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DariusHystaspes

Registered:1330747374
Posts: 10

Posted 1341840988	Reply with quote #301

For those with similar issues, I am extatic: I found the mix that works for Darius: Ancana lamb and Okanagan apples (pink bag)! The lower protein content, the oats, the apples and pears and the fact this particular brand is designed for sensitive stomachs seems to have done the trick! Darius finally has a consistent hard stool. and he went from 6 to 3 or 4 stools a day. Sooo relieved! (pun intended )

Tracy

Moderator
Registered:1149003505
Posts: 7,726

Posted 1341847591	Reply with quote #302

congrats on finding a combination that works, it can be very fustrating. __________________ Ranchlands Mastiffs http://www.ranchlandsmastiffs.com Member MCOA, SSMF, FAME Rescue Volunteer SSMR If you dont rescue, Dont Breed. We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them. Albert Einstein Ch Sherwood Ranchlands Friar Tuck Ch ( In heaven) Windypines Sir Reginald Montgomery ( in heaven) National and Internation and sooo close Ch Ranchlands Duecs Wild ( In heaven) Windy Pines Mid-night Maxi ( In Heaven) Pallone Ranchlands Diamond Lil ( In Heaven) Winsomes Ranchlands Maid Marion GrCh. Ranchlands Windimup and Watchimgo Ranchlands Amazing Grace Ranchlands Kissed By An Angel Ranchlands And The Beat Goes on' Ranchlands Truly Scrumptious Ranchlands Rumor Has It Sylvans My Cherie D"Amour at Ranchlands. Ranchlands Bring on the Big Guns

Dozersmom

Registered:1325600729
Posts: 407

Posted 1342272666	Reply with quote #303

I have been thinking about switching my 9 month old boy to raw. Not doing it totally right now, this is how I am starting out and was wondering if it was a good start. In the A.M. Around 6 he gets 1 pound of chicken parts. He then gets a scoop of Nuvet Plus over a slice of bread around 8 in the morning. At noon he gets a whole peeled sweet potatoe and some sugar snap peas. About 3 times a week he also gets a cored apple stuffed with peanut butter. Or a tomatoe. At night about 6 P.M, I give him his kibble with a can of dog food. He also get bully sticks and pig ears and femur bones Right now we very every other day he gets chicken in the morning the next day he will get 2 pounds of beef ribs. On the days he get the beef he then gets boiled rice with raw peas and carrots in it.....he also likewatermelon which I give him a few pieces of. Then his night feeding he get kibble with canned food and sometimes cheese on top. Have been only doing this for a few days,,,,about 5 ....poops are good. Am I on the right track? I go back to,the butcher Monday to load up on stuff, went yesterday but to many other raw feeders got the best, Thanks for any and all suggestions __________________ Sue Havelka

johnclt

Newbie to Mastiffs
Registered:1342605233
Posts: 7

Posted 1342665643	Reply with quote #304

Quote: Originally Posted by DariusHystaspes For those with similar issues, I am extatic: I found the mix that works for Darius: Ancana lamb and Okanagan apples (pink bag)! The lower protein content, the oats, the apples and pears and the fact this particular brand is designed for sensitive stomachs seems to have done the trick! Darius finally has a consistent hard stool. and he went from 6 to 3 or 4 stools a day. Sooo relieved! (pun intended ) We Love Acana! We do feed raw occassionally but it gets expensive. Our next best thing is Acana. The dogs love it and do well on it.

dixierockstarr

Registered:1322512121
Posts: 955

Posted 1342666347	Reply with quote #305

I just wanted to post about the food I just switched to. I was feeding Dixie a mixture of two different foods and I was feeding Fiona a different kind. I was looking to find something readily available that would work for both girls. My friend fell in love with Victor dog food and pestered me till I tried it. The girls both LOVE it, lick their bowls clean. So far no bad gas, no skin issues and poops are great! Check it out at victordogfood.com... I feel like a salesman but I'm not I'm just impressed. __________________ Christin :) Member MCOA Mom to Bravo son of Intl Ch Dixie Rockstarr (RIP baby), Fiona our pound puppy, Chloe our kitty, And 3 handsome gentlemen Brockton, Christopher and Jordan

