# Acana small breed vs Puppy and Junior



## mazinyo (Jun 17, 2015)

My terrier is 8 months old and weighs 11 pounds (about 5kg) at the moment. I am giving her the puppy and junior formula, but the sales person had brought to my attention that the small breed formula is more suitable for her. 

The thing is that the small breed comes in half the weight as the puppy and junior does and costs more per pound. 

It takes her about 4.5 months to finish the bag, whereas I assume that it would take half the time to finish the small breed bag. I also know that when she is 1 year old, I would have to switch to an adult anyway. 

My question is, would it be wrong to continue giving her the puppy and junior formula? I dont mind paying the extra money per pound if its really worth the difference


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## taquitos (Oct 18, 2012)

Why don't you just buy a smaller bag of food? Or are you already purchasing the smallest bag?

You don't really need to feed puppy formula. There are plenty of good dog food brands that are all life stages.

I think keeping a bag open for that long is a bit problematic. Maybe if you can put it in an airtight container and keep it in the freezer it would be OK, but I personally prefer to finish food within 2 months at least if it's out at room temp in the bag or even in an airtight container. Mind you, this is not based on any real science lol. I just don't think stale kibble sounds appetizing and I am not sure how long they last w/ the preservatives..


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## doodlebug124 (Oct 31, 2015)

It is recommended that you purchase a bag size that will last no more than 3 months once opened. Fats can go rancid, the kibble can become moldy, the food becomes less palatable, nutritional values degrade...all because it's exposed to the air.


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## mazinyo (Jun 17, 2015)

What I usually do is open the bag, then I take a big amount of kibble and I transfer it to a medium sized box and then I close the bag until I finish what is left in the box. 

But from your answers I understand that there is no nutritional differences between the puppy junior and the small breed


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## doodlebug124 (Oct 31, 2015)

The Puppy & Junior and the Adult Small Breed appear to be absolutely identical formulas....no idea why they are marketing them in two different ways. The Small Breed Puppy is slightly different. Fat is higher by 2%, the rest is pretty much the same. 

When you take kibble out of the bag it needs to go in something with an airtight seal. Box conjures up images of a cardboard box, which would not be a good choice of containers. But maybe if you're someplace other than the US, "box" is used differently?


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## mazinyo (Jun 17, 2015)

Yes, I dont mean a cardboard box. I meant a plastic box.


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## flphotog (Sep 23, 2015)

I've given up on all the marketing confusion and have just gone with an "all life stages" food. So far it's worked out well. But my little guy is as picky as they come so time will tell.


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