What's new
Mastiff Forum

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

  • Welcome back!

    We decided to spruce things up and fix some things under the hood. If you notice any issues, feel free to contact us as we're sure there are a few things here or there that we might have missed in our upgrade.

Corso dry food help!

Iymala

Well-Known Member
I wouldn't use Royal Canin, it's overpriced for poor quality.

Fromm normally makes good qualify foods, and I think precise is a mid ranged quality.

I'd go with from of the choices.

As for chicken and grain, they are only an issue if your dog is allergic or intolerant. Not all Mastiffs or dogs in general are....actually it has been found food allergies are actually not that common. It is something to keep an eye on...can cause yeast build up in the paws and ears, cause skin rashes, or chronic diarrhea.

My personal favorite food is Earthborn Hollistics Grain Free lines. I've raised both my English Mastiffs on it and they did great. Steady growth, good body condition, little to no body odor, and good stools.

Now they are older they need a more nutrient dense food, as they are not big eaters. I feed Diamond Naturals Extreme Athlete.

I personally look for foods that have named meat ingredients in the first 5 ingredients. I want to see a named meat meal before I see any carbohydrate source (grains, starches), and I like to see a few different meat sources.

Grain free is not better than grain inclusive...a grain free packed full of starches is no better than a grain inclusive foods packed full of grains. Concentrate on good quality, and quantity meat and fat sources.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk
 

xconanx

Well-Known Member
I wouldn't use Royal Canin, it's overpriced for poor quality.

Fromm normally makes good qualify foods, and I think precise is a mid ranged quality.

I'd go with from of the choices.

As for chicken and grain, they are only an issue if your dog is allergic or intolerant. Not all Mastiffs or dogs in general are....actually it has been found food allergies are actually not that common. It is something to keep an eye on...can cause yeast build up in the paws and ears, cause skin rashes, or chronic diarrhea.

My personal favorite food is Earthborn Hollistics Grain Free lines. I've raised both my English Mastiffs on it and they did great. Steady growth, good body condition, little to no body odor, and good stools.

Now they are older they need a more nutrient dense food, as they are not big eaters. I feed Diamond Naturals Extreme Athlete.

I personally look for foods that have named meat ingredients in the first 5 ingredients. I want to see a named meat meal before I see any carbohydrate source (grains, starches), and I like to see a few different meat sources.

Grain free is not better than grain inclusive...a grain free packed full of starches is no better than a grain inclusive foods packed full of grains. Concentrate on good quality, and quantity meat and fat sources.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk


Did you ever feed them the earthborne puppy or just the earthborne large breed?
 

Oscar'sMom

Well-Known Member
I agree with Earthborn. Puppy food is not necessary...you can feed adult food as you want slow and steady growth. We love this food :)
 

Iymala

Well-Known Member
Earthborn Hollistics Primitive Grain free is what I fed. I am currently weaning puppies on Earthborn Puppy, but ill switch after this first bag to Primitive. The Earthborn Hollistics Grain Free are all life stages food and are appropriate for growing puppies.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk
 

xconanx

Well-Known Member
I agree with Earthborn. Puppy food is not necessary...you can feed adult food as you want slow and steady growth. We love this food :)

And you had no problems with your mastiff? I talked to a customer rep and they also stated the large breed is fine to feed a puppy it's just bigger kibble, but it only has chicken meal, and then the next ingredient is peas. Is this food good enough to meet the meat requirements or should I pick another earthborn?
 

xconanx

Well-Known Member
Earthborn Hollistics Primitive Grain free is what I fed. I am currently weaning puppies on Earthborn Puppy, but ill switch after this first bag to Primitive. The Earthborn Hollistics Grain Free are all life stages food and are appropriate for growing puppies.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk

OK sounds good, for the primative one is the calcium 1.50% to much? Also large breed only has chicken meal and then peas in the next ingredient. I know you recommend more meat.
 

Liz_M

Well-Known Member
The Fromm indeed looks excellent, better than the Earthborn just going by the ingredients (comparing large breed adult grain free.) I do feed the dogs raw meals too; actually the adult dogs get mostly raw, but because of concerns for the EM pup's growth, he's on the Earthborn adult large breed; which IIRC has lower ca : phos than large breed puppy. However he also gets some raw meals - goat, tripe, pork, some chicken, beef organ mix, etc - maybe 20 percent of his diet is pure meat.


Were I going to choose between the two based on ingredients alone, as his only nutrition I'm probably go with the Fromm. Or Acana, which is another very high-meat ingredient dry food.


