What Is the Best Dog Food for a French Mastiff?

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If you have a French Mastiff, also known as the Dogue de Bordeaux, then I congratulate you for joining the “Big Dog Club.” I love all dogs, but I freely admit that I have a preference for the large breeds.

Now, when it comes to feeding, if you have been reading regularly, you know that I don’t exactly do anything special. I feed generic food, with my veterinarian’s approval. My vet and I are pretty much in agreement that almost any dry dog food will do, even the in-house brands. We disagree on whether or not to free feed, though (see 5 Reasons Why Free Feeding Might Not Be Right For Your Dog). If you are wondering, though, what is the best dog food for a French Mastiff, my take on it is that you can offer just about anything that you would feed any other dog, and if you feel guilty about using the generic dog food, add a fish oil supplement or a multi-vitamin from time to time.

Big, Bigger or Biggest?

That said, though, the main thing that you need to consider when it comes to the best dog food for a French Mastiff is your dog’s weight. Generally speaking, French Mastiffs come in only three sizes – big, bigger and biggest. You can expect your adult French Mastiff to be anywhere from 23 to 27 inches at the shoulder, with a weight of somewhere between 90 and 160 pounds. What this means is that your French Mastiff will need close to 2,000 calories in any given day if he is fairly sedentary, and more like 2,300 calories if he is moderately active. The best dog food for a French Mastiff that is very active could end up being 3,800 calories, or even more, per day.

What does this mean? It means that you should buy your dog food in very big bags.Very, verybig bags.

I Can’t Afford This Dog!

Okay, calm down. The best dog food for a French Mastiff doesn’t have to include anything more than generic food along with maybe a few supplements. You don’t need to buy high-priced pet store products. Although you should never feed a dog on table scraps alone, you can definitely mix in some cooked pasta from your own dinner (nothing in tomato sauce though, since tomatoes are not good for dogs), and leftover veggies. You can also toss in some cottage cheese, an egg, some yogurt, sardines or tuna (along with the oils), oatmeal or grated cheddar cheese, and even fruits like apples (no seeds), bananas, or even watermelon.

Generally speaking, though, French Mastiffs do seem to do best on a diet that is free from grain or gluten. So take a look at the nutritional information on your bag of dog food, and make sure that it free of soy and corn products. Mainly, the key is to give your dog a properly balanced ration of minerals, vitamins and amino acids. It’s generally a good idea to go with a dog food that is specifically formulated for large dogs, and contains ingredients like B vitamins, carnitine and taurine as well as omega 3 fatty acids. These ingredients work to ward off heart disease, which can be very common in large breeds.

If you like, you can also toss some pumpkin, blueberries or broccoli into your dog’s food. The best dog food for a French Mastiff is a blend that works to combat all the health issues to which the breed is prone, and these ingredients also work to help minimize the vision problems that can be common in large dogs.

The Best Dog Food for a French Mastiff Promotes Health and Prevents Disease

French Mastiffs are generally healthy, but they are prone to a few issues, and often, a good diet can help to prevent health challenges.

For one thing, since French Mastiffs have short noses, they are considerably more vulnerable to heat exhaustion and breathing problems than their long-nosed canine friends. A French Mastiff should never be left chained in a yard – you want him inside where you can control the temperature, and you need to make sure that he has plenty to drink.

French Mastiffs are also more prone than other breeds to heart disorders. In order to prevent heart problems, you need to think about what is the best dog food for a French Mastiff. Usually, it is a food that contains a lot of magnesium, B vitamins, taurine and omega 3 fatty acids. What this means is a diet that is high in foods like cold water fish, blueberries, eggs, and carrots.

The Best Dog Food for a French Mastiff Puppy

Usually, at about nine weeks of age, your French Mastiff puppy will weigh 12 pounds and will need at least 400 calories a day. Until he reaches the age of eight weeks, he should stay with his mother in order to become properly socialized – now granted, this has nothing to do with nutrition, but I’m throwing it out here because it is very important. It’s also vital that the puppy is handled frequently during this stage of development. During this stage of development, he should be fed a quality puppy food.

The Best Dog Food for a French Mastiff?

I can see you out there, drumming your fingers impatiently and asking, “So what is the best dog food for a French Mastiff?” Well, my research has led me to a few different foods, so unless you want to do what I do and just go generic with supplements, you might consider these foods. They are as follows:

1. Solid Gold Sun Dancer Chicken & Tapioca Recipe with Quinoa is one of the best on the market. It’s ideal for dogs at all stages of their lives, and it’s made with chicken and super-foods like broccoli, carrots, blueberries, pumpkin, kelp, almond oil and lentils. It’s heathy, and although I haven’t tasted it personally, I have it on good authority that dogs love the taste. This food contains no soy, corn or wheat, which are suspected to cause allergic reactions in dogs. It also contains omega-3 salmon oil, L-carnitine, B vitamins and taurine, all of which are known to protect dogs against heart problems.

2. Orijen Original Dry Dog Food is a grain-free dog food. Now, I’m not all that sure that grain products are necessarily bad for dogs, but if you do prefer to have your dog on a grain-free diet, then I believe that this is the product you should choose to keep your dog strong, happy and healthy. The protein components in this dog food include locally sourced meats, yellow tail flounder, deboned turkey and chicken and whole eggs, as well as various vegetables and fruits. Orijen even states that this food is good for human consumption.

3. Evo Red Meat Large Bite Dog Food has been specifically designed to give your dog everything he needs in the way of nutrition. It’s mainly made from red meat, including the meat, fat, cartilage and bone of beef, buffalo, venison and lamb- in other words, the substances that dogs would find if they were foraging in the wild for food. Evo also adds fruits and vegetables that are gently cooked and then added to the food. The company uses no grains whatsoever.

I do have to tell you that this food is very expensive, so you might not want to use it as your sole source of nutrition for your dog. However, it is the next best thing to food that you would spend a lot of time preparing for your dog if you were disposed to feeding only home-made, raw food.It’s full of antioxidants, as well.

The Final Word

The best dog food for a French Mastiff is, generally speaking, the food that you can afford that gives your dog all his dietary requirements. Much of the time, though, this does not mean that you have to spend a lot of money on expensive food. I also have large dogs, and I usually just feed them generic food. My vet approves of this.

You can spend a lot of money finding the best dog food for a French Mastiff if you want to, though. I’m not going to stop you. The main thing, though, from my perspective, is to make sure that your French Mastiff has access to food all the time, especially when he is in his early growth.