First ever mastiff!!!

[Winter's Cinder]

We go our new edition a little over 4 weeks ago... she was just under the 7 week mark when she joined us... we did kibble at first until she got used to our home and thats what the breeder fed her... after much research we decided we would give the raw diet a go... from everything we read this seemed to be the best thing for her as far as her overall health..I have never done a raw diet, everything is new to me on this front...
so 2 weeks ago I started chopping up chickens... I tried a leg at first just to see her try to eat it... I didnt think she would be able to chomp it up herself but I wanted to assess her overall gusto... she really wanted it but she just wasn't able to figure it out... so i got out my trusty cleaver and after getting it down to size... I thought I was gonna have a mess for sure and it would be coming back up as fast as she huffed it down... but nope!!! The first week I really watched her eating habits and her bathroom antics... everything seemed ok so last week I upped her amount to 3 lbs (i started with 2 lbs a day/feeding her that total over 3 meals) I thought for sure she was never gonna eat all 3 lbs but she hasn't showed signs of not wanting more... lol... she gobbles each pound meal down like there isn't gonna be another. ..but she has slowed down just a smidge. ...
Today marks the start of the 3rd week and since she doesn't show any sign of problems with chicken... ive started incorporating some pork to start a transition to another protein... ive mixed up the next 5 days worth of her meals being 2lbs chicken/1lb pork steak the first 2 days and 2lbs pork steak/1lb chicken the 3 days after that... if all goes well I'll transition to all pork next week... does this sound like a good plan? If so... what are some good pork bones to cleaver up for her? Or should I stick with mostly pork meat and fill in the bone part of the diet with chicken backs and necks?

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[Winter's Cinder]

here is a picture of her about a week ago!!! At almost 10 weeks she weighed in at the vets office at 18.5 lbs... her name is Cinder.

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[spiritDDB]

Oh, she's SO beautiful! What a face! I'm also a new mastiff owner and am totally in love. Enjoy!

 

[angelbears]

She is a cutie! Sounds like you have done your research and are doing great with the raw diet. Have you started her on organs? The only pork bone that I feed is ribs. I do know that some use pork neck bones. To me they seem pretty hard. Just be sure to stay away from weight baring bones. The only bones I feed is pork ribs, all of the chicken, turkey necks and butts but I don't feed the other bones. I know a few raw feeders that are uncomfortable feeding turkey bones. We do all of the duck. If I could get rabbit at a reasonable price I would feed that too.

Try to resist the temptation of over feeding. Lean is much better than fat. Especially with the giants.

 

[Hiraeth]

She's very cute. Just a heads up, I don't mean to offend you, but please look into health insurance for her. Any breeder who lets puppies leave the litter before 8 weeks is not reputable and may not have done health testing. Better to be safe and get insurance now than to be sorry later. Giant breed vet bills rack up fast.

 

[Winter's Cinder]

I tried to read up on the breed as much as possible... we were originally looking for a boxer but we couldn't find any puppies... we have an older cat and didnt want to risk his life getting anything older... mastiff was a big bigger than we orginal planned but she came from a good breeder that was 'going out of business' so for a full blooded papered puppy we got an excellent price... we just couldn't pass her up!!
All the other dogs I've had have always been mutts and its been about 10 yrs since we've had a dog... with 4 kids (ages 12, 6, 5, and 4) they are beside themselves with our new cinder!!
I really took in all the information I read about these giants and we really wanted to make sure we give her what she needs to be healthy as she grows... she is a member of this family and I knew within the first 5 mins of my 4 yr old son holding her upon pick up... all my kids would be devastated if anything were to happen to her...
Her dad was estimated 200-220 and the mom was about 140 (the breeder herself said she was the smallest she had ever seen) and the breeder said she was one of the bigger pups... so im estimating she will be around 150-160...and from everything I've read she should be getting about 3 lbs of food a day... that first week I kept it around 2-2.5 lbs to make sure she didn't get sick... and now that we've been more to the 3 lb average she doesn't seem to gobble it down as if she's starving..
She has been very good with whole chickens as long as I cleaver them up to manageable pieces for her. There were small bones in the pork steaks I chopped up but they do seem rather hard... I have an order in to the local meat counter for a 50# box of whole chickens, and they are working on getting me a 40# box of chicken backs and necks...
As a family of 6 on one income, I do a lot of gardening and im pretty good at finding great deals on meat...we also buy a whole hog and half a cow about once a year to keep our 2 upright freezers stocked... I have tons of beef liver, heart, and tongue in there that nobody really eats so im looking forward to adding some of that to her diet as well!!
My hubby does hunt so im sure she will have a variety of protein to try!!

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[Winter's Cinder]

She's very cute. Just a heads up, I don't mean to offend you, but please look into health insurance for her. Any breeder who lets puppies leave the litter before 8 weeks is not reputable and may not have done health testing. Better to be safe and get insurance now than to be sorry later. Giant breed vet bills rack up fast.

