The Raw Diet Plan For Mastiffs is the ultimate guide on raw dog diets. I recommend using all natural, fresh ingredients that are sourced locally. This diet is ideal for active breeds like the Mastiff but picky eaters may require more work. The diet of a dog is extremely important and plays a major role in the health and well being. Dogs who eat improperly can develop serious health issues, so it’s very important to know how to feed our dogs, as well as which types of food are best for them.
Raw Food Diet Plan for Mastiffs
From Puppy to Adult
What is the best raw food diet plan for Mastiffs from puppy to adult? That’s the question we’ll be answering since raw diets can be of such a great health benefit and there’s many things needing to be addressed to make sure your Mastiff takes advantage of them.
Raw Food Diet Plan For Mastiffs
Your mastiff’s raw food diet plan should consist of roughly 80% meat and organs, 10% bone, and 10% fruits and vegetables. The diet should be high in protein and have minimal carbs. There should be a moderate amount of fat as well. Aim to give them about 10% of their current weight in raw food per day.
Let’s take a closer look at the best raw food diet plan for mastiffs from puppy to adult.
Read More Below…
Pro-tip: Ever try lifting a Mastiff? Their weight can hurt not only your back but their joints when they hop down from cars, sofas or even your bed. To protect your back and theirs check out the best Mastiff ramps on Amazon.com now.
The Benefits and Risks Of Raw Diets
There are tons of benefits to giving your mastiff a raw food diet, but there are also some risks. This section is going to talk about some of those benefits and risks for your mastiff.
Benefits of Feeding Your Mastiff Raw Food
There are many who believe the benefits far outweigh the risks when it comes to a raw food diet for your dog. Below is a list of some of the benefits:
- Shiney and healthy coats and skin – Not only will their coats and skin improve, but there will be less risk of ear infections or skin allergies.
- Physically fit with better energy levels – Their energy will improve, but they’ll also be calmer.
- Clean teeth and less odors – A raw diet will keep their teeth cleaner and remove foul-smelling breath. It will also improve other bodily odors in your dog.
- Smaller droppings – Dogs are better able to digest a raw diet. This makes for smaller and less frequent droppings.
- Simple weight control – Their bodies digest the food better, leading to better weight and healthier digestive systems.
- Improvement for joints – This is especially good for big dogs, who often have trouble with their joints and bones.
- More muscle
- Can help improve allergies – A raw diet plan boosts a dog’s immune system, which leads to improved allergies. There are also important enzymes that help the good bacteria in your dog’s stomach. This also improves the immune system, leading to better tolerance of allergies.
- Less water intake – Drinking less water reduces your mastiff’s risk of bloat, which is a deadly condition where the stomach distends, and twists, cutting off blood supply. Bloat comes on suddenly and can be fatal.
Risks of Feeding Raw Food to Your Mastiff
For humans, it’s important that food is cooked thoroughly in order to ensure it’s safe to eat, so it’s natural to wonder if a raw food diet is safe for your pets.
It’s important that you have all of the information you need before you start feeding raw food to your mastiff. While it would appear there are many benefits to a raw food diet, here are some of the risks involved:
- Bacteria – While humans and dogs react to bacterias differently, there’s a debate that the bad bacteria in raw meat can be harmful to dogs. In addition, it’s a potential risk to humans handling the food as well. Even if the dog isn’t infected, he could be a carrier and possibly transmit diseases like Salmonella and E. Coli to you or other dogs.
- Choking hazards – Whole bones can cause a choking hazard to dogs, as well as fractured or broken teeth and internal damage. You especially never want to feed cooked bones to your dog. The heat from being cooked can make them splinter into smaller, more dangerous pieces that could get stuck in your dog’s throat or puncture the stomach.
Mastiff Raw Feeding Amount & Scheduling for Puppies
In this section of our raw food diet plan for Mastiffs we delve into raw feeding puppies…
Mastiffs are known to grow rapidly in their first year of life. It’s important to keep this in mind when deciding how much and how frequently to feed your mastiff puppy.
It’s also important to know that their growth will vary depending on the dog, just like with humans. Below you’ll find a breakdown of roughly the growth patterns you’d see in mastiff dogs in their first year of life. You’ll also see a list of feeding amounts and schedules for puppies.
When it comes to the feeding amount for your mastiff puppy, you’ll want to gauge their weight and how quickly they’re growing. It’s best to try and feed your mastiff puppy about 10% of their current weight per day. However, if you’re noticing they’re having a hard time eating that much, you can easily adjust it to a smaller portion if needed. Or a larger portion if they aren’t gaining enough weight.