But so far I'm real happy with the Earthborn, the adult dogs get their "Coastal Catch" formula for their kibble meals now.
 

xconanx

Well-Known Member
The Fromm indeed looks excellent, better than the Earthborn just going by the ingredients (comparing large breed adult grain free.) I do feed the dogs raw meals too; actually the adult dogs get mostly raw, but because of concerns for the EM pup's growth, he's on the Earthborn adult large breed; which IIRC has lower ca : phos than large breed puppy. However he also gets some raw meals - goat, tripe, pork, some chicken, beef organ mix, etc - maybe 20 percent of his diet is pure meat.


Were I going to choose between the two based on ingredients alone, as his only nutrition I'm probably go with the Fromm. Or Acana, which is another very high-meat ingredient dry food.


But so far I'm real happy with the Earthborn, the adult dogs get their "Coastal Catch" formula for their kibble meals now.

So maybe I can get fromm and then switch over to earthborne. How do you get your dog started on raw (for me personally slightly cooked on the outside before giving it to the dog). I wanted to get into raw or home cooked meals, but all I have been told are not ideal or negative. It was not recommended to feed my pup either because he's too young as well and that there's certain minerals, vitamins, other things that need to be fed and not just meat. But I'm strongly considering real meat to my dog.
 

Liz_M

Well-Known Member
Check the raw diet subforum here, there are tons and tons of discussions on how to get started, etc.


I used to be much more hard-core raw (since 1999) and have raised several pups well on it. But have become a bit more relaxed over the last few years, plus this is my first giant-breed pup so rather than feed the unbelievably expensive whole-ground raw like I did with my last large puppy, I decided to do mostly kibble until he's done growing upwards.


I think raw a wonderful way, the best really, to feed a dog, I really do. But don't just go adding meat to a kibble diet randomly, you really need to do your own research and have an understanding of the basics and proportions before you jump in, especially with a big puppy.
 

Iymala

Well-Known Member
OK sounds good, for the primative one is the calcium 1.50% to much? Also large breed only has chicken meal and then peas in the next ingredient. I know you recommend more meat.

I didn't recommend large breed. I recommend Earthborn Hollistics Primitive, or any of the grain free lines. Primitive for instance has 3 named meat meals in the first 5 ingredients, 1 named fat, and only only one starch.
Primitive Natural - Ingredients : Earthborn Holistic Pet Food

I do not feel 1.5 % calcium is too high. Grain free foods tend to be more nutrient dense, and as such you should feed less of it than a grain inclusive kibble (other than a few select high performance options). Since calcium is a %, on a grain free food you often get around the same total calcium intake (sometimes a little less) as you would on a moderate low calcium % food.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk
 

Iymala

Well-Known Member
Also ONLY do homecooked if you are working with a veterinary nutritionist. It is extremely hard to do correctly and you will need to know the correct proportions of bone meal, protein, and fats to add.

Raw, I'd suggest extensive research and working with an experienced mentor before feeding it to a growing pup.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk
 

Yamizuma

Well-Known Member
What lymala said. Watch for allergies, and try not to believe puppy food is right for all puppies, for the sake of long term health of the K9.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 

Yamizuma

Well-Known Member
Iams is not the most reputable food. Dogs love it, but it's like having chocolate cake for breakfast. However, that said, I am not critical. What works, works.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 

Oscar'sMom

Well-Known Member
And you had no problems with your mastiff? I talked to a customer rep and they also stated the large breed is fine to feed a puppy it's just bigger kibble, but it only has chicken meal, and then the next ingredient is peas. Is this food good enough to meet the meat requirements or should I pick another earthborn?

We feed the Earthborn holistically meadow feast...it's lamb based I believe (we just switched). We fed TOTW (also grain free chicken free) since we got him after transitioning off Kirkland from the breeder. He's almost 16 months and 180 lbs. he had his 1 year check up in September and was given a clean bill of health..body condition good, eyes, ears etc all great! I never fed puppy food. Be careful about reps and sometimes vets...they can be just pushing food that helps their sales. I did a lot of research and had my forum friends help! Ours didn't do well with grains and I just never fed chicken just in case...there's other options out there so nbd. He poops maybe 3-4 times a day and since the transition it is much more firm!
 

xconanx

Well-Known Member
I posted in another post, but all of you have recommended either earthborne, Acana, TOTW, but which bag do you feed your puppy (large breed puppy or all life stages).Earthborn holistic primitive natural has tons of meat in it, which I like, but has a 1.5 calcium rate and I'm wondering if that's too high, others may not think so. Also, not sure which Acana food would meet the ratio either since their kind of high, and TOTW doesn''t list their calcium & phosphorus on their website. Which foods are recommended out of those that meets the needs?