[Ann]

I want to know the right dog food to feed my Bull Mastiff's.
I have read this article that article and read this brand and that brand of dog foods.
I basically want an all natural dog food no junk in the food.
Can anyone out there give any advice.
I read so much about all the different types that I am totally confused now, lol, I think the food companies like it that way.
Thanks,
Ann

[Snowshoe]

I can tell you that the only way to eliminate all "junk" from your dog's diet is to feed RAW or BARF.

If you are looking for a high quality kibble, I will suggest:

Solid Gold
Timberwolf Organic
Fromm's Family Foods
Royal Canin
Innova
Wellness (not quite as high quality)

Personally, I feed Fromm's Whitefish and Potato. I really adore the ingredient list for Fromm's.

Also, Fromm's Puppy Gold is great for large breed puppies, and puppies with allergies.

[all4thedogs]

There is also:

Canidae
Eagle Pack
Chicken Soup for the Dog Lovers Soul
Natures Variety Raw Instinct
Innova Evo
Pinnacle
California Natural (good food, and great for dogs with allergies, has very high quality, but limited ingredients)

Im personally not a fan of Royal Canin. I personally feed Canidae, but will be switching to either California Natural or Evo, because one of my dogs has allergies. Canidae is a great food, but is triggering an allergy for him.

[Dulce]

That's strange, Innova triggered an allergy in my dog too!

Any of those food are for any breed. I don't believe I've ever seen breed specific food.

Things you want to say away from:

-Fillers, such as:

*corn
*preservitives
*some wheats/grains
*un natural ingredients

Stick with something with protein, Omega 3 fatty acids, veggies, fish, etc.

[cshellenberger]

For Bullmastiffs and other GIANT breeds you want

1. a food with no corn, wheat, soy by-products or artificial preservatives

2.ALL STAGES Protien levels between 20-24%, Fat between 12-14%, Calcium 1% this is to keep growth slow and steady and to keep excess wieght off and prevent joint problems.

3.Meat or meat meal as the #1 ingreadient, and unless there are allergies, another meat (or meal) in the top 4.

From there it's what the dog does best on and likes.

Here's the 2006 list from the Whole Dog Journal. These are highest quality foods. Most of these are not carried at large chain stores but you can usually find them at small pet stores, feed and grain stores, etc.

Artemis: www.artemispetfood.com
Azmira: www.azmira.com
Back to Basics: www.beowulfs.com
Bench & Field Holistic Natural Canine: www.benchandfield.com
Blue Buffalo: www.bluebuff.com
Burns: www.bpn4u.com
by Nature BrightLife: www.bynaturepetfoods.com
California Natural: www.naturapet.com
Canidae: www.canidae.com
Canine Caviar: www.caninecaviar.com
Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul: www.chickensoupforthepetloverssoul.com
Cloud Star Kibble: www.cloudstar.com
Drs. Foster & Smith: www.drsfostersmith.com
Eagle Pack Holistic Select: www.eaglepack.com
Evolve: www.evolvepet.com
Firstmate Dog Food: www.firstmate.com
Flint River Ranch: www.flintriver-pet-food.com
Foundations: www.petcurean.com
Fromm Four Star Nutritionals: www.frommfamilyfoods.com
Go! Natural: www.petcurean.com
Hund-N-Flocken: www.solidgoldhealth.com
Innova: www.naturapet.com
Innova Evo: www.naturapet.com
Karma Organic: www.karmaorganic.com
Lick Your Chops: www.healthypetfoodsinc.com
Lifespan: www.petguard.com
Limited Diets: www.royalcanin.us
Merrick Pet Foods: www.merrickpetcare.com
Mmillennia: www.solidgoldhealth.com
Natural Balance Ultra Premium: www.naturalbalanceinc.com
Natural Choice Ultra: www.nutroproducts.com
Newman's Own Organics: www.newmansownorganics.com
NutriSource: www.nutrisourcedogfood.com
Organix: www.castorpolluxpet.com
Performatrin Ultra: www.performatrinultra.com
PHD Viand: www.phdproducts.com
Pinnacle: www.breeders-choice.com
Prairie: www.naturesvariety.com
Premium Edge: www.premiumedgepetfood.com
Prime Life: www.ompetproducts.com
Royal Canin Natural Blend: www.royalcanin.us
Timberwolf Organics: timberwolforganics.com
VeRUS: www.veruspetfoods.com
Wellness: www.oldmotherhubbard.com
Wellness Simple Food Solutions: www.oldmotherhubbard.com
Wenawe: www.wenawe.com.uy
Wysong: www.wysong.net
Zinpro: www.lincolnbiotech.com

[LabLady101]

Feed what works best for your dogs, regardless of the brand name or ingredients.

