10 week old Dog De Bordeaux puppy...

This topic has 13 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 9 years, 1 month ago by GSDsForever.

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March 5, 2015 at 3:52 am #68205 Report Abuse
Suzette A
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This question gets asked a lot, I know but to be fair I think each individual breed or breed type needs different nutrition.

I fell in love with the French Mastiff the very minute I heard the fancy name, when I actually saw one? I think the entire world melted away and I completely tuned everything out for what seemed like an eternity. I’ll cut the dramatics, I love these dogs. Everything about them, the personality, the drool, the size, everything.

We all want whats best for our babies and sure I’ve done a lot of research on nutrition (what decent pet parent doesn’t?) but I want answers from real people with real experience with this breed or a similar large breed (110-140)lbs+

We’re bringing Kilo home in 8 days and I’m deadlocked as to what to feed the little big guy.

I was looking at Wellness Core for puppies and I like it but I also like BLUE Wilderness for large breed puppies I have to be able to purchase them in store like petco or petsmart. I don’t know if they sell ACANA at one of those stores because I’ve heard rainbows and unicorns nothin’ but good stuff about them.

I would like to pay no more than like $65 for a 25-30LB bag but if one food is more “super” than the other and the difference isn’t too insane I’d go for it.

Help a parent out… pleeeeeeease (:
- This topic was modified 9 years, 1 month ago by Suzette A.
- This topic was modified 9 years, 1 month ago by Suzette A.
March 5, 2015 at 11:00 am #68210 Report Abuse

Akari_32
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I wouldn’t touch Blue Buffalo, or anything Diamond made (Taste of the Wild, Kirkland, Diamond Natural’s, etc) with a 10ft stick. Wellness is definitely a great food. However, I’m unsure if it’s appropriate for a large breed puppy. There’s a list somewhere around here of food that are suitable for large breed puppies. You should check it out 🙂

Acana and Orijen are not available at chain stores, unfortunately. If you’d like to buy online, you can buy them (and plenty other brands) on websites like PetFlow and Chewy.

March 5, 2015 at 11:02 am #68211 Report Abuse

Akari_32
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Ah! Here it is. The list starts a few pages in.

/forums/topic/large-and-giant-breed-puppy-nutrition/

March 5, 2015 at 11:19 am #68212 Report Abuse

aquariangt
Member

I have nothing to add, as I haven’t had a large breed puppy in about 13 years, but to piggyback on Akari’s link, the most recent list is page 36. I don’t know how much it changed from the earlier ones, but HDM has a lot of experience with that size dogs, and has done lots of research (the links are in the first few pages)

I’d also agree about Blue-I don’t touch them, but there are a few foods that I don’t mind from the big chain stores, though I order a lot online myself

March 5, 2015 at 12:12 pm #68213 Report Abuse

Suzette A
Member

That was a FANTASTIC resource, thanks and I wasn’t aware that diamond still made blue. Maybe I confused blue and wellness when one of them said they were pulling production from diamond. (whats the deal with those clowns anyways, talk about QC issues!)

*I CANT FIND ACANA FOR PUPPY ANYWHERE ONLINE!!!!!*

Has anyone heard of Flint River Ranch. Its a “lesser known” brand but ingredients are all sourced in the US and it is made in small batches with premium ingredients, no recalls ever.

My friend barb sells this brand and her dogs look legit.

March 5, 2015 at 12:20 pm #68214 Report Abuse

Akari_32
Participant

It appears that Acana is All Life Stages, meaning it can also be used for puppies. Just make sure to pick one that has all the fight stuff large breed puppies 🙂 Chewy.com has a ton of different formulas.

I have heard of Flint River Ranch, but that’s the extent of it. I don’t know anything about it. Check the review side of the site and see if it’s been reviewed, and go from there.

Yes, WellPet (Wellness and Holistic Select) finally got sick of Diamonds crap and broke away from them after the last major recall in 2012 or 2013, and began manufacturing their own foods with very strict standards. Good for them, too, because they are my favorite brand!

March 5, 2015 at 12:52 pm #68215 Report Abuse

aquariangt
Member

Flint River Ranch is a mid range food, low in protein, high in carbs for my liking. Not sure about calcium levels though, you would probably have to contact them for that. Other than those few tidbits, all I know about them is a lot of breeders seem to sell it, and I don’t really see it in stores or online. bit odd to me

Blue uses a MYRIAD of copackers, that’s one of my biggest issues with them.

March 5, 2015 at 1:02 pm #68216 Report Abuse

Suzette A
Member

Blue is out of the question. I mean really, your product can be as wholesome and good as it gets but when you have questionable manufacturing and production what’s the point of having all the goodness? Its very oxymoron.

I was just wondering about FRR, I did see the protein was slightly lower than other brands but since some breeders I know RAVE about the stuff I thought maybe someone could chime in.

