New Dog owner with questions about feeding. :)

[TheTodd]

Hello,

Earlier in the year my wife and I got a 2 month old English Mastiff from my mother in-laws shelter she's worked at for 20 years. He was spayed at 2 months due to the shelter rules so there was nothing I could do about that unfortunately. He's a great a dog we named him Tidus. He is 7 months old now but only weighs in at 74 pounds. Is that normal?

He has always eaten a lot of food within reason like 4-6 cups a day. For the past couple weeks he hasn't been eating that much. like 2-4 cups a day. He still seems playful and happy often but I was just wondering if maybe we need to switch his diet up now and get him off of the puppy food we have him on. We have been feeding him Wellness Large Breed Complete Health Puppy Recipe.

As far as treats and things go we give him 1 large breed Denta Stick everyday and Beggin Strips as a treat when he potty's. About 3 weeks ago we also started giving him 1 Pet Naturals Hip and Joint chews for XL dogs a day.

On top of him not eating as much as he was his back legs have seemed a little weak the past couple of weeks, I don't know if its growing pains or coincidence that it started happening around the time we started giving him the hip an joint chews.

Any advice would be much appreciated and helpful. Thank you very much

 

[TheTodd]

I know this isn't the best picture in the world but it is the most recent. My wife took this pic yesterday in her car. Thanks again

 

[BlackShadowCaneCorso]

I would say as long as he isn't too ribby looking he is likely fine. Often times they will have a slow-down in eating followed by a growth spurt where you think they are going to eat you out of house and home As long as everythign else is normal I would not stress too much about it. If you notice any other things starting to change then I would get him checked out.

 

[TheTodd]

Also I meant Neutered not Spayed lol sorry

 

[BlackShadowCaneCorso]

no worries, figured that was what you meant

 

[TheTodd]

Thank you for the quick response that helps put my mind at ease. Do you think we should keep him on the puppy food we currently have him on? Or maybe try to transition him into an adult large/giant breed dog food? I was reading on here earlier about some people putting their mastiff on adult food at 5 months. That seemed a little early for me due to the differences in puppy and adult food.

 

[musicdeb]

I would recommend transitioning to an adult large breed food. Mastiffs will self-regulate their food intake when it's hot too.

As long as he is drinking, pottying, walking and playing normally, it's ok if he misses a couple of meals.

He may have pano causing him pain in his back legs. A vet check would confirm that and he can recommend something for the pain. Do your best to keep him from excessive running, jumping, walking and navigating stairs which should be done until 12 months of age. You can exercise a pup 5 minutes for every month of age at each exercise event.

 

[TheTodd]

well l'd say that I need to cut down how much we walk him and I'm always down in my basement and my wife spends time upstairs a lot so he is always going up and down the stairs in the house. I did schedule an appointment for tomorrow with my vet so I can get him an x-ray for my piece of mind.

since he never eats in the mornings we were thinking about giving him a can of wet dog food every morning. would you advise that or is that way to much daily protein for a pup that age???

 

[musicdeb]

Do not be concerned with weight but with body condition.



Protein is the diet is not a major concern unless pup has kidney issues. Calcium and phosphorous are the ones to watch until they are about 12 months of age.

Calcium & Phosphorous Requirements for Dogs

Dog Food FAQs: Protein

What kind of wet food do you feed him? Does he not eat the dry food without the topper?

 

[jpw0025]

I'd just keep in mind that if you start offering wet food, your baby may start to expect it. It'll add up quickly! Also, adult food is usually best to keep giant breed puppies on, because the amount of Calcium in puppy formulas is usually a little high for their growth rates

 

[musicdeb]

Jessica, great minds think alike, we posted at the same time.

 

[ruthcatrin]

As long as you dont' mind ALWAYS having to give him canned food to get him to eat for the rest of his life go for it....

Puppy food vs Adult food. In most cases the differences between the adult and the puppy foods is minimal, and the Wellness large breed foods is a perfect example of it. Here's the puppy food analysis: http://www.wellnesspetfood.com/product-details.aspx?pet=dog&pid=63#guaranteed-analysis and the adult analysis: http://www.wellnesspetfood.com/product-details.aspx?pet=dog&pid=61#guaranteed-analysis not much difference there.

 

[TheTodd]

I haven't put him on the wet food yet it was just something to consider to get him eating in the mornings.

Do you think I should stick with wellness brand and transition him into adult food or would you recommend a different brand? If we stick wit the same brand of food can I shorten the transitional period between the two foods?

Thank you all for your responses they have all been very helpful

 

[musicdeb]

Wellness Core is a good food if you can get it because it's grain free. If you stick with Wellness brand but switch to adult food, no need to a slow transition.

I would not start wet food unless you want to do it all of the time.

You can also check out Acana Regionals, Earthborn Holistics, Taste of the Wild Grain Free and Fromm's. If you want to try one of those brands, you will need to do a slow transition.

 

[ruthcatrin]

If he's doing well on the Wellness I see no reason to switch him around to something totally different. As to the transition it'll depend on him, some dogs it doesn't matter, others, even when its almost identical foods, you have to take it slow.

 

[TheTodd]

Ok I think I am just going to go ahead and stay with Wellness and get the Wellness Core Large Breed. Its like ruthcatrin said earlier “If he's doing well on the Wellness I see no reason to switch him around to something totally differentâ€






There is however a company called Argos here in Cincinnati that makes their own dog food fresh every month and claims to have all of the benefits of all of the high end dog foods for a lot less. Its something that I will do my homework on more and see if I can find reviews. If you have time, here is the website for the food http://www.argospet.com/ let me know what you think J

 

[ruthcatrin]

I,m not familier with the company, which doesn't mean much. Ask them for the calcium and phosphate numbers for their foods though, the appropriate range for a growing mastiff pup is fairly narrow.

 

[DennasMom]

The Wellness Core Grain-Free Large Breed Adult that I looked at is
<2% calcium (this is the upper limit for what you want, the lower the better)
<1.15% phosphorus (needs to be balanced ~0.75 x the Calcium)
34%+ protein
12%+ fat

Looks to be a chicken, turkey and potato recipe.
As long as you're doing well on a chicken based kibble now (i.e. no chicken sensitivities, which are not uncommon in mastiffs) - should be a good choice.

DentaStix have calcium carbonate in them, but don't list the amount... might want to hold off on those until the pup is 18 months old or so to avoid over-doing the calcium.
BegginStrips have wheat and corn in the mix, which are not always handled well by dogs - so if you see any adverse reactions (i.e. itchy skin or stinky ears), you might want a different treat option.
The Hip & Joint chews also have calcium... in sulfate form (DentaStix is carbonate)... not sure how/if that makes a difference...

I've heard one of the good things for building hind-end muscle tone is walking up hills... but... as that is also a workout for the handler, we haven't tested that theory around here.
I would think going UP the stairs would be good for hind-end muscles... the going DOWN is the hard part on the joints - especially if the pup is going fast and really pounds his way down - or, heaven-forbid - LEAPS past the last few steps (as one of our smaller dogs liked to do).

Each puppy is unique, so as long as your pup is doing well and maintaining a good form (Deb's post has a great photo for that), you must be doing something right!
He's a pretty puppy - great expression on his face.

 

[Bear86]

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??

 

[szeman772]

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.