New Dog owner with questions about feeding. :)

[szeman772]

As for food if you do decide to change...always transition. Not transitioning your dog can not only give him or her diarrhea and cause dehydration but can also give him or her a UTI; amongst other things.

Remember to always consult your vet and that these boards are for advice based on personal experiences etc.

Here's a picture of my new little girl..

 

[szeman772]

One more of her...love her to death.

Oh as for treats I feed her Rachael Ray all naturals and she gets pig ears. For her teeth I use a spray foam toothpaste. You just lift the lips spray it on and don't let them have food or water for an hr and it was vet approved by my veterinarian.

 

[musicdeb]

This post leads me to a question I have been wondering about - the advice on the back of the dog food bag says to double the recommended feeding amount for puppies up to six months. At this age do they start to eat less - more in line with adult feeding guidelines??

Those are just that, guidelines. Feed what they recommend and watch the pup's body weight. It's recommended to feed the puppy guidelines until about age 6-8 months.

 

[musicdeb]

I wouldn't change him to adult food. As we all know this breed is a puppy until 3 years of age. Every professional I have spoken to states they need to stay on puppy food until they are at least 2.5 years old because they are still growing and developing all the way up until they are 3. But I do agree with taking him to a vet for his legs. They have tendency to get hip dysplasia.

Just an fyi...I feed my girl Natural Large Breed Puppy Food.

That may true for other breeds but for the mastiff they continue to grow until 2-3 years of age, therefore, they must have slow and steady growth. Feeding puppy food has high calcium and phosphorous which equals fast growth which can cause a number of bone issues for the mastiff. You can feed all stages food and adult large breed food.

 

[szeman772]

That may true for other breeds but for the mastiff they continue to grow until 2-3 years of age, therefore, they must have slow and steady growth. Feeding puppy food has high calcium and phosphorous which equals fast growth which can cause a number of bone issues for the mastiff. You can feed all stages food and adult large breed food.

I'm going by what my vet and Mastiff specialist have advised me as well as my friends who own and have owned Mastiff for years. You have to look at the puppy food you are feeding and the ingredients. As I have said in my posts. .always look to your vet for professional advice for these posts are for reading and are based on personal experiences and should not replace a professional veterinarians advisement for your friend.

 

[musicdeb]

As most of us on the forum have learned, vets do not have a clue about nutrition except for what dog food companies pay them to push.

As I tell everyone, do what your gut tells you and what you feel is right for your pup and you.

 

[szeman772]

That may be the case...this is why I have also looked to my friends who have owned Mastiff for years and have never had any health issues with their dogs. I'm not telling anyone what TO do...I am basing my posts from my own personal experiences just as everyone else is doing.

 

[musicdeb]

That may be the case...this is why I have also looked to my friends who have owned Mastiff for years and have never had any health issues with their dogs. I'm not telling anyone what TO do...I am basing my posts from my own personal experiences just as everyone else is doing.

Roger that

 

[ruthcatrin]

I wouldn't change him to adult food. As we all know this breed is a puppy until 3 years of age. Every professional I have spoken to states they need to stay on puppy food until they are at least 2.5 years old because they are still growing and developing all the way up until they are 3. But I do agree with taking him to a vet for his legs. They have tendency to get hip dysplasia.

Just an fyi...I feed my girl Natural Large Breed Puppy Food.

Dude....don't drink the coolaid k?

Seriousy, spend some time looking at the differences between the adult and puppy formulas. In the large majority of the cases there's very very little differences between the adult and puppy formulas. Like, 1 percentage point if that much. There are exceptions, but even then.....

The only reason there's "puppy formula's" at all is because there's slightly tighter restrictions on the nutrients expected to be in puppy food, while a wider range is acceptable in adult foods. But most adult formulas, at least among the halfway decent brands, are all within the the acceptable ranges for ALL dogs.

I can't count the number of vet's who've insisted that you have to feed puppy food because the puppy foods have "higher nutrient levels", but I have yet to have ONE who can quote me WHAT those "higher nutrient levels" should be, and I've had more than one turn speachless when I start pulling up puppy and adult formula information and prove to them that not only is there so little difference between formulas, in MANY cases the puppy formula's have LOWER levels of a HUGE list of nutrients. Never mind the HUGE range of acceptable nutrient levels, even within the puppy requirements, means that those statements are total BS.

I've been quoted other vets who insisted that "high fat levels are needed for bone growth!!!" which if you know ANYTHING about nutrition should have wanting to pound your head into a wall.

We had a member come on here and tell us his vet insisted his 4month old 70+lb EM puppy should only be getting, on average, 700-800 calories a day! The ACTUAL number his dog should be getting? An "on average" number of 1700 or more!

Unless your vet is ALSO a vet nutritionist they very likely haven't got a single CLUE as to the actual nutritional requirements of your dog....

