# Switching a Berner to adult food



## tanks dad (Jan 5, 2010)

My Bernese mountain dog, Tank, is almost 11 months old and I'm want to know when the best time for us to switch him to adult food. 

We started him on Science Diet large breed puppy food (vet recommended) and that worked until he was about 6 months old. He was growing almost exactly 10lbs/month, until he started having stomach problems. After trying several solutions with our vet, we switched to Eagle Pack Holistic Select Large breed puppy and he was put on Tylan powder for the 4 months and that solved his stomach issues. 

My concern is that when he was put on the tylan powder at 7 months age (65 lbs) his growth slowed considerably. He's 83 lbs at almost 11 months now. I know that his growth would taper off but it did so rather drastically, from 10 lbs/month to 4 lbs/month. He is no longer taking Tylan and is doing well. The protein in his food went from 31.3% (SD) to 23% (EPHS) so this could have contributed to the growth slowing. Each has a calcium to phosphorus ratio of about 1.37. 

I don't care how big he ends up and obviously don't want to jump start his growth again, nor bring back his sensitive stomach issues. I'd like to use Orijen Large breed in the long run if he likes it. But don't know when to switch. It has 40% protein although a 1.25 C ratio. I'm hesitant to switch to it because of the substantial increase in protein. Would it be better to use EPHS large breed adult which has 24% protein and the same 1.25 C ratio?


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