2 y/o French Mastiff quit eating her food. Would rather have her brother's Beneful.

[PrincessPearl]

Last year we adopted a wonderful French Mastiff, Pearl. (not spayed yet) She was being fed Walmart food. We slowly transitioned her to a Blue Buffalo laRge doG formula. She has always hung around 99 lbs, which is the normal low end for the female FM. But she has a skinny look about her.

For the last year she has eaten this formula. But in the last few weeks, she doesn't want her food. She'd rather eat her Boston Terrier brother's Beneful. If I add Beneful to hers so that she will eat, she picks through it and only eats the Beneful. She may only eat 2-3 cuPs of food a DAY. She has gone as far as to unlock his crate to get into his food.

We are trying a bag of a salmon and sweet potato food now. We have always fed grain-free as we seem to be drawn to dogs with recessive genes (Bad skin and stomachs). She really hasn't been much more interested in that. She does drink the same amount of water as usual. She does lick/eat grass occasionally. Never has she eaten fast like mastiffs do. We still feed twice a day, though. If I really want her to eat, she does eat my rice/chicken/vege combo from the crock pot.

So am I overreacting? Since her weigh hasn't changed from 1-2 years maybe she is just small and not a typical eater? Any recommendations on your food successes are welcomed.

 

[mastiffmedic]

Re: 2 y/o French Mastiff quit eating her food. Would rather have her brother's Benefu

Honestly I'd say dump the beneful. Anything made by purina is at the bottom of the list of good dog foods, they've had numerous recalls in the past, its full of by products and they've found pentobarbital in the low quality meats they use. Blue buffalo is better by far but they've had past recalls also. You might want to do a complete change for both dogs. Start at www.truthaboutpetfood.com there's a ton of info on that site. I feed Precise Holistic Complete to both of my dogs, my mastiff gets grain free. I researched foods for a long time and Precise looks to be a good food, plus they've never had a recall, which is a big deal for me. Check here too http://www.greatdanelady.com/articles/criteria_list_of_better_foods.htm

 

[Oak Hill Farm]

Re: 2 y/o French Mastiff quit eating her food. Would rather have her brother's Benefu

She prefers it because it is the equivalent of dog junk food; Kind of the way most of us prefer a snack cake to a salad I would stick to grain free and switch your boston to it as well, it is far better for them.

 

[Tiger12490]

You try putting some water in the blue??

Tapd on my Skyrocket

 

[NeoBull]

Re: 2 y/o French Mastiff quit eating her food. Would rather have her brother's Benefu

I agree, switch the Boston too, it's not like it's going to cost much more to switch such a small dog anyway. They prefer the Beneful just like an 8 year old would probably choose McDonalds over a healthy meal.