Bull Mastiff Black Lab. mix puppy
 

My boyfriend's sister informed me today that she just got a 6 week old Bull Mastiff/Black Lab. puppy from a breeder. She knew that it was an awefully young age to be taking a puppy home and she called the Humane Society about it, but they said it's the breeder's decision to decide when they want their puppies released. This's her first time having a puppy. Her and her boyfriend rescued a Mastiff about 1-2 years ago. He's older and pretty laid back and seems to be really enjoying this puppies company.

She's currently feeding her Puppy Chow (nasty I know) 1/2 cup twice a day, but she said it seems like she's still hungry. I told her that with her being as young as she is, it's probably better for her to be fed 3 times a day, at least until she gets a bit older. Is a 1/2 cup 3 times a day enough for this dog? Does anyone have any recommendations?

Also, how long should she stay on the puppy food? I've heard a few cases where people began switching their dog over to adult food around 10 months or so being that it's a bigger dog as being on the puppy food for too long can cause some problems. Is this true? If so, at about what age should she change over to adult food? Obviously she has a long ways to go, but just so she has an idea. Also, with the feeding, as the puppy starts getting older, how should she increase the amount of food to give or change the servings?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

1/2 cup 3 times a day is not much for a pup of bigger breed . At least 1 cup 1/2 or 2 would be better .
Big breed stay pups much longer I wouldn't change food until the pup is 2 years old .

Thank you! I must've heard the "changing food at a certain age" wrong then. I think she told me the same thing, but for some reason, I didn't think it sounded right. I've never had a big dog so I don't know tons about them except from a little knowledge that I learn from work.

I used to show Great Danes. It isnt good for large breed dogs to be on puppy food because the high protein levels cause uneven growth of bones.

If you can educate her on how with premium food you feed half as much and have half the "output" and 5times the nutrition and less allergies from fillers and other unmentionables that shouldnt be fed to any dog. She will also make up for the cost in the dog food by feeding half of what she feeds in purina/pedigree or ol roy, and the skin conditions, allergies and sick visits to the Dr.

Tell her to find out the puppys weight and consult the back of the bag of the bag she buys.

Ok lol that was a lot of info, but I didn't quite understand it. :rolleyes:

So even being only 6 weeks old, she shouldn't be on puppy food at all? I knew about the outgrowth of bones which is what I tried explaining to her a little bit, but I told her I'd ask around on here because I didn't know a whole lot.

I'm not sure what they're feeding their older Mastiff, but I don't think it's a high quality food. I know at one time, they switched him over to Solid Gold and saw an immediate change in how his coat looked, but they ended up switching him back to the lower grade of food because they couldn't afford to keep buying the Solid Gold. Plus, I don't think they have that many pet stores out by where they're located so they don't have a great selection of foods. Out where me and my boyfriend are, we've got a PetSmart and a PetCo and the PetCo sells the higher ranked foods (I was surprised that PetSmart doesn't) but they only come out to our area once in a great while if their male needs a bath or if she's visiting her niece. I have given her my opinion on the foods, but of course I'm not trying to knock them for feeding the kind of food that they do.

1/2 cup 2 times a day isn't much for a mastiff at all. Full-grown or puppy. :eek: Neither is 1/2 cup 3 times a day. Growing up, my mom had a st. bernard mix- he could eat all our dogs out of house and home. If I remember correctly, when he was a puppy he at about 2 1/2-3 cups at a time three times a day. Full grown he had 3 cups a day twice a day. Anyway, I'm not sure about big dogs eating puppy food as most of my experience is in smaller breeds. However, my rule of thumb for when I switch my pups off the puppy formula and to the dog is whenever they look like they're not growing anymore and, instead, they're getting fat.

I feed my 5 pound 4 month old puppy a 1/2 a cup three times a day, I cant imagine that a puppy of that size could be thriving on that. No wonder she is acting hungry all the time. Do the premium brands sell large puppy food or is that just another marketing ploy?? I know that bigger dogs are prone to hip problems if they grow to fast so that is why they take them off puppy food earlier than smaller dogs. I think if you did a internet search on large breed dogs you may find the answers you are looking for.

This info is wrong.. :rolleyes: I meant to say that I feed my pup a cup of day, feed in 3 sep. feedings and that I cant imagine that a puppy of that size thriving on that.. sorry for the mistake..:animal36