New Bullmastiff Mommy - Questions about feeding

[Ziaya]

I posted this in the welcome forum... Hoping to get some feedback maybe in this forum.

We adopted a bullmastiff right after Christmas. She turned four months on January 11th. I'm a little concerned about her weight and eating habits. Currently, she is eating roughly 4.5 cups of taste of the wild puppy food a day. Ziaya scarfs her food and never seems full. Her vet last week stated it's not abnormal to see all of her ribs at this age , 40 pounds would of been an ideal weight (Jan 5th weight 35.5), and we will weigh her again in a month. She weighs about 37.5 pounds as of yesterday. Does anyone have any guidance on how many cups of puppy food a 4 month old Bullmastiff should be eating? I don't know if she was fed well prior to coming into our lives. Possibly the reason she scarfs her food in less than 30 seconds or if we need to increase her meals. Advice given to me... 'fill her bowl with 4 cups of food, let her eat until she stops, measure the remaining food... and use the amount she ate as a baseline. My concern... She would eat all of it and get sick. I tried attaching a recent pic to this message, but I'm not sure if it attached... Any advice is appreciated. Thank you from Ziaya's new mommy! We <3 her very much!

 

[Jakesmum]

If you look in the nutrition and health section on this forum there is all sorts of information on food, body shape and amounts to feed. My suggestion, split the food out and feed 2-3 times per day. We started feeding 3 times per day when our guy was a pup, and now feed him twice a day as an adult. These big guys don't need puppy food, a good all stages formula will do, you don't want them to grow too fast.
When we brought Jake home he was 15 weeks old and 46 pounds, he would go through growth phases where he would look pudgy and then he'd grow in height and length and look like a skinny leggy deer. Remember that they grow for 3 years. Now at 3 1/2 he's 155-160 pounds.
Welcome to the forum, your pup is adorable!

 

[AR-HICK]

I am on my first BM puppy and I was amazed at how he grows! So far Major has gained 10-14 lbs a month since I got him at 6 weeks old. Major would get a little fat and then in a day or two he would look like all legs! Watch when stretching they seem to get bigger after stretching. If you are going to feed puppy food, large breed puppy. Enjoy the tiny puppy stage while it last.
Also get ready to have your patience tested, they are stubborn dogs. The best dog I have ever owned!