I will def look into it... she was wormed and that was it on the breeders part... I took her to the vet for her 1st and 2nd round of shots... I have gotten her papers from the AKC along with her 3 Gen certificate... we had her micro chipped at her last appt and i will ask about testing at her next one..
When we discussed getting a dog we were gonna spay/neuter whatever we got... but we didn't anticipate getting a papered dog... we still haven't decided if we will breed her, but we understand we have a little time to decide if we would want such an undertaking... and we also want to make sure we did it correctly and it wouldn't affect the health of our newest family member negatively. Right now we just want to make sure she is healthy and loved!!!

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[Hiraeth]

I will def look into it... she was wormed and that was it on the breeders part... I took her to the vet for her 1st and 2nd round of shots... I have gotten her papers from the AKC along with her 3 Gen certificate... we had her micro chipped at her last appt and i will ask about testing at her next one..When we discussed getting a dog we were gonna spay/neuter whatever we got... but we didn't anticipate getting a papered dog... we still haven't decided if we will breed her, but we understand we have a little time to decide if we would want such an undertaking... and we also want to make sure we did it correctly and it wouldn't affect the health of our newest family member negatively. Right now we just want to make sure she is healthy and loved!!! Sent from my SM-N910P using Tapatalk

Okay, I also don't mean this to be offensive - if you're not planning on earning her championship via showing her, please don't breed her. Just because she is papered does not mean she is good breeding stock. The world is overpopulated with unhealthy and unwanted dogs because people breed for the sake of breeding. Also, the life expectancy of giant breeds has gone down significantly because people don't take the appropriate care when matching their dog to the proper breeding partner.

If you don't have OFA hip and eye test results and cardiac test results from both parents, you could be unintentionally producing dogs with a myriad of health problems. And breeding can always negatively effect health. The reason giant breed puppies from reputable breeders and proven lines cost $2,000 and up is because there's risk and high cost involved with breeding a litter the appropriate way.

None of that means she won't be a wonderful dog, a great companion and a best friend to your family. It just means that backyard breeders who don't title their dogs and who breed with only profit in mind are going to be the downfall of the breeds we love so much.

 

[Winter's Cinder]

Okay, I also don't mean this to be offensive - if you're not planning on earning her championship via showing her, please don't breed her. Just because she is papered does not mean she is good breeding stock. The world is overpopulated with unhealthy and unwanted dogs because people breed for the sake of breeding. Also, the life expectancy of giant breeds has gone down significantly because people don't take the appropriate care when matching their dog to the proper breeding partner.

If you don't have OFA hip and eye test results and cardiac test results from both parents, you could be unintentionally producing dogs with a myriad of health problems. And breeding can always negatively effect health. The reason giant breed puppies from reputable breeders and proven lines cost $2,000 and up is because there's risk and high cost involved with breeding a litter the appropriate way.

None of that means she won't be a wonderful dog, a great companion and a best friend to your family. It just means that backyard breeders who don't title their dogs and who breed with only profit in mind are going to be the downfall of the breeds we love so much.

Right now we don't even know if we will even breed her at all... we understand the pros and cons of it... as I said, IF we do decide to breed her... we will do it correctly and take all the necessary steps to ensure the health of the line... right now our main concern is for her to grow up healthy and loved...

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[cj-sharpy]

Well isn't she a cutey.
You're defiantly doing right with the raw diet.
As for estimated size, she'll be as big as she is. That's decided by genetics before birth but the best way to get her to size is SLOWLY. Getting her on the right diet will help this so much.
Breed or don't breed. That's not up to me.
What I would say is if you decide against breeding then it's recommended not to spay before all their growing is done and that takes a while.
Most vets seem desperate to get in their and cut stuff off at 6 months but around two years will be much better for your dog.

Apart from that I'll just say again "awwwww she's lovely" and have fun with your pup.

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[Winter's Cinder]

I can't believe how fast she's growing, even if she's slow at it!!!lol!!
I know what you mean about 6 months and cut everything out!! The vet has already talked about it... and she said if we were gonna do it, do it as soon as she turns 6 months... she really pushed to do as soon as possible and was really pushing the cost difference because of her size... when I asked about the pricing there was really only about a $40 difference because they top out at $150 at 125 lbs and up...
I would wait until yr 2 at least because I know in my experience (not with mastiffs) that spaying can tend to add a little extra weight... I really wouldn't want to do that to her growing joints...

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[EM Nani]

Happy to hear she is doing well on RAW feeding. She is adorable!!

 

[DennasMom]

Welcome to the forum, and the joy of being owned by a mastiff!!