 

[TheTodd]

here are a couple more pics of him. I don't think he looks way to skinny but when I saw on here that peoples mastiffs were around 110 or 120 at his age I got a little worried since hes only 74 pounds these were taken about ten min ago. now we are getting ready to go to the vet to check those hind legs out

 

[ruthcatrin]

With the brindles it can be SO hard to tell in pictures. When you run your hands down his sides can you feel ANY ribs? If yes, is it just the back one or two easily or is it more?

 

[szeman772]

Dude....don't drink the coolaid k?

Seriousy, spend some time looking at the differences between the adult and puppy formulas. In the large majority of the cases there's very very little differences between the adult and puppy formulas. Like, 1 percentage point if that much. There are exceptions, but even then.....

The only reason there's "puppy formula's" at all is because there's slightly tighter restrictions on the nutrients expected to be in puppy food, while a wider range is acceptable in adult foods. But most adult formulas, at least among the halfway decent brands, are all within the the acceptable ranges for ALL dogs.

I can't count the number of vet's who've insisted that you have to feed puppy food because the puppy foods have "higher nutrient levels", but I have yet to have ONE who can quote me WHAT those "higher nutrient levels" should be, and I've had more than one turn speachless when I start pulling up puppy and adult formula information and prove to them that not only is there so little difference between formulas, in MANY cases the puppy formula's have LOWER levels of a HUGE list of nutrients. Never mind the HUGE range of acceptable nutrient levels, even within the puppy requirements, means that those statements are total BS.

I've been quoted other vets who insisted that "high fat levels are needed for bone growth!!!" which if you know ANYTHING about nutrition should have wanting to pound your head into a wall.

We had a member come on here and tell us his vet insisted his 4month old 70+lb EM puppy should only be getting, on average, 700-800 calories a day! The ACTUAL number his dog should be getting? An "on average" number of 1700 or more!

Unless your vet is ALSO a vet nutritionist they very likely haven't got a single CLUE as to the actual nutritional requirements of your dog....

Obviously you haven't or didn't read ALL of my posts. Please before criticizing me or attacking make sure you read everything. Knowledge before speaking is a wonderful thing.

 

[ruthcatrin]

Obviously you haven't or didn't read ALL of my posts. Please before criticizing me or attacking make sure you read everything. Knowledge before speaking is a wonderful thing.

I did, you keep insisting your vet has a clue....but if they're insisting that your dog needs to be on puppy food till 3yrs of age either they've found some ultra special food or they're clueless.

 

[TheTodd]

Actually no not really. Maybe one

 

[ruthcatrin]

Actually no not really. Maybe one

Then I wouldn't worry about his weight to much. He's slim, which is a good thing (especially if it does turn out he's got a joint problem). Every dog is different, they don't all reach the same size, and they don't all gain and grow at the same rates.

 

[ruthcatrin]

Because this argument is stupid without examples.

Here's the nutrient requirements for dog food: http://jn.nutrition.org/content/124/12_Suppl/2535S.full.pdf scroll down to page two, for puppies we want the column that says "Growth/Reproductive minimum"

Protein	%	22.0	18.0	-
Arginine	%	0.62	0.51	-
Histidine	%	0.22	0.18	-
Isoleucine	%	0.45	0.37	-
Leucine	%	0.72	0.59	-
Lysine	%	0.77	0.63	-
Methionine-cystine	%	0.53	0.43	-
Phenylalanine-tyrosine	%	0.89	0.73	-
Threonine	%	0.58	0.48	-
Tryptophan	%	0.20	0.16	-
Valine	%	0.48	0.39	-
Fat[SUP]b[/SUP]​	%	8.0	5.0	-
Linoleic acid	%	1.0	1.0	-
Minerals
Calcium	%	1.0	0.6	2.5
Phosphorous	%	0.8	0.5	1.6
Ca ratio	%	1:1	1:1	2:1
Potassium	%	0.6	0.6	-
Sodium	%	0.3	0.06	-
Chloride (Cl)	%	0.45	0.09	-
Magnesium	%	0.04	0.04	0.3
Iron[SUP]c[/SUP]	mg/kg	80.0	80.0	3,000.0
Copper[SUP]d[/SUP]	mg/kg	7.3	7.3	250.0
Manganese	mg/kg	5.0	5.0	-
Zinc	mg/kg	120.0	120.0	1,000.0
Iodine	mg/kg	1.5	1.5	50.0
Selenium	mg/kg	0.11	0.11	2.0
Vitamins
Vitamin A	IU/kg	5,000.0	5,000.0	250,000.0
Vitamin D	IU/kg	500.0	500.0	5,000.0
Vitamin E	IU/kg	50.0	50.0	1,000.0
Vitamin B1 (thiamin)[SUP]e[/SUP]	mg/kg	1.0	1.0	-
Vitamin B2 (riboflavin)	mg/kg	2.2	2.2	-
Vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid)	mg/kg	10.0	10.0	-
Vitamin B3 (niacin)	mg/kg	11.4	11.4	-
Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine)	mg/kg	1.0	1.0	-
Folic Acid	mg/kg	0.18	0.18	-
Vitamin B12 (cyanocobalamin)	mg/kg	0.022	0.022	-
Choline	mg/kg	1200.0	1200.0	-