Feed your mastiff puppy three times a day using the guide below as a reference. When they reach the age of six to 12 months, you’ll want to monitor their weight to ensure they aren’t gaining too much. If they are, cut back to smaller portions two times a day.
Pro-tip: Mastiff anxiety, aggression, destructive chewing, jumping up, fearfulness, and other behaviors can be controlled with the right training program.
Food
Type
Meat
Bone
Veggies
1-2 Months
Per Serving
1 lbs
(.5 kg)
3-4 oz (85-
113.4 g)
0%
2-3 Months
Per Serving
1.3 lbs
(.6 kg)
2.6 oz (73.7 g)
2.6 oz (73.7 g)
3-4 Months
Per Serving
1.6-2 lbs (.7-.9 kg)
3-4 oz (85-
113.4 g)
3-4 oz (85-
113.4 g)
4-5 Months
Per Serving
1.6-2 lbs (.7-.9 kg)
3-4 oz (85-
113.4 g)
3-4 oz (85-
113.4 g)
5-6 Months
Per Serving
2 lbs
(.9 kg)
4-5 oz (113.4-
141.7 g)
4-5 oz (113.4-141.7 g)
6-12 Months
Per Serving
2.5-3 lbs (1.1-1.4 kg)
12-13 oz (340.2-368.5 g)
12-13 oz (340.2-368.5 g)
Important Milestones for Your Mastiff Puppy
Typically, in the first one to two months of life, a male mastiff puppy can be anywhere from 20 to 40lbs (9.1 to 18.1kg) by the age of two months. Female mastiff puppies can be 15 to 30lbs (6.8 to 13.6kg) by the age of two months.
When preparing a raw food diet plan for Mastiffs for a one to two-month-old puppy, it’s important to remember that their teeth won’t be very strong. It’s best to grind the meat and bone together. This ensures they are able to chew it without risk of choking.
It’s also best to give them only meat and bone at this early stage. You can introduce them to fruits, vegetables, and organs when they’re a little older. Following the 80/10/10 formula, you can give them 80% meat and 20% bone in this case.
You want to feed their meals in small amounts about three times a day to prevent upsetting their stomachs and causing diarrhea. You also don’t want them to over-eat. Grind the meat and bone together and serve it to them that way.
At age two to three months, you’ll want to feed them around 8 to 10% of their current body weight per day and feed them three times a day. At this age, you can start incorporating vegetables into their diet. You’ll still want to grind everything together to spare their teeth, but you’ll want to give them 80% meat, 10% bone, and 10% veggies. plan for Mastiffs
At the age of five to six months, it’s normal if your mastiff puppy doesn’t show interest in eating their midday meal. If they do skip a meal consecutively for a few days, switch their schedule. Divide the total amount of food by two instead of three and feed them twice a day.
At age nine to ten months, you can bring them down to about 3 to 4% of their current body weight and feed them twice a day.
Raw Feeding Amount and Scheduling for Adult Mastiffs
For adult mastiffs, it’s much simpler. By now, your mastiffs have stopped growing so drastically. You’ll want to give them about 2 to 3% of their current weight. It’s also still best to feed them twice a day. It keeps them from overeating and helps prevent bloat.
An adult male mastiff can range in weight from 150 to 220lbs (68 to 99.8kg). An adult female will range from 120 to 160lbs (54.4 to 72.6kg).
For example, if you have a 220lb (99.8kg) mastiff adult. If you’re going to feed them 3% of their current weight, you’ll want to feed them 6.6lbs (3kg) of raw food per day. Your percentages of meat, bone, and vegetables will look like this:
- 80% of meat = 5.28lbs (2.4kg)
- 10% of bone = 0.66lbs (0.30kg)
- 10% of fruits and/or veggies = .66lbs (0.30kg)
Food Type
Meat
Bone
and Organ
Fruits &
Veggies
120-150 lbs
or 54.4-68 kg
(2x)
1.5-2 lbs
(0.7-0.9 kg)
4-6 oz
(113.4-170.1 g)
4-6 oz
(113.4-170.1 g)
150-180 lbs
or 68-81.6 kg
(2x)
2 lbs
(0.9 kg)
8 oz
(226.8 g)
8 oz 8 oz (226.8 g)
180-210 lbs
or 81.6-95.3 kg
(2x)
2-2.5 lbs
(0.9-1.1 kg)
8-10 oz
(226.8-283.5 g)
8 -10 oz (226.8-283.5 g)
200-220 lbs
or 90.7-99.8 kg
(2x)
2-3 lbs
(0.9-1.4 kg)
10 oz
(283.5 g)
10 oz 10 oz (283.5 g)
Raw Diet Recipes for Your Mastiff Adult or Puppy
When coming up with a raw food diet plan for Mastiffs all of this information can be overwhelming. Figuring out how to put it all together for your mastiff can be confusing. However, it doesn’t have to be. Below you’ll find easy to follow recipes for both puppies and adults.