There are a lot of personal stigmas attached to corn, wheat, and by-products and if the food your dog does best on contains them a lot of people will tell you it's "junk" or "crap" or "low quality" and to find another. I don't personally believe this as there are many of what I personally would call "decent" or "middle of the road" foods out there that do contain these ingredients. And in all actuality, only about 10% of the total dog population has or will develop food allergies of one type or another. Most dogs do just fine with these ingredients. In fact, did you know that given the choice, your dog would most likely pick by-products over actual muscle meat? It's a quicker meal and more protein dense than muscle meat.

I am very leery of a lot of these "higher" or "best" or "all natural" or "human grade" (which is a gimmick because any ingredient regardless of where it came from is considered animal grade by law when it hits the manufacturing plant) quality because a lot of them have multiple protein or exotic protein sources which IMHO should be reserved in the event a dog should develop allergies. It's like burning a bridge you can't come back to in the event that you need to. Make sense?

I agree about the 1% calcium- for a puppy. In a mature adult, it really doesn't matter all that much as their growth plates have closed and their skeletal structure is stabilized. Besides that, most Adult foods don't have excessively high amounts of calcium or phosporus any way. As for the protein, there have been recent studies that have shown that a higher protein level is not detrimental, and is in fact beneficial in many ways including weight loss. Fat also plays some important roles in nutrition- one of which being a quicker source of usuable energy and two of which being coat and skin health. IMHO, taking the fat level too low can result in the loss of both. So, I personally like to see an Adult blend of around 26% protein/16% fat.

The WDJ list a good place to start (my dogs did do great on NutriSource, which does contain wheat), but keep in mind that they only judge the ingredients which is by no means an indicator of "quality". Quality really is something that is in the eye of the beholder because you will never get everyone to agree on it. It's all personal opinion.

In the end, you know your dogs best and what type of food they do best on. I would find it and stick with it, regardless of what anyone else says.

Just my 2c,
Darcy

[Ann]

Hi
Thanks, I do like all the advice and I do appreciate all of it.
She is on Nutro large breed puppy, and doing great, but as April is April she is once again bored with the food.
Either she is totally spoiled, or she really doesn't like the food any more.
My old man Jake is a 4 legged garbage disposal, he loved when it was time to get all left overs out of the frig, plus any dog food was good enough for him.
He no longer eats like that he is on senor large breed, his coat is so pretty for an old man.
Tomorrow I going to pick up a small bag of the Blue Buffalo and slowly add to the food I have already, hopfuly she will like it.
Thanks again.
I love my babies and it's important I do right by them.
Ann

[gwynny18]

[b]Hi. Oh Mastiffs are beautiful. You have to go to chefk9.com The owner has a French Mastiff. My dogs are on his food, and have never been happier or healthier. The site also has quite a bit of information that may help you choose the right food.

Originally Posted by Ann

I want to know the right dog food to feed my Bull Mastiff's.
I have read this article that article and read this brand and that brand of dog foods.
I basically want an all natural dog food no junk in the food.
Can anyone out there give any advice.
I read so much about all the different types that I am totally confused now, lol, I think the food companies like it that way.
Thanks,
Ann

[gwynny18]

even these better foods arent as good as we believe. I read on chefk9.com and was astounded by what i learned.

[Tamara]

Originally Posted by Ann

I want to know the right dog food to feed my Bull Mastiff's.
I have read this article that article and read this brand and that brand of dog foods.
I basically want an all natural dog food no junk in the food.
Can anyone out there give any advice.
I read so much about all the different types that I am totally confused now, lol, I think the food companies like it that way.
Thanks,
Ann

Hi
Most good quality dog foods have a large breed type for their special requirements. Also Omega 3 is very good for their joints. But I have always been told to be careful with supplements when they are pups.

[gypsyboy]

I have also heard great things about Enhance...

[gypsyboy]

What about Enhance?

[redbassetlover]

Originally Posted by Ann

Tomorrow I going to pick up a small bag of the Blue Buffalo

I feed Blue Buffalo to my dogs (40 and 38 lb bassets) they aren't largre breeds but they LOVE the salmon/sweet potato flavor AND if you go to http://www.bluebuff.com/sample/true-blue-results.php and do the simple food comparison you can get a $5.00 off coupon in 2 weeks...

My houndies love it!