VentiandMe

Registered:1355526676
Posts: 15

Posted 1356114599	Reply with quote #306

I'm feeling a little defeated with my EM's food situation. WHen I first got my pup, the breeder had him on Fromm Adult Duck/Sweet Potatoe, this gave him mushy poops and terrible gas. SO I figured I'd get him something more agreeable with his stomach. Enter Science Diet, per the recommendation of my Vet...later I found out that this food is very low quality and I should take him off of it. So I did and went to Wellness...which gives him semi hard poops, but still has gas most of the time. I wanted to get him on Orijen so I figured I'd give it a try....The first day, Tuesday night, I gave him a mixture of Wellness/Orijen and all seemed good, infact no gas and the next morning/day/evening he had harder poops. I was excited..until last night...same mixture, but this time explosive diarrhea ALL night long into this morning. What the hell?! My breeder says I should go back on the fromm and stop the wellness and lay off the grain free. So should I just take back the Orijen and pick up Fromm (another recipe maybe) and ween him on that?? The grain free is out right now...I can't keep doing the 3am diarrhea clean up thing. I just want him on the best food I can get that his stomach will tolerate. Thanks for any help! Scot

Dixie

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Registered:1149803487
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Posted 1356167151	Reply with quote #307

a lot of dogs (mastiff or not) seem to be experiencing food problems. Before starting any new food I would be sure to check the FDA.org site to make sure there have been no recalls. I had the same experience you have had, and finally I just had to pick a good food and stick to it. My dog seems to do best on a chicken and oatmeal formula. For me, the first thing I notice is whether or not the dog has GAS. That's a good sign it isn't working for your dog! Each dog seems to be different. I feed Fromm's Gold, Large/Giant breed CHICKEN FORMULA. I add chicken to it. No gas, decent poops. For a puppy, I would pick an adult formula with protein about 22%. btw, my dog did not do well on duck with sweet potatoes..GAS, ETC. You should consider allergy testing to see what your pup has problems eating... __________________ Dixie

VentiandMe

Registered:1355526676
Posts: 15

Posted 1356366926	Reply with quote #308

Dixie, So we have him on the boiled rice and chicken diet right now to get him back to normal and its doing the trick...Man what a rough 3-4 days this was for my boy and us. He taught me a lesson though....never again. Especially after he had a bout of diarrhea in my car (all over). I picked up Fromm Salmon and Veggie. I'll slowly introduce it (thinking tonight) and see how he does on it. He also had bad gas/mushy poop on the Fromm Duck/Sweet potato so it wasn't working. I'll monitor (or smell it rather, lol) his gas and see how it goes...if he continues to have gas/mushy poops...I think I will take him in and have the allergy test completed. That way I can rule out right away what he can't have.

Brittney89

Registered:1365089521
Posts: 2

Posted 1367000564	Reply with quote #309

Hi all! I have a 4 month old Neapolitan Mastiff, Moose, who has been on Blue Buffalo's large breed puppy food since he was 8 weeks. I weened him off what his breeders were giving him (Puppy Chow), right onto the Blue Buffalo. His stools are soft fairly often. Most mornings his stool will be normal, but by the end of the day, it's like water. I've made so many trips to our vet (who is constantly trying to get me to switch over to IAMS or Eukanuba, but I just can't bring myself to feed him that garbage), and we've had stool samples taken, and he's been all clear. She even put him on a round of antibiotics. Nothing has helped. I've heard that the Eagle Pack Natural Large & Giant Breed Puppy dry dog food has had great results. Would you guys recommend this product? I was reading the ingredients, and read that there was ground corn in it. Not sure what you guys felt about that. I feel awful not having a vet that will give me an honest opinion, but I'm moving from the NYC to North Carolina in a few months, so I'll be on the hunt for a good vet once I get down there. I've never had a mastiff before. Moose is also skinny, I can see his ribs when he's eating. My vet told me to feed him 5 1/4 cups a day (as it says on the bag), but I upped it to 6 cups because he was looking too thin. My past dogs (2 golden retrievers and an American Bulldog) were on raw diets. Any suggestions would be great. Thanks so much in advance!

