# English Mastiff - What to Feed



## Bubba (Dec 11, 2007)

This is a repost from an earlier question. It was suggested that I change the subject heading to hopefully attract other mastiff or giant breed owners.

My wife and I just brought home an 8 week old English Mastiff. He is such a cute little guy. We are wondering whether we should put him directly on adult food or try a large breed puppy food. My breeder said to go with adult food immediately. My vet says that that mentality was sound a long time ago, but not now with the advent of puppy foods that are formulated for larger dogs. Who do I believe? It seems like there are merits to both arguments.

I checked out Petco earlier today... they sell Solid Gold Wolfcub for large breed puppies and Wolfking for large breed adults. They are 26% and 22% protein respectively. These seem like good choices. I'm leaning toward starting Bubba on the Wolfcub and see how he does. If the vet seems to think he is developing too quickly then maybe I will switch him to the adult food.

One of my concerns with the adult food, and I'm sure its a stupid one, is how much to feed him as a puppy. The suggested amounts on the side of the bag are for adult dogs I'm sure. What a 25lb dog needs for maintenance is a whole lot different than what he needs for growth. 

Any help you guys can give me will be greatly appreciated. I will be leaving him on the food he is on for a few more days to make sure he is comfortable with his surroundings before I introduce anymore changes to his lifestyle.


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## Anela (Sep 8, 2007)

I have never had a Mastiff, but I have never heard of feeding a puppy adult food either.

From what I gather, the formulation in puppy food is different for their age needs. I have seen large breed puppy food.

Given my very bad experience over the past 17 years with dog food, I would be very careful with this. If you don't get a response here, try and Google a Mastiff rescue league or some other professional organization that knows the breed very very well. 

I would also research the subject carefully via Google and any other resources you might think of. Ask tons of questions about every concern you have and what your options are.

Good luck!

Anela


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## all4thedogs (Sep 25, 2006)

Mastiffs and other giant breeds (Im a Dane fan) should not be fed puppy food (even large breeds, as they are NOT large breeds they are GIANT breeds). This food is not forumlated for them. I believe their are 1-2 giant breed puppy foods on the market, but a high quality adult food is perfect for a growing giant. 

The amount to feed a dog is always over thought. Start with the amounts on the bag (feed more then required for his weight by 10% or so). If he is losing weight add more food, if he is gaining to quickly reduce the amount. 

Ryder was eating up to 12 cups a day while he was growing, and now that he is finished he eats 5-6 cups daily. 

Soild Gold has great foods and I think you are making a good choice there. Good luck with your pup!


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## Bubba (Dec 11, 2007)

Thanks for the replies guys. I am going to take your advice and skip the puppy food... i didn't think of it as large vs giant breed. I will have to make a stop at Petco for some Solid Gold Wolf King.


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## Bubba (Dec 11, 2007)

Well... I changed course a little bit... I found a local feed store that sells lots of high quality dog food. I talked to the folks for a bit and decided to go with Canidae All Life Stages. I am going to start switching Bubba over tomorrow. I will keep you posted on how it goes. Thanks for the help guys. I appreciate it... but not as much as Bubba does


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## all4thedogs (Sep 25, 2006)

Another wonderful choice!! Please keep us updated!


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## lynn'stwo (Aug 12, 2007)

If Canidae doesn't work out another excellent food is Eagle Pack. It is recommended by the Great Dane Lady for Giant breed dogs and that's what we feed our Mastiff every 3 months (we rotate foods)


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## Bubba (Dec 11, 2007)

Do you feed your mastiff the Eagle Pack Hollistic? What do you feed him for the other 2 months?


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## lynn'stwo (Aug 12, 2007)

We feed the large breed regular eagle pack and rotate with diamond naturals and nutro herring. I usually mix the nutro 50/50 with the other 2 foods b/c our big guy is 71/2 now and too much protein really packs on the lbs on him, plus our vet wants him on the slim side. For your puppy, the eagle large breed puppy in either the holistic or regular would be the appropriate formula for a growing mastiff, then you could switchover to l/b adult.


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## BostonBull (Dec 9, 2007)

I just brought home a St. Bernard pup. after aking this same question on numerous sites (for diffeent opinoins), reserching, and listening. I have determined fro Large breed pups it is best to keep them on a LARGE BREED PUPPY formula for the first year or so. It is not good for them to get all that protein in an adult food. they gro too quick and stress their joints. Also try to keep them lean while young and stairs and jumping to a minimum.
Good Luck, you have a great breed there!


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## Bubba (Dec 11, 2007)

Boston... be careful what puppy foods you look at. Most puppy foods (esp for large breed forumulas) have more protein than their adult conterparts. For example... Solid Gold Wolfcub for puppies is 26% protein while the Wolfking for adults is only 22%.