The reason I would like to be able to purchase my dog foods in store is that I live in an area where UPS and FEDEX are EXTREMELY unreliable, I mean it’s bad. Ive had them steal packages, damage packages, deliver empty boxes…. It’s disappointing.

March 5, 2015 at 1:09 pm #68217 Report Abuse

Akari_32
Participant

People also always rave about Purina, but you know….. LOL (that said, I do use some Purina products, but I don’t rave about them! I know what they are, and that’s average at best lol).

It does appear that Wellness CORE Puppy is on the large breed list, btw, in case you didn’t see it. You might want to consider picking at least three different brands, each with different types of proteins (chicken, beef, etc), and go between the three.

I don’t like to buy dog food online either, but only because I live in Florida and it’s 1,000 degrees most of the year, and I don’t want dog food sitting on my front porch baking all day while I’m at work. I also deal hunt due to budget, and I can get everything so much cheaper in store with coupons and sales than I can online lol

March 5, 2015 at 2:08 pm #68220 Report Abuse

GSDsForever
Participant

Congratulations on your new puppy! Good for you in wanting to provide a good diet & care for him.

When feeding a large or giant breed, particularly one especially prone to structural development problems, I would exercise extreme caution in diet & exercise/movement restrictions during growth and make that my priority.

French Mastiffs (or Dogue de Bordeaux) have a rate of more than 50% of individuals having hip dysplasia, per the OFA. This is one of the highest of all breeds.

Most of this is genetically inherited, and so much of your risk depends upon the breeder of your puppy & the 4-5 generation pedigree behind him (& their littermates), the percentage OFA’d (or given a similar non-U.S. normal rating).

So I would look for foods like on HDM’s DFA list that have appropriate total calcium & calcium to phosphorous ratios. You also want to carefully avoid over feeding, feed to keep your pup on the skinny side & with frequent weight checks to ensure that your pup does not grow too fast. But I would also recommend to you that you get in touch with breeders of your breed who have been breeding a long time & have had an excellent track record of producing dogs with normal hips & feeding for normal hips. Beyond diet it will be important to take care with the type of exercise and amount — again following successful breeders’ recommendations and researched guidelines.

Good luck and welcome!

March 5, 2015 at 6:20 pm #68232 Report Abuse

Suzette A
Member

@akari_32 – I did see welleness on the list! That’s good, and I totally feel you on the florida heat we just moved from Miami, FL to south texas 7 months ago. We kept our dogfood bags in the laundry room because when we kept them outside every time we would let our late GSD sadie out she would find a way to break the bags and eat herself into a sugar coma. We even had to take her to the vet twice because she was such a glutton and hate too much then couldn’t even move…

@GSDsForever – Thank you! and we already had the puppy tested for genetic abnormalities 🙂 he came back right as rain. We are purchasing him from a very reputable breeder and my boy comes from champion bloodline if ever the hip dysplasia is a problem although I highly doubt it will be because he isn’t genetically predisposed, we would gold bead him like we did our late GSD who took amazingly well to it.

♥

March 6, 2015 at 8:37 am #68261 Report Abuse

Akari_32
Participant

Are you getting this dog from a breeder in Florida? I’ve been looking for Bull Terrier and Shiba Inu breeders myself lol Good job for doing all your homework and getting the puppy health tested and buying from a good breeder 🙂

March 6, 2015 at 1:37 pm #68272 Report Abuse

InkedMarie
Member

Is there a reason you can’t choose a food from the list of approved foods?

March 6, 2015 at 3:06 pm #68276 Report Abuse

GSDsForever
Participant

Suzette,

That’s great if your pup is not genetically predisposed, as you can tell from looking at a 4-5 generation pedigree showing the dogs it was bred from have hip clearances/certifications. It is unfortunate but true that being a champion in any breed, or even a top producing champion in a given breed, does not necessarily mean the dog’s hips are good or even were evaluated.

Perhaps I have misunderstood you or we are miscommunicating, but I’m not sure I understand what genetic testing you’re referring to that would tell you at 10 weeks or earlier that a pup’s hips & elbows are fine. OFA prelims occur at 1 yr, with full certification at 2 yrs. Other countries, such as Germany with the “a” stamp & ratings or former OVC in Canada (etc.), also evaluate dogs at 1+ years. Penn Hip, which judges hip laxity, may be done at 16 weeks at the earliest.

Anyway, I am in much the same boat as you as I have been waiting for a large breed puppy for the past 2 years, going through good breeders who health and temperament test all their breeding stock and title their dogs and have had to wade through pedigrees myself. And I will be having to do the same thing, choosing a good selection of large breed appropriate foods and watch activity/exercise during growth, also decide how long to delay neuter/spay since this also affects proper structural development.

Anyway, congrats and good luck again with your puppy! 🙂
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