Foods to Stick To…
Here is a shortlist of foods to add to your mastiff’s raw food diet:
- Meats with fat – Beef, chicken, pork, bison
- Organs – The liver is an easy organ to get a hold of but don’t feed too much of it. It is high in vitamin A, which could lead to diarrhea if you aren’t careful.
- Fruits and vegetables – blueberries, apples, romaine lettuce, celery, green beans, peas, zucchini, and broccoli
When Preparing Raw Food for Mastiff Puppies and Adults Keep In Mind…
Remember that when you are preparing your recipes for puppies, you’ll want to throw the ingredients into a food processor to make it easier for them to chew. Once the puppies’ teeth are stronger, you can stop grinding their food together. Also, remember that puppies less than 2 months old shouldn’t be getting vegetables yet.
Another thing to keep in mind is that certain organs are actually considered a “meat” instead of an organ when it comes to your percentages. Organs like the heart, tongue, and other organs that don’t secret something are considered meat. The liver, spleen, and kidneys are considered organs. Vegetables can be blended into a puree to aid in your dog’s digestion of them.
Mastiff Feeding Guide
All you need to know about the best diet and food for your Mastiff
Why raw food is the best diet for my Mastiff
Mastiff Feeding Chart
| Breed | Feed Amount Per Day | AVG Price Per Day |
|---|---|---|
| Mastiff 59KG – 100KG | 1180g – 2000g | £3.01 – £5.10 |
Calculate Your Mastiff Feeding Amount
Adult Pupp
Why raw food is best for my Mastiff
A dog’s stomach is not anatomically designed to digest and ferment carbohydrates (the main ingredient in kibble). Even grain-free kibble often contains high levels of starchy carbs, including legumes, peas and lentils. Feeding this to a dog puts their system under pressure, creating metabolically stressful insulin, glucagon and cortisol spikes throughout the day as well as causing inflammation and putting strain on vital organs, leading, in some cases, to a host of serious health conditions.
There’s no doubt the canine species is resilient, and despite eating a diet which isn’t providing the natural components they may need, they will adapt and survive for some time. Still, there’s a world of difference between surviving and thriving.
Whether you choose ProDog Raw’s no fuss, no-nonsense, natural raw dog food or raw puppy food, or you decide to create your own DIY raw food recipes at home, you can be sure that the move to a wholesome, species-specific diet will fuel your dog’s well-being, regardless of thier breed.
Read on to find out what the benefits of raw dog food are for your Mastiff.
Read on to find out more of why raw food is the best food for your Mastiff
Canine gut health and raw food
The gut houses an ecosystem of bacteria called the microbiome (often known as gut flora). The balance of beneficial and harmful bacteria that makes up the microbiome has now been linked to the development of several health conditions through scientific studies.
Dog nutrition is important, and, independent from genetic factors and calorie intake, an imbalanced gut microbiome has been linked to:
- diabetes
- obesity
- anxiety
- food allergies and intolerances and inflammatory-related conditions such as
- arthritis
- skin complaints
- asthma
- allergies and
- digestive disorders.
Processed dog food loaded with additives, synthetics, and chemicals can upset the balance of microbiome by fuelling the harmful bacteria. This type of imbalance can contribute to ‘leaky gut’, a condition where the intestine lining becomes permeated. There is a delicate intestinal mucosa lining protecting the gut, which allows digested nutrients to pass through the system into the bloodstream. This mucous lining provides an effective barrier against toxins passing through and entering the dog’s system. When this lining becomes compromised, food particles and toxins ‘leak’ through and trigger an immune response, prompting systemic inflammation, all of which makes your dog more prone to illness. DEFRA-approved and raw green tripe for dogs can promote a healthy microbiome and support their digestion.
Canine Immunity
The immune system is the body’s natural protection mechanism; when functioning effectively will respond to toxins, pathogens and threats to your Mastiff health and happiness found in everyday life.
A vast proportion of the immune system is located in the gut, and therefore the gut environment is crucial to effective immune response. With all breeds, a natural, raw food diet for dogs, potentially supported by dog supplements, will maximise their natural immune defence by nourishing the gut environment and providing necessary immune-boosting micro-nutrients, in turn, ensuring their immune system is in peak condition to fight off all those nasties.
Dog Weight and Raw Food
Maintaining appropriate healthy weight is essential for your dog, no matter what breed. Mastiffs are known to piling on the pounds, however, so their diet should consist of biologically appropriate proteins, healthy fats, ground bones and vegetables – which are packed with essential vitamins and minerals – for optimum health and performance.
