Since puppy food is meant to help them grow, you'll need to wait until they seem to be done. Some breeds stop growing sooner than others. For labs, this is somewhere between 12-18 months, according to the source listed below. And some breeds have higher or lower energy requirements than others. When we bred Bichons Frises for show, our dogs stayed on puppy food for around 3 years, without becoming overweight. Our foundling lab/border collie cross likewise was a skinny thing (thankfully with more the bordie metabolism than the eat-everything lab metabolism).

Staying within brands does make it easier to switch. As your dog becomes an adolescent (nearly adult height, but gangly and somewhat rebellious, ha!) you can begin to switch gradually by mixing amounts of both adult and puppy food. For really high-quality brands, you can make a switch without having to blend (at least that's been my experience). Lower-quality brands can cause stomach upset if you don't switch gradually.

In addition, some brands have a variety of protein/fat blends. Eagle Pack, a choice of some Iditarod competitors, has a pretty wide variety this way, instead of the usual puppy/adult/senior choices. Nature's Recipe, Nutromax and Eukanuba also have a big variety. I think it's Nature's Recipe that not only gives you choices based on breed and activity level, but also lets you pick your protein: venison, fish, rabbit, and lamb are among the choices!

Since you have a lab, you're probably aware that they do tend to put on weight, so a lower energy food will probably be the one for your dog. Eagle Pack actually has a designation for "couch potatoes" in their product selector!

Whatever you pick, with a large dog, stay away from soy. Dogs can't break it down, so it makes their stools large, smelly, and lasting, as well as giving them gas. The brands I've listed above contain no soy, unless something has changed very recently.

Hi Dr Matt, Hope you are enjoying your new Lab pup, if you're asking for yourself.

I'd first suggest speaking to your vet to be sure that you are on target for your own little guy.

That said, for smaller breeds 1 year is a general rule and for the larger/giant breeds they suggest feeding puppy food up to 2 two years. If you're not sure where your guy falls - how big are his/her paws...if really big then you'll know that he/she will likely be very big when grown up.

Puppy food will give your growing pup the special nutrition they need for the extra growing they do in those first few months, so it is important to stick with the right diet as long as they need it - until they are fully grown.

Again, please double check with your own Vet to be sure :)

Below I've included a link to a nice site with additional puppy (and dog) feeding tips!

Most dog food brands recommend switching over at 1 year. Always check the sides of the package to make sure that there are not any special requirements or restrictions for each particular type of dog food. Dog food has serving sizes too, make sure that you're giving your puppy the recommended amount for their size and weight.

I recommend Science Diet. It is fairly inexpensive and I've feed it to both of my dogs.

Again, always wean a dog off their old food to avoid upset tummies.

I usually recommend slowly switching them over about one year or so (longer for the larger breeds).

That being said, most adult food is AAFCO approved "for all life stages." If the dog food you're switching to has that statement, you can switch at any time because it has been approved for growth, maintenance and lactating bitches. You will have to feed more adult food to obtain the same nutrition, but it will work (but only if it has that statement).

If you are planning on using a food that is approved only for maintenance or adults, then I use the rule of thumb of switching at two years for large, heavy-chested breeds and 1 year for all others.

I suggest when they are six months old, do it gradually over a seven to ten day period. Add a small amount of the new diet to the food currently being fed. Each day increase the quantity of the new diet and decrease the amount of the old. This gradual diet change helps avoid digestive upsets.

If I remember we had a golden retriever as our pet and I think when he was 10 months we took him off puppy food, and after that he never looked back.

But I guess it is whenever you and your dog feel comfortable with adult dog food. If your dog doesn't want to eat it try wet dog food it might be more expensive but dog's love wet dog food. You just have to ween them away from it :]

I hope that helped.

It usually Is after 6 months to a year depending on the dog.