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Amstaff x mastiff Puppy issues


G_Doggy_dawg
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Weve had our Amstaff x Mastiff puppy for almost a month now. Hes just gone 14 weeks today.

 

He is a ridiculously overactive eating machine. Theres too many different discussions and information on the web to know what to go buy when it comes to feeding a puppy. Especially when hes a cross breed. We currently give him one cup of dry food in the morning early while we go to gym then he gets 2 chicken necks before we take off to work - which today ive currently been told that theyre not good for dogs, can anyone confirm? After a 5 km walk in the afternoon we also feed him again one cup of dry food with 2 eggs. He literally inhales it and i know all puppys love to eat you could leave food out all day and they wouldn't stop but something tells me hes not just being a piggy hes actually hungry. Is he getting fed enough or too much?

He has doubled in size in the last few weeks so i know he is rapidly growing so it makes me think im not feeding him enough. We do wish to feed him meat and rice or pasta ans veggies at some stage whatever the normal recommended age is. So any suggestions would be great in that prospective as well.

 

 

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Edited by G_Doggy_dawg
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Any reason he can’t be outside when you go to work ? Far more interesting for him . 

5k walk is probably too much for a pup that young and large breed . Are you not training him to pee outside when you are home rather than pads ? 

Food wise , can’t tell from that pic . 

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I don’t have any experience in feeding large breed dogs, I just have a little mini schnauzer girl. But I just can’t see why you were told chicken necks are no good. I feed them to my girl every other day and my previous dogs all ate them too. My vet actually recommended them. Chicken necks, frames and wings. All quite ok.  I’m not big on dry food. I feed fresh food which includes the necks, wings, chicken fillets and mince, occasionally roo meat, veges , eggs, rice, pasta and she gets sardines once a week. Plus a fresh bone twice a week for her teeth. I like her to have a varied diet. It suits her. She is a piggy too and I swear if food was down all day she would constantly eat. Maybe some dogs are just like that. Your boy is very cute. Good luck with him.

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From his feet, he will be bigger than the average Amstaff you need to feed him as though he was a Mastiff, If you join one of the BullArab groups I'm sure people there will be able to give you good advice on feeding - they would accept him as a BullArab type. I would continue to feed him large breed puppy kibble plus the raw chicken, sardines and eggs until he is at least 12 months then you could switch to a home made diet if you wish.

Two chicken necks is only a treat for his adult size when he is bigger perhaps a chicken carcass each day would be better. Absolutely no problem in feeding raw chicken as long as it is stored hygienically. Frozen for at least a week before feeding and then thawed in the fridge is best.

I wouldn't be walking a pup of that age 5km it could lead to joint problems later. Start with short walks and gradually lengthen them until he is walking 5km at 18 months old.

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Ok ...toilet training-wise ..it can be tricky . 
what he's learning now is that it's absolutely fine to :
a   toilet inside 
b  eat/sleep/play  near where he's toileted 
c  Play with his waste  ( because it's on the puppy pads.)

Outside is definitely a better option if at all possible :) pups of this age need to have hours of exposure to different textures/scents/sights/sounds ..and to learn to assosciate toileting with blue sky & grass9or dirt/gravel/whatever) ..unless he is to toilet indoors always.

I would not use chciken necks for a large breed puppy - too high a risk of choking :( Necks are the shape of a pup's gullet ..and can get stuck.  use chicken frames. he could have 1/2  chicken frame (carcass) 
he doesn't need rice or pasta ..and not many veges :)  dogs are designed to build better bodies from meat - muscle meat , organs, skin, soft bones, marrow, ... :)  from different animals /birds/fish . he may enjoy chewing on large whole carrots ..cold ..or large apples, too!! 

It depends on which food he is eating as to how much he gets ..it does not sound a lot of food :)

Walking 5 km ? :( that is way too far for a growing puppy . Why ?
As pups grow, the ends of their long (leg) bones  are soft ..cos this is where the growing happens . Too much 'force' walking  can damage these , and cause problems later in life .
this the commonly accepted walk length  scale . Non - forced (no leash) play in the back yard  is fine ..he can rest when he wants ..and he's not just walking and walking ...

 

Quote

A good rule of thumb is a ratio of five minutes exercise per month of age (up to twice a day) until the puppy is fully grown, i.e. 15 minutes (up to twice a day) when three months old, 20 minutes when four months old etc. Once they are fully grown, they can go out for much longer.

With your gorgeous boy , BRAIN WORK  will be perfect for him - tiring him out more than walking, and giving him heaps of new stuff to learn :D 

have a look the following links. 
https://stayloyal.com.au/7-things-about-dog-food

http://k9protraining.com.au/feeding-your-pup/

http://k9protraining.com.au/2005/10/17/puppy-development-schedule/

https://www.puppyleaks.com/easy-ways-to-keep-your-dog-busy-indoors/

Edited by persephone
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You are under feeding him. Chicken necks, wings, carcasses are all fine but must be raw. No reason you couldn't add healthy table scraps like pasta or vegies. Don't feed any meat without some bone in it. 5 k's is way to much exercise for a 14 week old pup. Could do a lot of damage to his joints. Get a good quality dry food and I'd be feeding 3 times a day. A meal before work, a carcass when you leave, a meal after work and maybe even a chicken wing at bed time. Exercise can take the form of training, he is going to be a big boy, best work on his manners asap

 

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Thank you for all your great feedback. I appreciate it greatly! 