MountaineerMastiff

Registered:1371526106
Posts: 2

Posted 1371658766	Reply with quote #310

Hi - I've enjoyed reading the posts here. My Odin is 20 weeks old. Since we brought him home 11 weeks ago we started feeding him Blue Buffalo adult lamb and brown rice formula - 22% protein. His stool has never been what I would call solid. A couple of weeks ago, just when I thought he was house-trained, he came down with diarrhea. The vet recommended an oatmeal and chicken diet until the medicine took effect and his stool was back to normal and then to gradually mix in kibble. Well, the stool started getting softer and softer so I started him back on just oatmeal and chicken. This morning he had his most solid stool ever. After reading this forum I decided to order some Nature's Variety. However, I haven't seen anything on a Homemade feeding regimen. I have both the time and inclination to prepare the food for both my Mastiffs (I also have Odin's 5 year old mother.) But I don't know what to prepare or how much of what! Anybody have knowledgeable suggestions? __________________ Mountaineer4evr

harrygto

Registered:1370558121
Posts: 3

Posted 1371668763	Reply with quote #311

I feed my old EM IAMS never had trouble with that solid stool all the time he is all most 10 years old

Kujo_Dogue

Registered:1371597859
Posts: 2

Posted 1371670736	Reply with quote #312

something to consider: a lot of mastiffs are allergic to grain and chicken in their kibble...many skin and health issues can be eliminated simply by finding a kibble without those 2 ingredients. Or just go raw...I hear raw solves most health related issues with mastiffs. BUT...mixing raw and kibble isn't a good idea...too confusing for a dogs stomach as they are so different. So it's basically go raw cold turkey and never look back lol. (this is info I have gathered from many many other mastiff owners) We currently have Kujo on Blue Buffalo wilderness salmon formula...but it does contain chicken and I think this is why Kujo recently came down with a yeast infection in one of his ears. I haven't heard of Eagle Pack until I joined this forum..I will have to do some research on it...it's back to the drawing board for me and Kujo sigh finding a good kibble is frustrating.

TripleD

Registered:1355706483
Posts: 15

Posted 1387050314	Reply with quote #313

Wow.. What haven't we tried.. We've tried everything from L.I.D from Dick Van Patten to Merrick Dog food, to Purina Focus Giant breed, all the way back to Wellness. I don't think there ISN'T a commercial dog food we haven't tried. Now. I should mention... all within a year. My Mastiff has had skin issues since day 1. Shaved twice, allergic reactions to all his shots, and has since grown tumors on his paws and his lymph nodes in the neck are swollen to golf ball size and the one in his hind quarter is the size of a walnut. He's been to the vet to many times to count.. Poor guy.. NO CANCER cells detected THANK GOD. It all came back some long fancy name for an infection that may be caused by a parasite or food allergy. They've tested him for every known parasite.. and wouldn't you know.. Nothing... SO.. Brings us to today. We just started him this morning on a raw diet. Cold Turkey (not the food, but abruptly). no transition, no fasting, just switched. After TWO meals.. Breakfast and Lunch.. I'm already seeing a difference in his attitude, and his behavior. His breath is not smelling like "Iron" and rotten fritos. I'm shocked and amazed how in less than 12 hours we have seen some subtle changes. Instead of going straight back to bed after breakfast, he joined his brother (a chi) and sister (female mastiff) for play... While THEY slept for a nap, he followed me around head bumping me for more food. He's NEVER begged for food before.. ONLY when we have treated him to.. MEAT when we were eating.. While I know all 3 need to be on a raw diet, we have to do this one pet at a time for money reasons. My female isn't as picky as my male when it comes to food, nor does she have any issues that my male does and they are BROTHER & SISTER. Same Dad, different mom's though. Once we get Duke fully transitioned and I get the ratio right, then we will work on the female. My Chi, well.. he's ony 4# so that's not much of a transition lol. I never did the raw diet because I could't think we afforded it when I looked at the pet stores, looked online.. BUT When I came in contact with Blue Ridge Beef and found out we have a direct distributor here where I live with NO mark up like online shipping places or even the local Pet food superstores, it's 1/10 the cost straight from them. The catch is, you have to stock up once or twice a month and meet at a pickup location. THAT is fine with me. So if you decide to do RAW diet, do your research and see if you can avoid the middle man, and their middle man, and the post man in some cases. it's going to save us.. Are you ready for this? I found 20# of this specific mix online for 145.00 Where I'm getting the mix for 60.00 straight from the distributor. By utilizing our mfg food coupons at walmart where they currently are still honoring overage, it will pay for our fresh veggies and glucosimine (spelling) supplements that giant breeds need. I'm also going to be starting him on enzymes (again, spelling). If they skin tumors under the skin don't go away, then we have to put him under and have them ALL surgically removed. he has them on his paws in between his toes.. and throughout his back. and he StINKS! no matter how many baths, he stinks like he's covered in Iron aka old blood. his ears are always yeasty.. No More commercial food in my house for Duke, February 1 is our goal for all 3 dogs... Duke looks smaller then Kaylee, but it's the camera angle to which they are sleeping. Duke @ 165#'s at a year old. (Brindle) Kaylee @ 110#'s at a year old. (Reverse Brindle) Davidson aka Dinky @ 4#'s at 2 years old. __________________ Rodney & Angelina Davis Beloved parents of Davidson,Duke Demetrius, an Kaylee Renee Davis.

