18 February 2021
It can be hard to know when to transition your puppy onto an adult dog food. We always recommend keeping your pup on a puppy food until they reach their predicted adult weight. On average, most dogs hit their predicted adult weight at roughly one year old, however, there is no magic number that can be universally used for all dogs. The age at which your dog can be considered “adult” will differ from dog to dog, depending on their breed.
Small breeds can reach their predicted adult weight as early as 9 months of age, whereas some large breed dogs continue to grow until two years old! While some dogs tend to calm down with age, others keep that “puppy energy” for a little while into adulthood. If this is the case for your pup, we recommend starting an adult food once they are fully grown and following the feeding recommendations for a more active adult to supply adequate calories for the energy they are burning. As your dog matures, monitor their energy level and body condition, and switch to the normal adult dog feeding recommendations when your dog starts to have a calmer demeanor (is burning less energy) or starts to gain excess weight.
It is important to gradually transition your puppy from one food to another. Start with a proportion of 25% adult food to 75% puppy food. Slowly change the proportions over the next 5 to 7 days by gradually increasing the amount of adult food and decreasing the amount of the puppy food. If your pup has an especially sensitive stomach, you may prolong the transition period to 10 to 14 days.
Nutrience has many options that are suitable for dogs of all shapes, sizes and needs!
Our Grain-Free and SubZero lines also have a variety of recipes that cater to small breed dogs and dogs with sensitivities.
Our SubZero line is best suited for active dogs who prefer a grain-free, high-protein diet. Our Nutrience SubZero food is a Canadian-made ancestral diet combining protein-rich kibble and freeze-dried Nutriboost to deliver the nutritional benefits of raw in a convenient and easy to feed kibble. Our formulas are prepared with fresh, never frozen Canadian sources of meat, poultry, Pacific wild-caught fish, and real freeze-dried protein for a superior flavour.
If you have a small breed dog, we recommend our Fraser Valley Small Breed or Prairie Red Small Breed formulas which have smaller-sized kibble. These formulas are suitable for all life stages.
If you have a medium or large breed dog, your dog will likely enjoy a formula from our SubZero line. Our most popular formula is our SubZero Prairie Red, made with beef, bison, wild boar, Pacific wild-caught fish, which comes in a regular and large-breed format. Other popular formulas include our Fraser Valley formula, which is chicken-based, our Northern Lakes formula which is duck-based, and our Canadian Pacific which is fish-based.
Grain-Free Turkey, Chicken and Herring recipe is available for both small and medium breeds. This formula uses three different sources of animal protein, providing your dog with a complete and diverse amino acid profile. With a 34% crude protein level, this food will satiate your dog and meet all his or her energetic requirements. Glucosamine and chondroitin are added to our Grain-Free line. These supplements act to promote the synthesis of synovial fluid to maintain hip and joint health! Other formulas in our grain-free line include Pork, Lamb and Duck, and Ocean Fish. Both recipes are chicken-free and are fantastic options for dogs with chicken or grain sensitivities.
Our Infusion Healthy Adult, Beef and Healthy Adult, Chicken formulas (available in both small and large breed formats) are best suited for moderately active dogs who prefer a grain-inclusive formula. This protein-rich kibble is infused with freeze-dried chicken liver for a superior flavour that even the finickiest dogs will crave.
Our new Care line is great for dogs with special needs such as Weight Management, Oral Health, Sensitive Skin & Stomach, and Calm & Comfort.
If your dog is experiencing itchy skin, diarrhea, vomiting, hives or swelling, he or she may have a food allergy or sensitivity. Our Sensitive Skin and Stomach formula is a grain-free food suitable for all life stages. Nutrience Sensitive Skin & Stomach is made with fresh salmon and hydrolyzed fish protein concentrate. This recipe is free of all common allergens including chicken, beef, lamb, dairy products, eggs, meat meals, gluten, and grain (including soy, and wheat). Compared to poultry, beef and lamb, fish is the most easily digested animal protein and is the least likely to trigger an allergic reaction. Going the extra step of hydrolyzing a protein ensures that this formula is hypoallergenic and caters to the gastrointestinal sensitivities your dog may have.
It is never too early to start proper oral hygiene practices for your dog! Did you know that some form of periodontal disease is reported in over 80% of dogs over the age of 3? Our Care Oral Health formula uses DentaCrunchTM technology. Its large kibble size, rich in insoluble fiber forces your dog to chew and removes plaque through a mechanical brushing action. The tapioca in this recipe maintains the integrity of the kibble, allowing the tooth to really sink in, for the best possible brushing. Stay-Clean-50 is another ingredient unique to Nutrience Oral Health. Stay-Clean-50 is a Vitamin C derivative that inhibits the growth of plaque-causing bacteria. It is extremely soluble in saliva. Most dental foods rely on sodium hexametaphosphate, a chemical that prevents plaque from calcifying into tartar. By targeting plaque rather than tartar, Stay-Clean-50 is attacking the root of the problem. Nutrience Oral Health is free of sodium hexametaphosphate. Please note that because of the large kibble size, some small breed puppies may have difficulty with this food.
Dogs are naturally rambunctious at a young age and tend to calm down with time. However, some dogs may suffer from anxiety from a young age. The treatment of stress and behavioural issues varies from dog to dog and some may require more extensive treatment methods than others, however, a diet specifically formulated to help your dog’s mental wellbeing is a great place to start. These diets alone are not a cure-all solution but have tremendous benefits to help promote your dog’s mental health and behavioural issues. Our Nutrience Care Calm and Comfort formula relies on high levels of L-Tyrosine and L-Tryptophan to promote the synthesis of dopamine and serotonin, respectively. These neurotransmitters play a role in mood regulation, focus, and ease of training. Calm and Comfort is a chicken and whey protein-based diet.
If you’re looking for something other than kibble, you may also be interested in our new Air Dried food, which is available in three flavours: The Rancher, The Fisherman and The Farmer. This recipe is showcasing our country’s fresh, high-quality ingredients. Handcrafted in small batches in Canada, we air-dry our foods at low temperatures to preserve all the nutrients & flavours those ingredients have to offer, resulting in a highly digestible, highly nutritious, and, just simply a really good-for-them food.
Furthermore, our SubZero Raw food is prepared with fresh, locally sourced ingredients including sustainably-caught salmon and herring, as well as hormone-free and antibiotic-free chicken and meat. All our raw foods are prepared with human-grade food. Our grain-free raw food is available in three formulas: Raw Praire Red, Raw Fraser Valley and Raw Northern Lakes.
Similarly, our SubZero frozen dog food rolls are a great alternative to raw food. These rolls are gently cooked for optimal nutrition, then frozen at the peak of freshness and are the perfect addition to your dog’s diet. These fresh rolls are made with pasture-raised, grass-fed, hormone & antibiotic-free beef lamb,venison or chicken, sustainably-farmed chinook salmon and GMO-free produce. These frozen dog food rolls are made of 86% meats, organs and seafood, and 14% vegetables, fats, vitamins and minerals.
For a full list of Nutrience adult formulas, click here.
Most of these formulas are available in a wet format as well! Should you need guidance on which Nutrience cat food to choose for your cat, please do not hesitate to reach out to us on Facebook or Instagram.
Should you need more guidance on which formula to choose for your dog, please do not hesitate to reach out to us on Facebook or Instagram!
You can always use our Feeding Calculator if you are uncertain about how much to feed your dog daily.
