Rescued French Mastiff help?

[bonesnsasha]

Hi! I'm new to the site by the way. I recently resucued a french mastiff puppy as well as litter mates and the parents I only kept one though the others were put into other good homes. They were malnourished and he's under weight still right now. He's showing signs of food aggreesing towards my English Mastiff which I correct him for. What I really want is a little adive on how to put some weight and mass on the poor little guy these people actually had paper work for these dogs and I believe they were going to sell them sadly for them having a neighbor that is well aware of two large dogs and 5 puppies all who are living in crap and not being properly cared for I called some rescue groups and they were all taken away. They were born July 23rd so him and my english mastiff are actually almost the same age while I realize he's going to be smaller than she is he's very frail and has no mass to him what so ever. Any good advice on how to get him up to were he should be mass and weight wise get him healthy again. Oh he's already been to vet and everything too they said he's healthy just needs regular boosters and such. So advice please! Also he is a little snippy with my english mastiff when she paws at him does fine with people though and has showed no signs of aggression towards my son my boyfriend or me it's just our english mastiff and I'm not sure if it's because he finds her a little annoying because they do play but sometimes I don't think he wants to maybe it's just an issue I should let them work out?

 

[moose]

Both my French mastiffs need to be fed separately from the English because of
Food aggression. They can be more dominated, so be careful.


Do you have any pics?

 

[bonesnsasha]

I monitor them when he eats I've had his dish right by my son as well and had my son put a couple pieces of food in his dish after I'd tested him on his aggression towards people and food and he does fine with people just licks their hands. He however did get a little skiddish when he was out back and I came out with my hood up on a sweat shirt he started to huff up until I said quiet then came up to be loved on. He'd never seen me with a hood up so he didn't realize it was me until he heard my voice. I attached a picture of him he's really under weight. I think the fact he's not use to actually being fed regularly and what not might be part of what's causing his food aggression. He acts as though he hasn't got to eat in a long time! You can't really tell from the picture but his hip bones stick out quite a bit as well as ribs he doesn't hold still good for pictures!

 

[AKBull]

Have you alread taken him to the vet? Might want to make sure to get that out of the way.

As for packing on the LBs. As long as he's healthy (worm free) and eating quality food, he should soon start gaining.

Junior, while not a DDB or starving, always acts like he hasn't eaten in weeks when it's feeding time.

How much are you feeding?

 

[bonesnsasha]

yes i've already taken him to the vet she said he was skinny but he's healthy and told me I should start seeing results before long I just didn't know if there was anything I could do to help get him there faster besides I had someone tell me to let him free feed all day which I can't do unless I put him in his crate all day because of our other dog who I don't want to become over weight eating all his food! I give him about 4 cups of food a day through the day if I feed him more than that he looks like he's going to explode! He gets very bloated but the vet says he's worm free! As for his him being snippy with Sasha our EM i'm not sure what to do I tell him no and he'll go lay on the floor like whatever. She'll paw at him and they play well together but sometimes when she paws at him he snaps at her or just growls.

 

[AKBull]

How long has he been with you?
With these breeds, all free feeding is going to do is add a lot of poop to pick up and many empty bags of food. I wouldn't advise that one. Actually I wouldn't say to add much of anything until he starts putting on weight. Let his little system get used to having food in there and then you could try adding more cups later.
By 4 months my bull was up to 6 cups. 2 cups x 3 times a day.

 

[JennQ]

I fostered a very malnourished dog and this is what I did to put weight on!! It may help.... I used theese recipes as treats and gave lots throughout the day..

1 to 1-1/2 lbs fatty raw hamburger
1/2 C wheat germ oil or wheat germ
1 pkg knox gelatin
4-1/2 tsp molasses or Karo dark syrup
3 egg yokes
4-1/2 tsp vegetable oil
3 C uncooked oatmeal

Form into meatballs, place on cookie sheet and freeze. When frozen put in containers. To serve - microwave each meatball about 30 seconds per meatball depending on size. Give 2-3 per day along with regular diet

OR

2 C Tomatoes - puree in a blender
2 C Green Beans - puree in a blender
1# Liver - pureed in blender and cooked
3 C cooked elbow macaroni
4 C cooked Rice
4 Eggs (I scramble them)
1/3 jar of honey
1 C olive oil
1/3 jar of wheat germ
2-3 pounds of raw hamburger meat

Mix all of the above ingredients in a big container. Add enough Chex cereal or oatmeal to bind together. Make meatballs and freeze. Thaw and microwave/cok in oven the individual meatballs as needed.

 

[northernmastiff]

I second the satin balls recipe. It puts weight on a dog really quickly. I have a much bigger recipe though and I would feed a cup a day to my lab but he was a high energy field dog so he ate through calories like they were nothing. Here is my recipe:

Dry:

• 1 jar of wheat germ
• 1 box of oatmeal
• 1 box of cereal (Total or a similar cereal)
• 10 envelopes of unflavored gelatin
• 10 pounds of hamburger
• 10 eggs
• 1 ¼ cup of unsulfured molasses
• 1 ¼ cup of vegetable oil

Throw it all into a garbage bag (egg shells and all) double bag the garbage bag and then need it until it is well blended. Roll into balls and package them in sandwich bags to freeze. Unthaw to use.

 

[bonesnsasha]

I've had him about a week now. He's getting use to everything. Thanks a ton for those recipes I'll have to give them a try! I will post pictures when he gets healthier for sure I'm sure he's going to be a very handsome boy when he's got his weight back up!

 

[Cody]

Poor baby
Satin balls are awesome for getting weight on
Just be careful that you don't put too much on too quickly.
The gelatin is fantastic for their bones, joints and strengthening their pasterns. I also make chicken jello squares for my dogs.
I make a chicken stock, NO sodium, then use Knox gelatin (enough to make it really firm), when cooled I cut into little squares and feed it to them. A few pieces every day. They love it and it is great for their development.
Good luck and keep the pictures coming!