When should I switch my Great Dane to adult food?

You should switch your Great Dane from puppy food to adult food when they reach 18 months of age.

While most standard large breeds might switch around 12 months, giant breeds like Great Danes have a much longer growth period. They typically reach their full height by 18 months and can take up to two years to fully mature and fill out with muscle. Because their bones and cartilage are still developing during this time, they require the specific nutrient balance found in large-breed puppy formulas until they are 90 to 99 percent grown.

The Dangers of Switching Too Early. It is a common misconception that switching a giant breed puppy to adult food early will safely slow their growth; in fact, doing so is dangerous. Adult maintenance diets are generally lower in calories than puppy diets. If a growing Great Dane is put on an adult diet, it will have to eat a much larger volume of food to meet their high energy needs. Consuming this excess volume often leads to a massive overdose of calcium and other minerals, which is a primary trigger for Developmental Orthopedic Diseases (DOD).

How to Transition to Adult Food: When your Great Dane reaches 18 months, gradually transition them to their new adult food to avoid upsetting their stomach. You can successfully switch them over a four-day period:

• Day 1: 75% puppy food, 25% adult food

• Day 2: 50% puppy food, 50% adult food

• Day 3: 25% puppy food, 75% adult food

• Day 4: 100% adult food

To make the transition even smoother for their digestive system, it is recommended to stick with the same brand and flavor of food when moving from the puppy formula to the adult formula