Here's the adult version of the puppy food TheTodd is feeding: http://www.wellnesspetfood.com/product-details.aspx?pet=dog&pid=61#guaranteed-analysis

Crude Protein	Not Less Than	25.00%
Crude Fat	Not Less Than	11.00%
Crude Fiber	Not More Than	5.00%
Moisture	Not More Than	11.00%
Calcium	Not Less Than	1.20%
Phosphorus	Not Less Than	0.75%
Vitamin E	Not Less Than	400 IU/kg
Omega 6 Fatty Acids*	Not Less Than	2.50%
Omega 3 Fatty Acids*	Not Less Than	0.50%
Glucosamine*	Not Less Than	750 mg/kg
Chondroitin Sulfate*	Not Less Than	250 mg/kg
Beta-Carotene*	Not Less Than	5 mg/kg
Lycopene*	Not Less Than	0.25 mg/kg
Taurine*	Not Less Than	0.09%
Total Lactic Acid Microorganisms (Lactobacillus plantarum, Enterococcus faecium, Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus acidophilus in equal amounts)*	Not Less Than	20,000,000 CFU/lb

Course, the dog food isn't listed as dry matter, so we have to do a little bit of math. Moisture is 11%, which means that out of 100g 89g are actually dog food. So 25g of protein is 28%, 11g of fat is 12%, and so on. Dry matter calcium is 1.3%, phos is .8%.....Please tell me how feeding this food is going to be bad for this puppy?

 

[szeman772]

I did, you keep insisting your vet has a clue....but if they're insisting that your dog needs to be on puppy food till 3yrs of age either they've found some ultra special food or they're clueless.

No that isn't what I was saying. But that's ok. Not everyone grasps what is read or written. Good day to you.

 

[ruthcatrin]

No that isn't what I was saying. But that's ok. Not everyone grasps what is read or written. Good day to you.

Oh goody, someone who can't even remember what they just typed....even when its right infront of them to re-read!

I wouldn't change him to adult food. As we all know this breed is a puppy until 3 years of age. Every professional I have spoken to states they need to stay on puppy food until they are at least 2.5 years old because they are still growing and developing all the way up until they are 3.

Remember to always consult your vet and that these boards are for advice based on personal experiences etc.

Oh as for treats I feed her Rachael Ray all naturals and she gets pig ears. For her teeth I use a spray foam toothpaste. You just lift the lips spray it on and don't let them have food or water for an hr and it was vet approved by my veterinarian.

I'm going by what my vet and Mastiff specialist have advised me as well as my friends who own and have owned Mastiff for years. You have to look at the puppy food you are feeding and the ingredients. As I have said in my posts. .always look to your vet for professional advice for these posts are for reading and are based on personal experiences and should not replace a professional veterinarians advisement for your friend.

Now, would you like to reword something maybe?

 

[szeman772]

That's simple advice in general and I find it funny how you are the only one who has read it and doesn't seem to see the rest OF where I state I ALSO LOOK TO MY FRIENDS WHO ARE ALSO MASTIFF OWNERS and THAT I AM SIMPLY POSTING FROM EXPERIENCE LIKE EVERYONE ELSE ON HERE. NOW, please go bother and be a jerk to someone else. I am bored with your childish behavior and insignificant opinions. Opinions are like a*******, everyone has one. Have a good day.

I came onto this forum to have the same discussions and post my opinions and experiences like everyone else. I did not realize it was like other places aka FB where people can't seem to act like adults.

 

[ruthcatrin]

That's simple advice in general and I find it funny how you are the only one who has read it and doesn't seem to see the rest OF where I state I ALSO LOOK TO MY FRIENDS WHO ARE ALSO MASTIFF OWNERS and THAT I AM SIMPLY POSTING FROM EXPERIENCE LIKE EVERYONE ELSE ON HERE. NOW, please go bother and be a jerk to someone else. I am bored with your childish behavior and insignificant opinions. Opinions are like a*******, everyone has one. Have a good day.

I came onto this forum to have the same discussions and post my opinions and experiences like everyone else. I did not realize it was like other places aka FB where people can't seem to act like adults.

You're posting from your experience, which is apparently to assume that vets know everything? Sure you ask your friends, and then you go back to quoting your vet....and you're insulted cause I point that out? You're the one pulling out the insults, maybe you should look at your own behavior for childishness!