The Canidae All Life Stages that I chose is 24% protein I believe. I am just starting the transition, but he seems to like it. He actually sat in his foodbowl last night and barked at me till I gave him a little bit more. It was funny... I should have had my camera handy. 

I'll let you know how it goes, but the Canidae seems really good for him so far.

One more thing of note: I used to have a St. Bernard. They are not large breed dogs.... they are giant breed dogs. Someone repeated this to me earlier in the thread and it is a very good point. I think a large breed would be more like a Lab or a Rott. They grow much faster than our English Mastiff and St Bernard.


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## BostonBull (Dec 9, 2007)

Good info. i dont think hat the extra 2-4% ill be damaging.

I do have to switch my adult OEB over though at the end of this bag. he is on Solid Gold Barking at the moon, 44% protien! Way too much energy, and kcals.

I will be going to TimberWolf, Orijen, or MAYBE Wellness Core. Have to do some more label reading.



Bubba said:


> One more thing of note: I used to have a St. Bernard. They are not large breed dogs.... they are giant breed dogs. Someone repeated this to me earlier in the thread and it is a very good point. I think a large breed would be more like a Lab or a Rott. They grow much faster than our English Mastiff and St Bernard.


Thanks. Yes this is true! they are quite Giant! We have had to move the divider in her crate back 3 times in ONE week!! its like she is growing right in front of us. She is now as tall and long as my 5 year old OEB! She is only, 16 weeks! Where did you get your St.? W got ours while on vacation, spur of the moment, fom Hickory Hollow Kennels in GA. He says he is trying to breed his for size and color, VERY dark almot black, like a reverse brindle. it is beautiful when they are full grown.


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## Bubba (Dec 11, 2007)

I had a horrible experience with my St. Bernard breeder. I'd prefer not to go into details here. No fear though... he wasn't from Ga... he was from Colorado. Saint's are wonderful dogs.


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## RubesMom (May 1, 2007)

I have a Saint Bernard also. He will be one tomorrow! He is about 150 lbs. and still growing. Yes, they are a giant, not large, breed, but I agree that putting this type of puppy on large breed puppy food (I used Purina One) is better than starting them on adult food right away. Growing puppies have different nutritional needs than adults. I had him on puppy food until he was about 10 months old, then the vet told me to gradually start him on adult food. It can take Saints 2 or even 3 years to reach their full size, but the puppy food time period should be limited to less than a year because after that it can cause them to grow too quickly in some areas (bone growth maybe) and giant breeds often have bone and joint issues as it is. If you can find giant puppy formula, great, if not, large puppy is best. And, yes, Saints are wonderful.


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## BIG JAKE (Apr 3, 2008)

Bubba said:


> Boston... be careful what puppy foods you look at. Most puppy foods (esp for large breed forumulas) have more protein than their adult conterparts. For example... Solid Gold Wolfcub for puppies is 26% protein while the Wolfking for adults is only 22%.
> 
> The Canidae All Life Stages that I chose is 24% protein I believe. I am just starting the transition, but he seems to like it. He actually sat in his foodbowl last night and barked at me till I gave him a little bit more. It was funny... I should have had my camera handy.
> 
> ...



Hey, I know I am a little late with this post. I have a 4 1/2 month old English mastiff. I feed him Nutro Large Breed. He is doing great on it. Stools are hard, he is 65 lbs., looks great. I just found out that this food has some issues and I am in the process of changing to Canidae ALS (highly recommended by mastiff owners). After 1 day of food mixing I am noticing a little softer stools, not diarrea but softer than normal. Did you have this problem and if so did it go away? Since I see you are using Canidae can you tell me your experience with this food since we have the same breed. Thanks!!


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## LMH (Jan 2, 2008)

BIG JAKE said:


> Hey, I know I am a little late with this post. I have a 4 1/2 month old English mastiff. I feed him Nutro Large Breed. He is doing great on it. Stools are hard, he is 65 lbs., looks great. I just found out that this food has some issues and I am in the process of changing to Canidae ALS (highly recommended by mastiff owners). After 1 day of food mixing I am noticing a little softer stools, not diarrea but softer than normal. Did you have this problem and if so did it go away? Since I see you are using Canidae can you tell me your experience with this food since we have the same breed. Thanks!!


Just fyi some dog foods put ingredients in it that actually make the poop firmer and it has nothing to do with being more nutritious or better for the dog. It's just so we peeps could say , well his poop is rock hars so it must be good.
Also if you are mixing too much of the other food maybe he is just extra sensitive to that. I know my dog is really sensitive to any switching I do. He has very , very soft stool for the first week or two.