 

In regards to the walking- It’s not like we drag him along. We walk along the water front and he literally walks us, like we arnt making him and he doesn’t lag along slowly he’s trotting happily smiling at everyone and runs sometimes. He enjoys the interaction with dogs and people immensely! Is that still bad? 

 

The food thing is so hard to know what to feed him and the difference between an actual hungry pup and just a piggy. He was 6.2kg at 12 weeks but he’d definitely be 10kg now. So many forums and sites and vets say so many different things. I can’t think of the name but he is eating top quality dry food we got from the breeder. He’s defiantly a large boy.  

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1 hour ago, Zena's mum said:

I don’t have any experience in feeding large breed dogs, I just have a little mini schnauzer girl. But I just can’t see why you were told chicken necks are no good. I feed them to my girl every other day and my previous dogs all ate them too. My vet actually recommended them. Chicken necks, frames and wings. All quite ok.  I’m not big on dry food. I feed fresh food which includes the necks, wings, chicken fillets and mince, occasionally roo meat, veges , eggs, rice, pasta and she gets sardines once a week. Plus a fresh bone twice a week for her teeth. I like her to have a varied diet. It suits her. She is a piggy too and I swear if food was down all day she would constantly eat. Maybe some dogs are just like that. Your boy is very cute. Good luck with him.

Thank you :)

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I recommend using 4% of his body weight per day separated across 2 meals, supplemented by appropriate size raw meaty bones 2 times a week.  From there you need to learn how to judge his condition, he should be lean and muscular and you can control this by moderating the daily %.  You need to be weighing him at least once a week,  so you have a handle the total weight to be feeding.  Remember, overfeeding is a bigger risk to his development than underfeeding.  Slow and steady development wins the race!

 

 It's absolutely true that you need to understand what you are doing to feed a larger breed raw or other homemade.  From the sound of your post and looking at the photo it would be advisable to stick with a commercial large breed kibble till he finishes growing.  I personally recommend Stay Loyal when it comes to kibble.

 

Also, as others have said, 5 kms a day is way too much for a growing puppy! The 5 mins per month no more than twice a day rule suggested above is a good rule of thumb and you can gradually build up his walks to 5kms. 

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Yep puppy is totally being underfed ,the breeder should have given you a diet plan although I gather like most who have these cross litters supply nothing .

They should also have informed about exercising and over exercising .

 

5 km no matter how slow is over exercising and you have a cross with some serious growing too do .

 

You can feed raw meat now ,pasta is a useless filler .

Also depends what dry food your feeding .

My large breed pups at this age get 3 quality meals until 6 months .

I don’t feed chicken necks and frames but that is my choice ,like any raw meat ,quality and hygiene is a must 

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Cutie! 

 

I have a mastiff and she ate HEAPS when she was growing. At 14 weeks she already weighed 20kgs. I was feeding her 9 cups of dry food there for a while when she was doing her most rapid growing. She is lean and sound now at 17 months and still growing slowly. 

 

Giant breed info - the calcium/phosphorus ratio of the food you are feeding is important. You want it to be as close to 1:1 as you can. Too much calcium causes rapid bone growth leading to joint issues later. Too much exercise is also a problem. No long walks, hard play, stairs, or jumping. Be very careful of slippery floors too. 

 

Bloat is a risk, so plan to feed a couple of times a day always. 

 

Socialise a lot. Training and socialisation are better than exercise at this stage for your pup. We wouldn’t walk 5 kms now, let alone when she was much younger. 

 

I love that you’re asking questions now - I hope he grows beautifully for you. 

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15 hours ago, Snoopy21 said:

Cutie! 

 

I have a mastiff and she ate HEAPS when she was growing. At 14 weeks she already weighed 20kgs. I was feeding her 9 cups of dry food there for a while when she was doing her most rapid growing. She is lean and sound now at 17 months and still growing slowly. 

 

Giant breed info - the calcium/phosphorus ratio of the food you are feeding is important. You want it to be as close to 1:1 as you can. Too much calcium causes rapid bone growth leading to joint issues later. Too much exercise is also a problem. No long walks, hard play, stairs, or jumping. Be very careful of slippery floors too. 

 

Bloat is a risk, so plan to feed a couple of times a day always. 

 

Socialise a lot. Training and socialisation are better than exercise at this stage for your pup. We wouldn’t walk 5 kms now, let alone when she was much younger. 

 

I love that you’re asking questions now - I hope he grows beautifully for you. 

Thanks for your kind message.

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What a lovely puppy! 

 

Don’t compare what he eats with your previous dog - every dog is unique. I have one border collie who stays fat on the amount of food my miniature poodle used to eat, and another border collie who eats more than my German shepherds did, and still stays a bit too lean.

 

Feel his condition as you pat him; you should be able to feel his ribs, but he should have a thin layer of fat over them, and over his chest and hip bones. It’s difficult to judge from the photo, but to my eye he looks too thin. His chest is concave, which might be because he’s entering the adolescent lanky stage, but you can also see the definition of the bones and sinews in his hind legs, and you should never see that, because it hints that he’s not getting enough food for proper muscular development.

 

If he was my puppy, I’d add another meal before bed.

 

Do take care to protect his joints by not over-exercising him; the consequences could be expensive for you as well as painful for him. 

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