As with any change in diet, you should pay specific attention to your dog’s weight and physical appearance as they adapt to their diet. How much you feed your dog every day depends on several factors, including:
- your dog’s metabolism
- the quality of food you are feeding
- how much exercise your dog gets
- how much they weigh
- the age and breed of your dog and whether
- you want your dog to gain, maintain or lose weight
Ensuring the correct ratios of ingredients when creating your own raw feeding recipes is essential. Our frozen raw dog food range features 80:10:10 raw dog food made from meat and ground bone with additional ingredients thrown in, and our complete raw dog food and raw puppy food meals which are both no fuss, no-nonsense, and all you need in one pot. You can also check correct feeding guidelines using our raw dog food calculator.
Weighing a Mastiff is likely best at the vets due to their size, no vet will object to you visiting for a weigh-in.
If you can lift your Mastiff, you can use a home weigh-in method, using three simple steps :
- Step on to the scales and weigh yourself
- Pick up your dog and step back on the scales.
- Subtract your weight (and that of their collar, if they’re wearing one) from the combined weight of you and pooch and you have your dog’s weight.
Alternatively pop into your vets for a weigh-in.
Overall Mastiff Well-Being
A species-specific diet is undoubtedly the best Mastiff food, fuel for overall health and happiness. You’ll notice remarkably quickly that your four-legged friend will look, feel and even smell better.
Smell Better
Yes, we said SMELL! We’re talking about the odour your dog emits from both ends.
Firstly, let’s talk about toilet habits. Your dog’s toilet habits and flatulence levels are something to pay close attention to. They’re a great indicator of a dog’s gut health and the effectiveness of their digestive system, and with less rubbish in, less rubbish out!
With a raw diet, you’ll notice a reduction in your dog’s flatulence as well as a reduction in the amount of waste excreted. Simply put, when feeding your dog a good quality, raw diet, where the food is of a higher nutritional content, their body absorbs and utilises almost all of it.
Now, on to bad smells from the other end. The two most common causes of bad breath in dogs are poor digestion and gum/teeth decay. Feeding your dog a raw food diet helps with both. As already discussed, digestion is greatly improved through the introduction of a natural species-specific diet. And mouth and dental health are both improved through a reduction in processed sugars and also through the introduction of raw meaty bones, which help to keep their teeth clean. Incorporating raw dog treats into your dog’s daily calories could help them maintain their mouth and dental hygiene in a way they really enjoy.
Look Better
What happens on the inside shows on the outside. When gut health is poor, and a dog’s digestion is ineffective, when stress and strain is placed on organs and systems of the body, there’s always an impact on your dog’s outward appearance.
Raw feeding is proven to improve skin condition, and coat health, reduced irritation, itchy flaky skin, hair loss and an increased shine of fur are beautiful side-effects of a raw natural diet. Our range of natural remedies for dogs could then provide topical support to your dog’s skin condition and coat health.
Your Mastiff will be the envy of the town in no time when switching to raw dog food.
Feel Better
Our mission at ProDog Raw is to help as many dogs as possible thrive. The signs of a dog thriving will be plain to see, by you as their human companion. Increased vitality, reduced anxiety, reduced bad behaviour, fewer bad moods, improved mobility, increased agility and a whole heap more doggo smiles and tail wagging.
Are dog supplements good for my Mastiff?
Switching to a natural good quality raw dog food diet will be the single best thing you can do for your dog’s well-being. Whether you DIY recipes at home, or choose one of ProDog’s no-nonsense foods, like Complete Raw Dog Food or Pure 80:10:10 Raw Dog Food, there is no disputing dog science; dogs predominantly benefit from eating meat, organ and bone, with a handful of natural ingredients from time to time. Check out our comprehensive guide on what dogs can eat for more information on the foods you can add to your dog’s diet for these benefits.
Why give dog supplements to my Mastiff?
Dietary supplementation will take your dog’s nutrition to the next level by making certain additions for specific Mastiff related conditions, or for your dog’s individual needs.
With all breeds, there are certain health conditions more prevalent to that specific breed. It’s important to acknowledge here that the right diet, providing all essential vitamins and minerals, will go a very very long way to mitigating against and minimising the severity of breed-related conditions and, indeed, the need for dog supplements.
Where a dog could benefit from extra nutritional support, the key is to select natural, whole food supplements that have no chemicals, synthetics or non-species appropriate ingredients.
ProDog offers a range of natural nutritional dog supplements that are the perfect way to bridge that gap! A convenient, simple way to enhance the nutrient density of their food, giving you peace of mind that all health and happiness bases are covered. Learn more about the benefits of dog supplements in our comprehensive guide.