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It's not about which is the best brand because there's not ever going to be one brand that's perfect and every dog does well on. For me it's about supporting a company that doesn't have all kinds of recalls and lawsuits. I personally couldn't live with myself if something happened to one of my dogs because I fed them a food I knew had a history of issues. Now this isn't putting anyone down because I know there are several people who have very limited options as far as access to different kibbles. You just have to do the best you can with what you have. A little note here though: mastiffs aren't large breeds, they are giant breeds and also most vets don't have a very in depth background as far as nutrition as it's not something they spend a lot of time covering in vet school so make sure that regardless of what your vet says, you do your own research as well especially when it comes to nutrition and spaying/neutering.
Don't be embarrassed. I'll give you the super speedy crash course to feeding a mastiff pup haha. You don't want a food that can be found at the grocery store or a store like Walmart. Expect to spend at least 40 dollars on a big ole bag of the good stuff. Now many mastiffs have issues with grains and chicken in their kibble so I prefer to avoid them both. Mastiffs ( and other giant breeds) need specific levels of calcium and ratios of calcium to phosphorus. There are many threads around as to what foods are okay and I'm working on a dog food guide as we speak so be patient with me haha. You do not need a puppy formula or large breed puppy formula. Foods that are labeled as large breed or puppy or senior are in most cases almost identical to the adult formulas but the puppy or large breed etc is a marketing gimmick and in most cases you'll wind up paying more and feeding more. In general the better the food, the less of it you'll have to feed. There's no reason for a mastiff puppy to be eating huge amounts of food. Mastiffs grow slowly and steadily (ideally) over the first three years. If they grow too fast (from eating too much, foods with incorrect levels, free feeding, etc) they can develop developmental issues which cannot always be corrected. I think I covered the major points. You'll learn that I tend to sound like a broken record about dog food, hence the dog food guide so everyone doesn't have to hear me go on anymore
