Adding other foods?

[trulytheone30]

At what age can I start to incorporate other foods in my DDB diet. She is only 8weeks old! Don't want to make her sick changing to soon! She's already scrawny!

 

[musicdeb]

What are you feeding her now? What other foods did you want to incorporate into her diet? If you want to change dog food, remember to do a slow transition.

Slow transition to the new food is as follows to prevent diarrhea. If at any time during the transition, the pup has diarrhea return to previous amounts of food per feeding. If you are switching flavors made by the same manufacturer, you should not have to do a slow transition.

Amount per feeding:

Day 1-4 ¾ cup of old food and ¼ cup of new food.

Day 5-9 ½ cup of old food and ½ cup of new food.

Day 10-14 ¾ cup of new food and ¼ cup of old food

Day 15 Start 100% of new food

Generally, mastiffs are allergic to grain and chicken found in kibble. You can check www.dogfoodadvisor.com for dog food ratings and customer feedback. Mastiff puppies can eat Large Breed puppy or adult food and they can continue to eat the food all of their lives or you can switch them to a Large Breed Adult Food at about 8-10 months.

Check out Acana Regionals, Wellness Core, Earthborn Holistics, Fromm*s or Taste of the Wild. Chewy.com is a great place to order dog food.

You may want to check out the raw diet for your pup. Check out the sub forum on raw diet that has a wealth of information. It is not recommended to feed the pup kibble (one with grains) and raw food. Dr. Becker talks about this in one of her videos. Search Dr. Becker*s videos on youtube.com for a lot of great information regarding the raw diet. There are 3 parts to the series. Well worth the time to watch the videos.

Slow and steady growth is best for a healthy mastiff. Do not be concerned with weight as much as body form.

 

[trulytheone30]

I have been concerned about size because she was underweight when I got her. She has been checked by a vet since then so I am okay now knowing that she is healthy.
I asked because I have read a lot about and everyone seems to be feeding sweet potatoes and rice, raw, apples and bananas......Just wondering why it varies so? Are these things essential for this breed?
*Just wondering?????

 

[musicdeb]

There are many opinions re: fruits and veggies. It's a personal preference and what you want your dog to eat. Rice is usually used when you have a pup with an upset stomach, diarrhea or reseting the pup's system.

Do a search of fruits and veggies on the forum and you will find many opinions. Personally, Titan does not eat fruits because he doesn't like them. He will only eat green beens but only on occasion.

 

[trulytheone30]

Yea, see that what I thought! Just a matter of what dogs like, LOL!!
Being a animal lover, and this is my 1st DDB......still learning!
Thanks alot! These forums have really helped me a bunch!!

 

[DennasMom]

Most 'adders' are for the human, not the puppy.
If you're feeding a good, high quality kibble, you don't really need to add anything.

That being said... any of the items you mentions (other than rice) can be given as treats anytime. (just because it's hard to give rice as 'treats! lol)
Puppies systems are still developing, so they often can adjust to different foods easier... but in SMALL quantities. Over-doing any one kind of adder/topper/treat can cause things to go through the system too fast (=diarrhea).

I dehydrated sweet potatoes and apples and mixed those with training treats to make the rich, "high-value" training treats go further when we took Denna to OB classes. She loves sweet potatoes and apples.... and berries... and broccoli... and... well, she'll basically eat anything!

Some dogs also just don't like fruit. My last dog would not touch a banana. Denna would eat a whole bunch (and I'd probably be cleaning up the mess later outside when it came out the other end).

 

[trulytheone30]

 

[trulytheone30]

 

[musicdeb]

What a cutie patootie!

 

[trulytheone30]

Thanks musicdeb!

 

[Jakesmum]

Oh my goodness, how could you not love that face!!!!! She is adorable!!!! I have been lucky with my guy, he loves all fruits and veggies, to the point that we have had to fence off our gardens or else he would be doing all the harvesting for us. Recently he has discovered that he loves strawberries and will eat the ones that grow around the edge of the fencing. We are careful not to give him too much, just the occasional treat so it doesn't upset his stomach or give him horrendous gas.

 

[trulytheone30]

Yeah her appetite is getting better. Post pic of yours

 

[Jakesmum]

I love this picture of him enjoying a carrot, this picture is from a couple of years ago (he was about 6 months old in this picture, he'll be 3 years old in a couple of weeks)

 

[trulytheone30]

Wow, I can imagine how big he is now! He adorable!

 

[trulytheone30]

Gigi is 15 weeks this week and is doing really well!

 

[musicdeb]

Gigi and her bling bling...love it!

 

[trulytheone30]

Thx! She let's me put it on her, only to try and rip it off when I turn away! LOL!

 

[QY10]

Words cannot properly describe how adorable she is. She is such a beautiful, feminine little girl!!

 

[trulytheone30]

Thansk! I am having fun with her now. I know she will be a giant really soon, LOL!

 

[rrebeccag]

Hi. I have a 15month old DDB. He had diarrhea so I took him to the vet who gave him a shot of penicillin and antibiotics and said to feed him rice and chicken until he was better. Well, he's better, but he's underweight and was since I got him 2 weeks ago. So I have started incorporating the BB wilderness back into his diet with the rice and chicken. However, he was eating BB wilderness adult but I think he should be eating puppy. In addition, I will continue feeding him the rice and chicken with the BB to get him up to weight where only 2 or 3 ribs are showing, not all of them as well as the bones in his rear. My question is, can/should I continue giving him the rice and chicken with the BB or change it up with other things like veggies? Thank you for your advice.