First time Mastiff owner, 4 month old puppy, what dog food to buy?!?

[mydarlingclementine]

Clementine is 4 months old at 55 pounds, I've been feeding her Taste of the Wild with chicken, rice, carrots, and other home cooked things, along with vitamins and joint supplements. She however hates this dog food and would rather starve than eat it. I'm a student so I don't have a gazillion dollars to spend on a dog food that is all hype, so I wanted to ask some experienced Mastiff owners:

*What food was your puppy raised on that kept him/her healthy and stable?*

I sent my dad to choose a food, and he came back with Diamond Small Breed Puppy proclaiming that it was the same thing in smaller bites. I've heard horrible things about diamond, even though this particular formula is corn free. (I don't want to feed her a lot of corn or additives). I heard Eagle Pack is best, but- it is expensive and again, I don't have a hundred bucks to waste on hype. I have to be sure it's best for her.

Thank you all SO much!!!

 

[Dgold]

I also own a 4 month old English Mastiff and I want to tell you , feed him Life's Abundance. My breeder recommended it ( she has been a Mastiff breeder for 30 years) and I originally did not purchase because you can only buy directly from the manufacturer. I was also turned off because the company uses an " Amway " style ( multi level marketing ) to sell. However, after many super preimume brands that gave him loose stooles, I must tell you that he is doing great on the Life Abundance. Likes the taste and firm stoolswithin 2 days of first use. I feed my Samoyed Orijen and the my Mastiff also dives into the leftovers. I dont mind as Orijen is a very good food as well and I agree with their research that dogs need more meat then anything else, so the 2 dry foods mixed does him well. I would not worry about spending an exra $10 per bag of food on a Mastiff, You do NOT want to buy a cheap food and shold give them the best. Check out the Lifes Abundance ( I am NOT a salesperson by the way ) or go directly with Orijen Large Breed Puppy. Dont beleive all the hype about too much protein for giant breeds because there is not one bit of science behind those claims. I did los of homework on that.. Good luck and feed him well....

 

[Lady Clementine]

any idea what it is about Taste of the Wild (a 6 star food...and both my dogs love it) that is causing the loose stools? I have been on a months' long quest to firm up my 8 month old english mastiff's stools and get rid of her gas, and Taste of the Wild was highly recommended- but isn't fixing the problem. I also can't afford to spend much more than i already do on dog food- but another $10 or so won't kill me- and i want what is best for them both. I'm getting to my wits end on the loose stools (and accompanying anal glad expression) and gas. there has to be a fix! I'll look into the Life's Abundance- assuming i don't have to become a sales person to get it.

 

[Houdini'sMom]

I guess I didn't know they needed a "special" diet. It's a dog. We had lots of them and they survived on Purina Dog Chow and table scraps.

Houdini gets no table scraps - except a big bone or a piece of cheese. We tried alot of different foods before finding Rachel Ray's Nutrish - beef and rice formula. Worked great!! He loved it and it made his stools solid. However, the only place we can seem to find it is Walmart and it only comes in like a 15lb bag. We went to Pet Smart and they turned us on to their brand and it seems to be working pretty good. I've been adding it to the other and mixing it.

Houdini is my first "papered dog" and we got him free -