TripleD

Registered:1355706483
Posts: 15

Posted 1387050584	Reply with quote #314

Quote: Originally Posted by MountaineerMastiff But I don't know what to prepare or how much of what! Anybody have knowledgeable suggestions? Have you tried giving them pumpkin or yogurt to firm up their poo? We give our pup's pumpkin weekly as a treat if we ever see it less then what it should be. __________________ Rodney & Angelina Davis Beloved parents of Davidson,Duke Demetrius, an Kaylee Renee Davis.

DJofTexas

Registered:1366054844
Posts: 4

Posted 1394590684	Reply with quote #315

I have two mastiffs -- one is a 9 year old rescue we've had for a couple of years. The other isw a 5 month old HUGE pup whose sire is from the UK. Very typey mastiff. Gorgeous. Another mastiff owner stated they were feeding their mastiffs raw chicken. They said the bones are fine for dogs as long as they are not cooked. They pointed out that it was cheaper than buying the grain free dogfood. I have my mastiffs on grain free -- but it seems more natural for them to just eat chicken or meat. Especially since the 9 year old mastiff just caught and ate a neighbor's rooster two days ago. PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF ITS NOT A GOOD IDEA TO FEED MY MASTIFFS CHICKEN. I just bought some legs and thighs for 69 cents a pound. Tomorrow morning I'm going to give them each one or two pieces, unless someone here says that its dangerous or something. Thanks for your replies. DJ __________________ Miracles happen every second of our lives. You just have to be aware enough to see them. true love between a husband and wife comes from dedication and loyalty of heart, created from their innermost beings.

AnnetteSt

Registered:1336779949
Posts: 111

Posted 1394600379	Reply with quote #316

If you are feeding raw chicken, I suggest you buy organic to avoid antibiotics and hormones that your mastiff doesn't need.

Pugsgait

Registered:1395240931
Posts: 4

Posted 1395606280	Reply with quote #317

Has anyone ever heard of "Answers Per Nutrition" it comes in a green box containing 8-8oz fresh frozen patties total net wt 4Lbs, comes in either Beef,Pork or Chicken. We will be getting our first female puppy in April/14 and have been doing quite a bit of research on different types of dog food for Mastiffs. We currently have 4 pugs who we are feeding Blue Buffalo Wilderness 'Grain Free" and would like to continue or switch to another brand suitable for both breeds. We don't mind switching our pugs diet to also include some fresh food. Any and all advice will be appreciated. __________________ MF

gallantmastiff

Registered:1205343197
Posts: 117

Posted 1407964267	Reply with quote #318

You can't just feed raw chicken, with raw food, you need VARIETY, every type of protein gives the dog an essential that they need. Chicken is a good one to start with, but then once they are good on that then you need to add other proteins. Please read up on "Raw Meaty Bones" if you decide to go the raw diet. Basically you shud be feeding your dog approx 80% meat, 10 % bone & 10% organs over time. They can eat, beef, turkey, duck, chicken, buffalo, venison, fish, pork, fresh green tripe, rabbit, heart, tongue, must have liver, the list goes on. But please do your homework on this, because if not done right dogs will suffer. Cheers, __________________ CONNIE HACHEY GALLANT MASTIFFS

Momomonsta1

Registered:1425934506
Posts: 4

Posted 1426022335	Reply with quote #319

I have been searching for a good food to feed my mastiff puppy. I read a lot of people liking the 4health puppy formula so i started on that today. Anyone else have any experience with this food?