Denna is our first raw-fed pup, but we didn't make the leap until she was 6 months old (she'll be 4 in March). They do say the younger you start, the easier it is for the pup to transition, and the less GI upset you should have to go through. Sounds like you're well on your way!

It sounds like you've done your research - the only thing I would add, is not to over-feed. Denna is 165lbs now, at 3.5 years, and eats 2.75lb/day total (1.7% of her adult weight). Mastiffs are normally on the lower end of the energy scale, so the 2.5% can be too many calories.

The other guideline for puppies is 10% of current weight - OR - 2.5% of adult expected weight, which ever is LESS...
But, where ever you start... just keep an eye on body condition. You want to easily see ribs on the puppy - but you want some cushion on the hips. Leaner is better for all health conditions.

We feed a lot of pork and pork ribs around here. Are you going with the "whole prey model" diet? 80/10/10? That was what my research pointed to as the easiest and most complete home-prepared raw diet. Although, we do add in veggies and a fruit here and there - often as treats, because Denna loves them.

And the recommendation here on the forum for spaying giant breeds is after 18 months of age - when they've really slowed down growing. There are now a lot of studies out there pointing to the higher rates of bone and other cancers in dogs that were spayed young - and the bigger the breed, the bigger the correlation. It does cost more to spay later, but if you were thinking of a cheap dog.... a mastiff probably wouldn't make the list.

We did get insurance for Denna as a puppy... they've helped with wellness care and lately with stitches on her foot (she stepped on a broken bottle)... but I think the insurance co is still ahead after paying in 3 years. I'm hoping it stays that way.

Looking forward to hearing more about your adventures with Cinder!!

 

[Winter's Cinder]

Welcome to the forum, and the joy of being owned by a mastiff!!

Denna is our first raw-fed pup, but we didn't make the leap until she was 6 months old (she'll be 4 in March). They do say the younger you start, the easier it is for the pup to transition, and the less GI upset you should have to go through. Sounds like you're well on your way!

It sounds like you've done your research - the only thing I would add, is not to over-feed. Denna is 165lbs now, at 3.5 years, and eats 2.75lb/day total (1.7% of her adult weight). Mastiffs are normally on the lower end of the energy scale, so the 2.5% can be too many calories.

The other guideline for puppies is 10% of current weight - OR - 2.5% of adult expected weight, which ever is LESS...
But, where ever you start... just keep an eye on body condition. You want to easily see ribs on the puppy - but you want some cushion on the hips. Leaner is better for all health conditions.

We feed a lot of pork and pork ribs around here. Are you going with the "whole prey model" diet? 80/10/10? That was what my research pointed to as the easiest and most complete home-prepared raw diet. Although, we do add in veggies and a fruit here and there - often as treats, because Denna loves them.

And the recommendation here on the forum for spaying giant breeds is after 18 months of age - when they've really slowed down growing. There are now a lot of studies out there pointing to the higher rates of bone and other cancers in dogs that were spayed young - and the bigger the breed, the bigger the correlation. It does cost more to spay later, but if you were thinking of a cheap dog.... a mastiff probably wouldn't make the list.

We did get insurance for Denna as a puppy... they've helped with wellness care and lately with stitches on her foot (she stepped on a broken bottle)... but I think the insurance co is still ahead after paying in 3 years. I'm hoping it stays that way.

Looking forward to hearing more about your adventures with Cinder!!

Right now she is eating 2 1/4 lbs, after I reduced it from 3... she was a bit bloated with that much when we were transitioning from chicken to add in pork... and yes... the 80/10/100 is what I'm following, it seemed the easiest... I was getting kind of confused when I was researching it all... so i picked that one and decided once we got into it... I could try other stuff later on...

If we decide to spay her we will definitely wait until she is older... we know there is a lot of testing and research of her bloodline and other things that need to be taken into consideration if we decide to breed her... and we know we have time before some of those tests are done... but right now we just want her to grow healthy...

I mentioned ins last night to the hubby, and he looked at me like I had sprouted another head!! I laughed and said I thought it was ridiculous too when someone on here mentioned it... LOL... but after looking into it and doing some research... it made sense!! So after showing him some potential companies and telling him some of the medical issues our new fur baby could possibly be genetically prone to... he is totally on board. Our 3rd daughter broke both bones in her left forearm at the age of 20 months jumping off the toy box with her older sister under his watch (i was at the grocery store) and he understands the need for med ins for accidents!! LOL!!!

The hubby hasn't had the time I've had to research and read up on all this new stuff, but he's willing to listen to it all so he can help make the best decision for Cinder...

I'm happy to have found this site and meet everyone who has such great advice!! I look forward to posting more!!!

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[tmricciuto]

I can't tell you want I've spend out of pocket for my girls. Both have had Giardia multiple times, ear infections, regular shots and the spay/gastroplexy. We are out thousands of dollars.