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## BarkNaturalPetFood (Feb 13, 2008)

LMH said:


> Just fyi some dog foods put ingredients in it that actually make the poop firmer and it has nothing to do with being more nutritious or better for the dog. It's just so we peeps could say , well his poop is rock hars so it must be good.


I am curious to know more, could you elaborate with brands and ingredients?
Thanks


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## caveman (Mar 16, 2008)

with my boy i switched from natural choice to canidae.

i also do a hip/joint supplement.

no problems with the switch, he likes it and i like the ingredients better.

the mastiff and dane breeders i know all feed adult food to puppies.

these breeds will take on average 2 yrs. to mature

dogfoodanalysis.com is a good site to check out foods.


vaughn


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## TearahBey77 (Jul 18, 2007)

I feed Theo (St. X boxer) Eagle Pack Naturals I think it is called. It is very reasonable in price. It is not the hollistic kind but the kind in th pruple bag, lol.
It does have corn in it, but it back it up saying thats it is human grade ect ect.
It is the only food that worked for him, poop wise.


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## LMH (Jan 2, 2008)

BarkNaturalPetFood said:


> I am curious to know more, could you elaborate with brands and ingredients?
> Thanks


I have read so many articles and have founds so much info online I can't even remember where I read that-haha. But I think one of those ingredients is Beet pulp. There is conflicting info on whether that is a filler ingredient or not. But it is used to firm up stool. Here is a website that goes through brands of food A-Z
http://hubpages.com/hub/Dog-Food-Review---Dog-Food-Comparison-A

I'm sure you'll find a lot of helpful info here from other extra large breed owners.


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## Mdawn (Mar 3, 2007)

When Uallis was a puppy, I had him on Eagle Pack Large and Giant breed puppy.
He did WONDERFUL on it. He'd still be on Eagle Pack brand if I could get it locally. The idea is to keep the protein under 24% I believe. Right now, he is on Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul Adult Large breed, which is 24 or 23 % protein. One of my vets recommended him to stay on puppy food until he was 1 year old. The other wanted him off puppy food immediately. His breeder had him on adult food. So I threw out the window of the whole puppy vs. adult food debate. I chose what had the protein levels I was looking for and had quality ingredients. 

I've heard good things about all the brands mentioned, I'd just make sure to keep the protein levels low. I think Uallis ate around 4 cups of Eagle Pack when he was a tiny puppy. When I switched him over to Chicken Soup, he was eating around 9 cups a day. Now his growth as slowed down and he's down to eating barely 6 cups a day. He doesn't eat very much at all in comparison to how much most people would *think* he'd eat. I don't go by the feeding recommendations on the bag. I go by how hungry they are and adjust accordingly. For example, I have a Lab, according the the bag, he's supposed to eat around 4 cups of food, he rarely will eat 3 cups. So I don't serve him 4 cups of food, I serve him 3 cups. With Uallis, I don't give him the 9 cups or so he's supposed to eat, I give him 6 cups...etc...

Good luck with your puppy! I love English Mastiff's and will always have at least one. I've had the most fun raising Uallis and watching him grow of any other puppy I've had. He's a blast and I'm sure yours is as well.


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## GreatDaneMom (Sep 21, 2007)

BostonBull said:


> I just brought home a St. Bernard pup. after aking this same question on numerous sites (for diffeent opinoins), reserching, and listening. I have determined fro Large breed pups it is best to keep them on a LARGE BREED PUPPY formula for the first year or so. It is not good for them to get all that protein in an adult food. they gro too quick and stress their joints. Also try to keep them lean while young and stairs and jumping to a minimum.
> Good Luck, you have a great breed there!




that doesnt make sense. A- saints are not a large breed, they are a giant. there is a big difference between large and giant breeds. a large breed puppy formula is NOT what you should be feeding. giant breeds need to be on adult food.
B- puppy foods are HIGHER in protein than adult foods. ( in about 90% of foods)



Mdawn said:


> When Uallis was a puppy, I had him on Eagle Pack Large and Giant breed puppy.
> \QUOTE]
> thats probably the ONLY puppy food i agree with for giant breeds


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## Weazol (Aug 13, 2012)

Hello, I am new to the site. I just have to add that my husband and I have purchased two English mastiff puppies and we have had them since they were 6 weeks old. (the breeder told us they were 8) But since I've had them I have fed what the breeder started to feed them which was large breed puppy food, but my vet and all the research I have done has said to switch them to adult food because they grow 10 times faster than a regular puppy. I have made the switch to adult food and I take them to the vet every two weeks for their de worm and shots and the vet says they are growing at a normal pace. The reason being behind the switch is because puppy food has formulas that allows your puppies to grow faster than they should, and having such a large breed, they need to grow at their own pace... Not because the dog food says they should. When I feed them I just let their food soak in water for a few minutes so it is easier for them to chew. Hope this helps =)


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