy food til she was a year old, i also have a 4 and a half month shih tzu, and i will do the same with him, as the older dog developed well. good luck
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10. Lilkraza says:

    January 4, 2008 at 10:51 am

    1 year! I fed my dog puppy food for about 1 year and 2 months. It depends on how fast they grow.
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11. Scrappydo says:

    January 5, 2008 at 8:23 am

    You should feed your puppy the puppy food until he's 12 months old (I continued until mine were 13 months old).
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