I Science Diet Growth ok for my 5 year old Chihuahua?

I have a 5 year old long haired chihuahua. We recently got a new long haired chihuahua and are feeding her Science Diet Growth. My 5 year old will eat nothing but her food. We do not have a regular feeding schedule. The food stays out all the time. They do not over eat but my 5 year old is gotten really fat. He has been eating it for about 6 months now. He has also always has skin problems but sence he has been eating the growth food, he hasnt had any problems. Is it ok if he continues eating to Science Diet growth until it is time for the baby to switch to Maintence formula (about 5-6 more months).

I Science Diet Growth ok for my 5 year old Chihuahua?
Food for puppies tend to be a LOT higher in calories than food for older dogs, since puppies have so much growing to do. The problem is that you're going to have one overweight chihuahua by the time the puppy is ready to switch over, since he is getting a lot more calories than he actually needs. This might cause long term damage, like diabetes, or even joint problems because of the extra weight. Not to mention that when you switch him to the original food, he might have to eat more of it to keep his calorie in-take the same (as his body would have adapted to the higher calorie food).





Either start making him exercise more, so he'll burn more calories, or keep him away from the puppy chow. It's okay on short-term, but if you're talking months, it's a bad idea for his health.





Also, I love long hair chis! They're so much cuter than their short-hair bretheren.
Reply:If the younger one is at least 5 months, put them both on the Adult formula. Chi's are pretty well done growing by then!!! In 6 more months, the older is going to just get fatter, thus shortening it's life span.
Reply:Sounds like your other dog had skin problems because he was allergic to something in his food.





Here is an article regarding dog food and their quality


http://www.asuperiorgsd.com/dog.food.htm...
Reply:There is a lot more fat and protien in the growth formula, weight gain can cause quite serious problems in dogs when they get older e.g. joint problems, mabye it is a good idea to have a schedule to ensure they eat whats best for them. I find that dogs which don't like hills will eat eukanuba as it has more chicken. Make sure you give your dog plenty of exercise and feed a small dog formula or a light formula.
Reply:your 5-yearold should be eating the adult Science Diet (their "maintenence" formula). he is getting fat because puppy diets have tons of extra calories. you should try to work out a feeding schedule and seperate them during their meals so you can feed them their different diets. your 5-yearold will only continue to gain weight, and if you think its hard to seperate their food now, wait till you're trying to feed one of them a weight loss formula that probably tastes like cardboard :)
Reply:absolutely not....start her on adult food or senior food...there are alot of proteins in the puppy food that aren't good for your adult dog. to get rid of the problem with your adult eating the puppies food...put the puppy in a bathroom or bedroom and feed her in there...only feed the dogs twice daily...and dont leave the food out all day...they will GET FAT...feed your adult dog her dog food ONLY. .. if she doesnt eat, dont worry....she will eat when she is hungry enough. she ate the food before she can do it again. She is playing with your head and she is winning. Keep doing this routine until she eats her food and the puppy is swtiched over to adult food. Goodluck!!!