LindaGreesonRice

Board Owner
Registered:1146939445
Posts: 7,867

Posted 1431191983 · Edited	Reply with quote #320

I have been researching dog foods for many, many years.. I think I have tried most every major food there is at some point in time, including raw. I feel that I have finally found an excellent food, Life's Abundance. It is manufactured in small batches and shipped directly to the consumer, so it is always fresh and stable. I could go on and on about how and why I love this food, but the web pages tell everything in much more detail.. and I am very proud to be an Independent Field Representative for Life's Abundance. Please check it out at http://www.lifesabundance.com/mastiffsweetspot Also, here is a very interesting dog food comparison link that lets you compare Life's Abundance dog foods to other brands. http://www.lifesabundance.com/Pets/LifesAbundance/DogFoodComparisons/Fromm.aspx?realname=20189970 __________________ Linda Greeson Rice AKC Breeder of Merit The Mastiff Sweet Spot http://www.bluequaker.com/Mastiffs.htm We do not breed often, but we do our best to breed top quality mastiffs with excellent pedigrees to back them up. All breedings are carefully planned to produce the very best mastiffs, sound in both body and mind, beautiful and strong, representing the true mastiff standard. We fully test our dogs. We believe that a person that "just wants a pet" has a right to own a beautiful, well bred dog that is sound and healthy every bit as much as someone wanting a "show dog".

LindaGreesonRice

Board Owner
Registered:1146939445
Posts: 7,867

Posted 1432077002	Reply with quote #321

I have had my kids on Life's Abundance dog food ( I am using the grain free formula ) for a month now, and I am just amazed by the condition .. their coats are so shiny they look like they sparkle! Poops are excellent and appetites are really good.. this is good food for sure. __________________ Linda Greeson Rice AKC Breeder of Merit The Mastiff Sweet Spot http://www.bluequaker.com/Mastiffs.htm We do not breed often, but we do our best to breed top quality mastiffs with excellent pedigrees to back them up. All breedings are carefully planned to produce the very best mastiffs, sound in both body and mind, beautiful and strong, representing the true mastiff standard. We fully test our dogs. We believe that a person that "just wants a pet" has a right to own a beautiful, well bred dog that is sound and healthy every bit as much as someone wanting a "show dog".

MomOfZeus

Registered:1455218461
Posts: 1

Posted 1455513363	Reply with quote #322

I have a 10 week old puppy. He is a Neapolitan Mastiff/Caine Corso mix. He is much thinner than his litter mates. The woman we got him from is concerned with the slow weight gain. All of his litter mates are between 5-8 pounds more than him. He has access to his food anytime he wants, but he doesn't always want to eat. He plays way more than his litter mates too. I'm trying to find something that packs a little more for him. He weighs about 14 pounds right now. Any tips on how to get him to eat more? Or should I try a different food? Currently, he is on Kal Kan (?).

Loubud

Registered:1403024036
Posts: 5

Posted 1456249175	Reply with quote #323

Hi MomoZeus. I currently have 2 Mastiffs, both allergic to processed chicken. Fortunately, the 2 links below bailed me out. Gryphon Mastiffs will answer any question you have. I haven't found many that will spend much time on subjects outside of selling a puppy. The second link is for checking food quality/ingredients/nutrients. Hope this helps, Lou http://www.gryphonmastiffs.com/#!english-mastiff-university/c8cm http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com __________________ The English Mastiff What a Lion is to a Cat

Baby_Bellas_Mommy

Registered:1485124241
Posts: 3

Posted 1485999221	Reply with quote #324

I feed both my poodle and my mastiff raw. In the mornings I feed them a chicken diet mixed made by K9 kitchens. I stared with my poodle about 2 years ago. She was having big issues with infected scent glans. The vet said to try her on their high fibre science hill diet and if that didn't work they could do surgery to remove it. I had already had Sunny on that exact food the vet suggested. So I went home and started researching this issue. Come to find out it was a 50/50 chance that the surgery would leave her without control of her bowel movements. So I was talking to a family member, they have a bull mastiff. Wonderful dog. Anyway she told me to try this raw diet it was very high fibre. Since I have switched Sunny she hasn't had an issue. Before the raw she was getting these infections like clock work every 6 months.... So when my sister gave me Bella who was one of the runts of the litter. At 6 weeks old she was 8 lbs. I took her home. Because mommy had already killed the smallest runt in the litter. 5 days later I took Bella back to the breeders for her first vet check and she was 10 lbs. Now at 4 months old she weighed in at 70lbs and had cought up to most of her litter mates. I will never ever feed my dogs anything but their raw diet. This raw diet has no grains, no rice, no corn, no oats. As we all do know dogs can't digest grains. This includes RICE! If anyone in my area, Ontario Canada would like the contact info please do message me. __________________ Sheila Braund

Norman619

Registered:1493921783
Posts: 2

Posted 1495901551	Reply with quote #325

We are trying to make our own dog food for our pups. Any of you doing this? Any recipe suggestions? __________________ No matter where you go, there you are.

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