I'm new here....not even sure if I'm posting in the right place. Winston is our new addition, an OE Mastiff, 4 months old and I'm really worried about his weight. I've tried about 6-7 different foods with meat, chicken and beef au jus, with different kinds of dog foods mixed together, canned food and mixed with kibble, with yogurt, with peanut butter...you name it I think I've tried it to make him eat more. For the last 2 months it's been a real battle. I got him from a horrible breeder and he was probably the runt of the litter (we picked the largest and she switched them!) so I'm thinking that he wasn't use to getting enough food. We have another OE Mastiff, Kylie who is 5 yr old and he does sometimes try to eat her food. But generally, except this week I could only get him to eat 2-3 cups a day. This past week I got him to eat 3-4 cups (with all the added stuff above), but you can still see his ribs and spine. He's not sick, the worms are gone, ear mites are gone, yeast and bacteria infection also in the ears is now gone (like I said--horrible backyard breeder--what I mistake that was!). We are hand feeding him and he will only eat a few handfuls at a time. Just doesn't seem to be too interested, he'd rather play or sleep. I've asked several mastiff breeders and all seem to use a different food. Anyway, keep your fingers crossed that he'll start to gain more weight. In the last 3 weeks he only gained about 4 lbs. Any and all suggestions are appreciated.
ps if anyone can tell me how to upload pics of my animals it would be appreciated....I'm folllowing instructions but not working!
I posted some ideas in your growth chart.
thanks. do you know the % needed for protein, fat, calcium, phosphorus, and glucosamine?
And how do you put those 3 pictures on your comments. I go to the browse button, I select a picture from my computer, (I've opened it, and not trying different things), and it will show in the browse button some words, I guess the name of the picture, then I use the other button "Add attachment", but it always says that I'm not using available space for it and when I look using the "view my attachments" to see the attachments nothing is there! If you have an idea what I'm doing wrong I'd appreciate help.
thanks again for your information. you might be right, maybe he is allergic to the meat or the grain. I'll just keep trying.
I am having the same issue uploading pics
On the protein/fat/calcium/phosphorus ratios, everyone seems to have a different opinion of what is correct and as new studies come out recommendations are updated. It's been a couple of years since I've brushed up on the new studies, but from what I understand the latest are linking many of the bone/joint problems to giving too much calcium and/or too much protein. You can do some research on greatdanelady.com - I really like her site and she seems to have had a lot of experience with giant breed nutrition. You can also look into some of the puppy foods that are specialized for GIANT breeds. I had good luck with Holistic Select Large/Giant Breed Puppy.
The photo at the end of my messages is in my signature. Go to your control panel, then click on signature on the left, then you can add photos, etc. It sounds like the error message you're getting might be that the file size is too large. You can try reducing it. Easiest way if you don't have photo software is to upload to flickr and it will give you different size options. You can try linking or re-save the small size and upload that.
thanks soooo much for all of your help. I really appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions. Have a great day! shere